September 26, 2023 • 18 mins
Marion County Naturalist, James Anderson joined the podcast to discuss why Asters are a great fall plant and to let us in on this years Trail of Treats event coming to the Marion Tallgrass Trail in october!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Joining me in studio today. We'vegot James Anderson from the Marion County Park
District and we're going to ask thenaturalist and how are you doing? My
friend, good to see you today. All doing peachy good? You know,
Paleontology in the park. You guysjust had that did well and you
said most you've ever had. Talkabout it for a minute. Yes,
So we had a little over threehundred people that came. As you mentioned,
(00:22):
it was the best year that wehad and definitely want to shout out
a big, big thank you toour extraordinary volunteer Wayne Fowler. As I
tell many people, he is themastermind behind that fent all I am in
charge of is looking for volunteers andadvertisement. Other than that, I mean
he for almost the entire year.I mean he's planning, he's gathering resources.
(00:44):
Of course, he reaches out toother organizations and companies, agencies.
We had the Ohio Geological Survey thatcame back out, the Columbus woant Aquarium,
Rottnina, the aliosis that was fun. Ye oh yeah, that was
the biggest hip. And then theOrton Geological Museum down by OSU. So
Wayne's a pretty busy guy. Yeah, and kids love dinosaurs, you know,
it's like they're kind of funny,you know, he said, yeah,
(01:07):
you see these memes floating around thatsays, I finally figured out I
was grown up when people stopped askingme what my favorite dinosaurs? Right,
that kind of But it's true,and kids love it, and it's wonderful
for them to learn because they're learningabout history. They're learning about where where
they came from and where the lifecame from today. But it's also cool
for them to realize that these giantmammoths were here, and dinosaurs were here.
(01:32):
The mammoth was right here in MarionCounties. That's right, And of
course, yeah, we always talkabout the the Marrion Mammoth display. So
unfortunately the bones cannot reach out toto the Tall Grass Trail the Ohio History
Connection, which are technically owned bynow. Last year they made a policy
they can't travel, but we stillset up that display. Rick Haver,
(01:52):
who's a local here in Marion,he was a student over forty years ago
that helped got the bones out.Of course, he always talks about his
experience. Right, it's there apossibility of there being more mammoth bones in
Marion County. I would say,yeah, if we probably digged in the
rights, you would have to believeso, right, Yeah, I mean
those were brought up because of thelandfill creation out there, correct, Yes,
(02:15):
Yeah, that's how all that happened. Yeah, that was just a
pure coincidence accident. The city ofMarian was just digging a hole to put
to start putting trash in, andyeah, they just saw some bones sticking
out. Yeah. Most people,I don't think realized that that whole area
down there is pretty much all becauseof the landfill, the Foundation Lake and
everything, and of course everything that'sgoing on with the new trailhead that is
(02:37):
all because of the landfill over thelast fifty years. Correct, yes,
correct, Yeah, so a lotof things going on with that's that's neat
stuff. So you also had areally neat dedication for Judge rob for golly,
that was really neat to talk aboutthat. Yeah. So his replacement,
ron and berg Graff, she gatheredsome sources and got a picnic table
(03:01):
out there Marrin Community Foundation Lake,right next to Judge Osball's pert Purple Martin
box. Yeah. So I guessI like to call it it's our judge's
corner. So for all the wonderfuljudges that have worked with us with the
park district, Judge for Golly he'sbeen really great. I mean, if
we had some many legal advice,you know, he would give us,
(03:23):
you know, a where to goor what to do. And also too,
he was really important of swearing inour park board members or guided us
of hey, this person I thinkwould benefit for the park district. So
Judge for Golly has been a wonderfulasset with the park district. And I
mean I'm sad that he retired,but I'm glad he gets to enjoy his
grandkids. Amen. You hit itright on the head. So that's some
(03:45):
neat stuff. If you do goout by Community Foundation Lake, you'll see
that there's a lot of things outthere that are dedicated to people who helped
create that. I know, wonderfuldeal. There's a nice deal out there
for Jim Roller too. Yeah,yeah with it with the rich deal Lions
Club. So yeah, he's agood They're good people, they really are.
And uh and we hope Judge ferGilly has a wonderful long retirement and
(04:11):
can enjoy his grandkids. Well let'stalk a little bit about this, and
then at the end of the show, we're going to dig into your next
big event. So you brought withyou the aster plant, correct, Yes,
yeah, I brought a couple ofdifferent aster species. So the reason
why I want to talk about astersbecause I know, last month we were
talking about, you know, aboutprairie plants and how important prairies were.
(04:34):
But you know, this time ofyear, we focus all about mums.
And don't get me wrong, Iknow mums are beautiful. I know,
but I told you before we wenton air, my wife has at least
six month pots spread around our property. And but I tell people, you
know, instead of you know,infesting in a lot of mum plants,
maybe infests in planting native aster specieson your property because they are fairy,
(05:00):
very beneficial towards a lot of ourlocal pollinators in our local wildlife. Go
ahead, So I mean one ofthe things I mean they do. I
mean, yes, they they're greatfor our pollinators, especially like for the
monarchs. I know, again likelast month we talked about because right now
our monarchs they're traveling down to Mexicoand the milkweed they're done. And so
(05:21):
as I was mentioning last month,and I'll mention today again these kind of
these native plants that bloom in thatlate summer early fall season. I mean,
they're very very important for the monarchsbecause you know, they need these
native plants to get a nice kindof quick energy boosts and then head down
to Mexico. So, yes,that's amazing. So they look a lot
(05:42):
like the mom Actually they do.They do look very very similar. Yeah,
for the for the asters, thereis about one hundred and eighty species
of asters across the world. Herein Ohio we have about twenty five different
species. The one that you're goingto primarily see and road ditches or in
big meadow the areas would be thispurple one here. It's called the New
England Asters. And I tell peopleif you do plant asters, and I
(06:06):
hope this doesn't discourage people, butthey can't get on what's called the aggressive
side, so not in face ifit just means that, you know,
some plants are like bullies. Youknow, they do spread their roots and
they do kind of populate a littlearea. So if you do want to
plant asters, I tell people kindof keep it away from everything else.
(06:26):
But if you do, keep itclose to other plants, you may have
to you know, trem them upbecause if not, I mean, these
asters can spread. So just kindof keep that in mind. Not all
aster species, but like the NewEngland aster, yes, definitely are a
big aggressive but again being a nativeplant sometimes you have to be in order
to survive native plant. Is ita wild flower? Yes, yeah,
(06:48):
I had to say wildflower. Theseguys bloom about late summer and to early
fall. Just depending on which asterspecies you're talking about, most of them
are going to be in open areas, prairie areas like we mentioned last month,
and then we have a we havea few that are bloom and woodland
settings. But some of the ediblemedicinal properties. Some of the indigenous people
(07:10):
and early settlers they would eat theyoung shoots and put them in salads.
Also too, they would make teaseand a poultice and they would use it
for skin issues. They would alsodo for kidney issues and respiratory issues.
Now, you do have to keepin mind some of these asters species do
hold some chemical compounds like apoloids,and actually if you ingest in large concentrations,
(07:32):
it can get fatal. So youdo have to be very very cautious
when you're if you are going touse asters, and you know in your
medicinal practices, have you done anythingwith asters yourself personally? No, I
have not. So yeah that thatthat's cool. I mean it looks like
you could you could steep it.It really does the way the way the
plant looks. So when we seethem out, we're going to see them
(07:55):
out mid August two about mid October. You're saying, oh yeah, and
depending on how the fall rolls.If it's relatively warm, warm, sometimes
they're still in bloom until early November. Now, if it's a cooler fall,
I mean, yeah, they'll probablybe done about late octobers. Absolutely,
But it is a perennial, it'snot an annual. Yes, yes,
(08:15):
and that's why, And that's anotherreason why you may want to invest
in masters, because yeah, they'rea perennials that will come out every year
for since the mums are annuals,so once you plant them, well they're
they're gone, right until you getthe new one. Well, I do
notice city, I don't see awhole lot of bees hanging around the mums,
So I get what you're saying.You know, we have some on
the front porch. I like tosit out there with my coffee. I
don't see a whole lot of beeshanging out with those. So I get
(08:37):
where you're where you're coming from.So that's cool. So where would we
find so you guys have some ofthese out a tall grass out of prairie,
Oh yeah, tall grass trail primarilyalso too, probably on the edges
of Paradise and Green Spur since there'ssome open areas and those and those parks.
But like this one I got fromthe Claridon Prairie. If you go
(09:00):
around big On Wildlife Area again,you're gonna see a lot of love of
these asters right now, it's nicesaying they're pretty. You've got ones that
are white and some that are purpleyep. And there's ones that are blue
and there's ones that are white.So they come in a little variation and
in colors, right right. Ilove that. That's good stuff. Anything
else on the aster we need toknow. So you, like we kind
of talked about last month, Maybeyou're interested about getting asters, but I
(09:24):
want to know, well, wherecan you find an aster plant like a
plug or what? Unfortunately, Idon't think in Marion County we don't have
any nurseries that sell native plants,but in Marrow County there's natives. In
Harmony and Delaware County there's Sciota Gardensand also Leaves for Wildlife, So those
(09:45):
are native plant nurseries and they focuson selling native plants. Oh that's cool,
So there's an opportunity for it againthem. When is the best time
to plant an aster? Actually falltime. It's actually not a terrible time.
I mean, of course you cando spring, but right before that
big frost, I would highly recommendget them into the ground, right,
I know, I know, thefall is a great time to plan a
(10:05):
lot of things. I know alot of folks that want to reset their
yard. They usually do it,you know, in that that early September
Labor Day kind of area. Theyget things going and then all of a
sudden, you know, they getto really get their grass away. It
needs to be during the winter andit's ready to go in the spring.
I love that. I've done thatmyself once and I was very happy with
the results. So yeah, yeah, so that's cool. So you can
(10:26):
definitely do some some good stuff inthe fall. Well, let's move on
and talk a little bit about yourcalendar. I know the highlight of your
calendar is coming up on October twentyeighth, That is Trail of Treats.
Let's talk about that for a minuteand then we'll talk about the rest of
the calendar. Yeah, so Trailof Treats. It's probably our largest offense
for the park district. Last yearwe had a little over twelve hundred people,
five hundred kids that came through dressedup. And we're always looking for
(10:52):
volunteers to help with parking cars.Also to counting. Of course, we
like to see how many people youknow that come through the trail. Also
to we're also looking for donations,not money donations, but any candy or
non candy items. So and alsotoo, if you're a company, an
agency, an organization and you wouldlike to promote yourself, it's free.
(11:15):
You can set up along the trail. We'll put you in a special place
along the trail, and we onlygo from the trailhead out by the lake,
so I promise we don't go atall twelve point four miles. So,
so it's a great way to getyour name out into the communities.
So somebody doesn't know what trailer treatsis tell them you know base model how
it works. Yeah, so trailertreats. It's our trick or treat defense.
(11:35):
So what will happen is the participants. They will come in and they'll
start on the right and then whoeveris that last person handing out candy on
the right, Then they turn aroundand they come back on the left,
and then there you go. Youget yourself a nice bag full of candy.
Kids will be in costume, havea good time, and it's very
family friendly. I know. Oneof the things that I've heard more of
(11:58):
this year than in the last fewyears is that question of is it scary.
No, not at all. You'redoing it from three to five in
the afternoon on what could be abeautiful fall day out at the trail right.
Absolutely absolutely. Best place to getinformation is to look up you guys
on Facebook because you post a lotof stuff up there about it. Yes,
on the Marrion Tallgrass Trail or theMarrion Park District Facebook page. Also
(12:20):
to Instagram, Twitter, We're onall those other social media platforms, and
then also to and I'll give mypersonal email, but it's Anderson James zero
three at gmail dot com. Andif you're interested of helping or want to
help to pass out candy, you'remore than welcome to do that. And
also to say your company organization,they would want to participate, but they
(12:43):
can't do to other obligations. You'remore than welcome to help donate with for
the cause of Right now, wehave Peacock Water who's who can't make it
out for the effent, but they'redonating at least ten cases of water.
So again, if you're interested,it's it's a good way to get get
out into the community. Right Andif you missed his email, you can
DM on those socials he does.He's very responsive to those, so just
(13:05):
feel free to do that. He'llhe'll fire back and you guys will get
a conversation and get that situated fortrail Attreats coming to the Mary and Tall
Grass Trail October twenty eight, threeto five. Get details at the Marion
County Park District Facebook page. Let'stalk about everything else that's going on with
the calendar. You guys have abusy October, Yes, well, we
sure do. So a fun programwe haven't done in a few years.
(13:28):
On the October second, at fivethirty pm, we're doing a scoop on
scat programs. If you're not familiarwith scat, it's just the fancy name
for animal poop. We will beout at the Marrian Public Library and so
we will be yes talking about animalscats and I'm hopefully to find some real
animal scat to bring in so andwe will have gloves and make sure we're
(13:50):
sanitary and all that. But it'sa fun program. I know it's gross
in a way, but yeah,I mean we all learned something new when
we did it. Several years ago, I out in scat from tall Grass
Trail and somebody brought in a coyotescat from around Lawrence Orchard area, and
we compared the two coyotes scat andwe found out the coyotes from tall Grass
Trail we're eating more like mice andrabbits because I had more bone and fur.
(14:13):
And then around Lawrence Orchard area,obviously it was eating a lot more
apples because you know, he hasa bunch of apples trees. So stuff
like that is a pretty fun time. So then on the third at five
thirty pm, we're having our WonderfulWorld at Paul Paul's which is our one
indigenous plant tier that we can eatwith the with the fruits, and then
(14:35):
that will be at the tall GrassTrail at the trailhead, and I will
actually bring in some Paul Paul fruitsfor people to try, so it's a
fairy delicious fruits. On the ninth, at five thirty pm, we're doing
a Spectacular Spiders program at tall GrassTrails or Nantha Trailhead. So we're gonna
talk about some of our arachnet friendscalled Marian Home, and then we're gonna
(14:56):
go out along the trail and lookfor spiders. On the fourteenth, at
eight thirty pm, we have farLass Night Hike at the Park program.
So last Saturday we had a nighthike program. We had about twelve people
to show up. It was itwas and we do signs in the dark
and some cool experiments. And asI mentioned before, it's the last one
(15:16):
for the year because after October itdoes get pretty chilly, so we won't
start that back up until May ofnext year. On the sixteenth, we
have our Snakes on a Trail programat five thirty pm so and that will
be of course at tall Grass andwe'll talk about some of the snakes.
I call it the Tall Grass TrailHome, and then we will go out
along the trail and try to findsome of our slivery friends. So yeah,
(15:39):
that'll be fun. On the twentythird, at five o'clock PM,
we have our Feathers and Fur theSecret Lives of Bats and Owls at Tall
Grass Trail the trail heads, sowe're gonna talk about some of the bats
and owls that are native to Ohioand some of their cool ecology and adaptations.
And then afterwards we're gonna be lookingfor bats and owls along the trail.
On the twenty fifth, at fivethirty, we'll be doing the Transition
(16:03):
Fair at Tribe Rivers Careers Center,so come check us out. And as
you mentioned before, Trail of Treatsat Tallgrass Trail from three to five.
And then our last program for Octoberon the thirty at five o'clock PM is
Beneath the Surface mastering skall identification,and I'll be bringing some animal skalls and
we'll be learning kind of the basicskills on when you're learning how to identify
(16:26):
a skall and some tips and tricks. And then if you want to bring
a skll, bring it over andif you're not familiar what it is,
I'll do my very best to identifyit. So cool. So that's October.
It's quite busy, so that's cool. And you can get the calendar
list to anytime you want as wellon Facebook at the Marin County Park District
and all the socialist James and uson all of them in many different ways.
(16:48):
So there's always a good stuff goingon. But plan on trail of
treats and plan that there will bea lot of people there because they will
so be patient, come out,have a good time. And my best
advice to you is get there whenit starts at three and you'll have a
good time. But they park everywhereout there. It's even a long halland
road. It's a crazy, crazyevent, but it's so much fun and
(17:11):
if you can help, we certainlywould love for you to do that good
stuff. James, anything else youwanted to add today? Yeah, you
know right now. You know we'regetting that cooler season and you may I
know we mentioned in our programming,but spiders and snakes are going to be
very abundant this time of year,right, I know, I know I
always talk about the snakes, butI know that's the time of year.
I get so many people who kindof get a little, you know,
(17:33):
hesitant, because like, oh,you know, I don't want to I
don't want to be around them.And as I've always mentioned before for the
many years I've been with you,as you know, as again, as
long as you leave them alone,they'll leave you alone. They just need
the black top to keep warm.And then eventually about early mind no Fember,
they're going hibernation and you won't seethem until about April. Many.
Yeah, we have a beautiful orbweaver at my house. We generally get
(17:56):
one every year around this time,early September, and we literally check almost
every other day to see, youknow, what's what's it look like today?
Did something destroyed? Is there anythingin it? And my wife even
puts out a little couple of waterfor it, and it's just, you
know, it's interesting, you knowhow that works. But they really are
beautiful creatures. And when you seewhat an orb weaver can do and how
(18:19):
it'll look one way and then anhour later it'll look totally different, I
mean, because it's done. It'sit's just it's unbelievable to see how nature
does its thing with those, andpeople are like, well, I don't
like spiders. They're really cool howthey are. They are very cool.
Good stuff, man, Thanks forcoming in as always, and if you're
new to this podcast, make surethat you hit follows so every time we
(18:41):
post a new and you will geta notification right on your phone. He
is James Anderson. He is thenaturalist here in Marion County at the Marion
County Park District and if you wantmore details on what he does, check
them out on Facebook.
Joining me in studio today. We'vegot James Anderson from the Marion County Park
District and we're going to ask thenaturalist and how are you doing? My
friend, good to see you today. All doing peachy good? You know,
Paleontology in the park. You guysjust had that did well and you
said most you've ever had. Talkabout it for a minute. Yes,
So we had a little over threehundred people that came. As you mentioned,
(00:22):
it was the best year that wehad and definitely want to shout out
a big, big thank you toour extraordinary volunteer Wayne Fowler. As I
tell many people, he is themastermind behind that fent all I am in
charge of is looking for volunteers andadvertisement. Other than that, I mean
he for almost the entire year.I mean he's planning, he's gathering resources.
(00:44):
Of course, he reaches out toother organizations and companies, agencies.
We had the Ohio Geological Survey thatcame back out, the Columbus woant Aquarium,
Rottnina, the aliosis that was fun. Ye oh yeah, that was
the biggest hip. And then theOrton Geological Museum down by OSU. So
Wayne's a pretty busy guy. Yeah, and kids love dinosaurs, you know,
it's like they're kind of funny,you know, he said, yeah,
(01:07):
you see these memes floating around thatsays, I finally figured out I
was grown up when people stopped askingme what my favorite dinosaurs? Right,
that kind of But it's true,and kids love it, and it's wonderful
for them to learn because they're learningabout history. They're learning about where where
they came from and where the lifecame from today. But it's also cool
for them to realize that these giantmammoths were here, and dinosaurs were here.
(01:32):
The mammoth was right here in MarionCounties. That's right, And of
course, yeah, we always talkabout the the Marrion Mammoth display. So
unfortunately the bones cannot reach out toto the Tall Grass Trail the Ohio History
Connection, which are technically owned bynow. Last year they made a policy
they can't travel, but we stillset up that display. Rick Haver,
(01:52):
who's a local here in Marion,he was a student over forty years ago
that helped got the bones out.Of course, he always talks about his
experience. Right, it's there apossibility of there being more mammoth bones in
Marion County. I would say,yeah, if we probably digged in the
rights, you would have to believeso, right, Yeah, I mean
those were brought up because of thelandfill creation out there, correct, Yes,
(02:15):
Yeah, that's how all that happened. Yeah, that was just a
pure coincidence accident. The city ofMarian was just digging a hole to put
to start putting trash in, andyeah, they just saw some bones sticking
out. Yeah. Most people,I don't think realized that that whole area
down there is pretty much all becauseof the landfill, the Foundation Lake and
everything, and of course everything that'sgoing on with the new trailhead that is
(02:37):
all because of the landfill over thelast fifty years. Correct, yes,
correct, Yeah, so a lotof things going on with that's that's neat
stuff. So you also had areally neat dedication for Judge rob for golly,
that was really neat to talk aboutthat. Yeah. So his replacement,
ron and berg Graff, she gatheredsome sources and got a picnic table
(03:01):
out there Marrin Community Foundation Lake,right next to Judge Osball's pert Purple Martin
box. Yeah. So I guessI like to call it it's our judge's
corner. So for all the wonderfuljudges that have worked with us with the
park district, Judge for Golly he'sbeen really great. I mean, if
we had some many legal advice,you know, he would give us,
(03:23):
you know, a where to goor what to do. And also too,
he was really important of swearing inour park board members or guided us
of hey, this person I thinkwould benefit for the park district. So
Judge for Golly has been a wonderfulasset with the park district. And I
mean I'm sad that he retired,but I'm glad he gets to enjoy his
grandkids. Amen. You hit itright on the head. So that's some
(03:45):
neat stuff. If you do goout by Community Foundation Lake, you'll see
that there's a lot of things outthere that are dedicated to people who helped
create that. I know, wonderfuldeal. There's a nice deal out there
for Jim Roller too. Yeah,yeah with it with the rich deal Lions
Club. So yeah, he's agood They're good people, they really are.
And uh and we hope Judge ferGilly has a wonderful long retirement and
(04:11):
can enjoy his grandkids. Well let'stalk a little bit about this, and
then at the end of the show, we're going to dig into your next
big event. So you brought withyou the aster plant, correct, Yes,
yeah, I brought a couple ofdifferent aster species. So the reason
why I want to talk about astersbecause I know, last month we were
talking about, you know, aboutprairie plants and how important prairies were.
(04:34):
But you know, this time ofyear, we focus all about mums.
And don't get me wrong, Iknow mums are beautiful. I know,
but I told you before we wenton air, my wife has at least
six month pots spread around our property. And but I tell people, you
know, instead of you know,infesting in a lot of mum plants,
maybe infests in planting native aster specieson your property because they are fairy,
(05:00):
very beneficial towards a lot of ourlocal pollinators in our local wildlife. Go
ahead, So I mean one ofthe things I mean they do. I
mean, yes, they they're greatfor our pollinators, especially like for the
monarchs. I know, again likelast month we talked about because right now
our monarchs they're traveling down to Mexicoand the milkweed they're done. And so
(05:21):
as I was mentioning last month,and I'll mention today again these kind of
these native plants that bloom in thatlate summer early fall season. I mean,
they're very very important for the monarchsbecause you know, they need these
native plants to get a nice kindof quick energy boosts and then head down
to Mexico. So, yes,that's amazing. So they look a lot
(05:42):
like the mom Actually they do.They do look very very similar. Yeah,
for the for the asters, thereis about one hundred and eighty species
of asters across the world. Herein Ohio we have about twenty five different
species. The one that you're goingto primarily see and road ditches or in
big meadow the areas would be thispurple one here. It's called the New
England Asters. And I tell peopleif you do plant asters, and I
(06:06):
hope this doesn't discourage people, butthey can't get on what's called the aggressive
side, so not in face ifit just means that, you know,
some plants are like bullies. Youknow, they do spread their roots and
they do kind of populate a littlearea. So if you do want to
plant asters, I tell people kindof keep it away from everything else.
(06:26):
But if you do, keep itclose to other plants, you may have
to you know, trem them upbecause if not, I mean, these
asters can spread. So just kindof keep that in mind. Not all
aster species, but like the NewEngland aster, yes, definitely are a
big aggressive but again being a nativeplant sometimes you have to be in order
to survive native plant. Is ita wild flower? Yes, yeah,
(06:48):
I had to say wildflower. Theseguys bloom about late summer and to early
fall. Just depending on which asterspecies you're talking about, most of them
are going to be in open areas, prairie areas like we mentioned last month,
and then we have a we havea few that are bloom and woodland
settings. But some of the ediblemedicinal properties. Some of the indigenous people
(07:10):
and early settlers they would eat theyoung shoots and put them in salads.
Also too, they would make teaseand a poultice and they would use it
for skin issues. They would alsodo for kidney issues and respiratory issues.
Now, you do have to keepin mind some of these asters species do
hold some chemical compounds like apoloids,and actually if you ingest in large concentrations,
(07:32):
it can get fatal. So youdo have to be very very cautious
when you're if you are going touse asters, and you know in your
medicinal practices, have you done anythingwith asters yourself personally? No, I
have not. So yeah that thatthat's cool. I mean it looks like
you could you could steep it.It really does the way the way the
plant looks. So when we seethem out, we're going to see them
(07:55):
out mid August two about mid October. You're saying, oh yeah, and
depending on how the fall rolls.If it's relatively warm, warm, sometimes
they're still in bloom until early November. Now, if it's a cooler fall,
I mean, yeah, they'll probablybe done about late octobers. Absolutely,
But it is a perennial, it'snot an annual. Yes, yes,
(08:15):
and that's why, And that's anotherreason why you may want to invest
in masters, because yeah, they'rea perennials that will come out every year
for since the mums are annuals,so once you plant them, well they're
they're gone, right until you getthe new one. Well, I do
notice city, I don't see awhole lot of bees hanging around the mums,
So I get what you're saying.You know, we have some on
the front porch. I like tosit out there with my coffee. I
don't see a whole lot of beeshanging out with those. So I get
(08:37):
where you're where you're coming from.So that's cool. So where would we
find so you guys have some ofthese out a tall grass out of prairie,
Oh yeah, tall grass trail primarilyalso too, probably on the edges
of Paradise and Green Spur since there'ssome open areas and those and those parks.
But like this one I got fromthe Claridon Prairie. If you go
(09:00):
around big On Wildlife Area again,you're gonna see a lot of love of
these asters right now, it's nicesaying they're pretty. You've got ones that
are white and some that are purpleyep. And there's ones that are blue
and there's ones that are white.So they come in a little variation and
in colors, right right. Ilove that. That's good stuff. Anything
else on the aster we need toknow. So you, like we kind
of talked about last month, Maybeyou're interested about getting asters, but I
(09:24):
want to know, well, wherecan you find an aster plant like a
plug or what? Unfortunately, Idon't think in Marion County we don't have
any nurseries that sell native plants,but in Marrow County there's natives. In
Harmony and Delaware County there's Sciota Gardensand also Leaves for Wildlife, So those
(09:45):
are native plant nurseries and they focuson selling native plants. Oh that's cool,
So there's an opportunity for it againthem. When is the best time
to plant an aster? Actually falltime. It's actually not a terrible time.
I mean, of course you cando spring, but right before that
big frost, I would highly recommendget them into the ground, right,
I know, I know, thefall is a great time to plan a
(10:05):
lot of things. I know alot of folks that want to reset their
yard. They usually do it,you know, in that that early September
Labor Day kind of area. Theyget things going and then all of a
sudden, you know, they getto really get their grass away. It
needs to be during the winter andit's ready to go in the spring.
I love that. I've done thatmyself once and I was very happy with
the results. So yeah, yeah, so that's cool. So you can
(10:26):
definitely do some some good stuff inthe fall. Well, let's move on
and talk a little bit about yourcalendar. I know the highlight of your
calendar is coming up on October twentyeighth, That is Trail of Treats.
Let's talk about that for a minuteand then we'll talk about the rest of
the calendar. Yeah, so Trailof Treats. It's probably our largest offense
for the park district. Last yearwe had a little over twelve hundred people,
five hundred kids that came through dressedup. And we're always looking for
(10:52):
volunteers to help with parking cars.Also to counting. Of course, we
like to see how many people youknow that come through the trail. Also
to we're also looking for donations,not money donations, but any candy or
non candy items. So and alsotoo, if you're a company, an
agency, an organization and you wouldlike to promote yourself, it's free.
(11:15):
You can set up along the trail. We'll put you in a special place
along the trail, and we onlygo from the trailhead out by the lake,
so I promise we don't go atall twelve point four miles. So,
so it's a great way to getyour name out into the communities.
So somebody doesn't know what trailer treatsis tell them you know base model how
it works. Yeah, so trailertreats. It's our trick or treat defense.
(11:35):
So what will happen is the participants. They will come in and they'll
start on the right and then whoeveris that last person handing out candy on
the right, Then they turn aroundand they come back on the left,
and then there you go. Youget yourself a nice bag full of candy.
Kids will be in costume, havea good time, and it's very
family friendly. I know. Oneof the things that I've heard more of
(11:58):
this year than in the last fewyears is that question of is it scary.
No, not at all. You'redoing it from three to five in
the afternoon on what could be abeautiful fall day out at the trail right.
Absolutely absolutely. Best place to getinformation is to look up you guys
on Facebook because you post a lotof stuff up there about it. Yes,
on the Marrion Tallgrass Trail or theMarrion Park District Facebook page. Also
(12:20):
to Instagram, Twitter, We're onall those other social media platforms, and
then also to and I'll give mypersonal email, but it's Anderson James zero
three at gmail dot com. Andif you're interested of helping or want to
help to pass out candy, you'remore than welcome to do that. And
also to say your company organization,they would want to participate, but they
(12:43):
can't do to other obligations. You'remore than welcome to help donate with for
the cause of Right now, wehave Peacock Water who's who can't make it
out for the effent, but they'redonating at least ten cases of water.
So again, if you're interested,it's it's a good way to get get
out into the community. Right Andif you missed his email, you can
DM on those socials he does.He's very responsive to those, so just
(13:05):
feel free to do that. He'llhe'll fire back and you guys will get
a conversation and get that situated fortrail Attreats coming to the Mary and Tall
Grass Trail October twenty eight, threeto five. Get details at the Marion
County Park District Facebook page. Let'stalk about everything else that's going on with
the calendar. You guys have abusy October, Yes, well, we
sure do. So a fun programwe haven't done in a few years.
(13:28):
On the October second, at fivethirty pm, we're doing a scoop on
scat programs. If you're not familiarwith scat, it's just the fancy name
for animal poop. We will beout at the Marrian Public Library and so
we will be yes talking about animalscats and I'm hopefully to find some real
animal scat to bring in so andwe will have gloves and make sure we're
(13:50):
sanitary and all that. But it'sa fun program. I know it's gross
in a way, but yeah,I mean we all learned something new when
we did it. Several years ago, I out in scat from tall Grass
Trail and somebody brought in a coyotescat from around Lawrence Orchard area, and
we compared the two coyotes scat andwe found out the coyotes from tall Grass
Trail we're eating more like mice andrabbits because I had more bone and fur.
(14:13):
And then around Lawrence Orchard area,obviously it was eating a lot more
apples because you know, he hasa bunch of apples trees. So stuff
like that is a pretty fun time. So then on the third at five
thirty pm, we're having our WonderfulWorld at Paul Paul's which is our one
indigenous plant tier that we can eatwith the with the fruits, and then
(14:35):
that will be at the tall GrassTrail at the trailhead, and I will
actually bring in some Paul Paul fruitsfor people to try, so it's a
fairy delicious fruits. On the ninth, at five thirty pm, we're doing
a Spectacular Spiders program at tall GrassTrails or Nantha Trailhead. So we're gonna
talk about some of our arachnet friendscalled Marian Home, and then we're gonna
(14:56):
go out along the trail and lookfor spiders. On the fourteenth, at
eight thirty pm, we have farLass Night Hike at the Park program.
So last Saturday we had a nighthike program. We had about twelve people
to show up. It was itwas and we do signs in the dark
and some cool experiments. And asI mentioned before, it's the last one
(15:16):
for the year because after October itdoes get pretty chilly, so we won't
start that back up until May ofnext year. On the sixteenth, we
have our Snakes on a Trail programat five thirty pm so and that will
be of course at tall Grass andwe'll talk about some of the snakes.
I call it the Tall Grass TrailHome, and then we will go out
along the trail and try to findsome of our slivery friends. So yeah,
(15:39):
that'll be fun. On the twentythird, at five o'clock PM,
we have our Feathers and Fur theSecret Lives of Bats and Owls at Tall
Grass Trail the trail heads, sowe're gonna talk about some of the bats
and owls that are native to Ohioand some of their cool ecology and adaptations.
And then afterwards we're gonna be lookingfor bats and owls along the trail.
On the twenty fifth, at fivethirty, we'll be doing the Transition
(16:03):
Fair at Tribe Rivers Careers Center,so come check us out. And as
you mentioned before, Trail of Treatsat Tallgrass Trail from three to five.
And then our last program for Octoberon the thirty at five o'clock PM is
Beneath the Surface mastering skall identification,and I'll be bringing some animal skalls and
we'll be learning kind of the basicskills on when you're learning how to identify
(16:26):
a skall and some tips and tricks. And then if you want to bring
a skll, bring it over andif you're not familiar what it is,
I'll do my very best to identifyit. So cool. So that's October.
It's quite busy, so that's cool. And you can get the calendar
list to anytime you want as wellon Facebook at the Marin County Park District
and all the socialist James and uson all of them in many different ways.
(16:48):
So there's always a good stuff goingon. But plan on trail of
treats and plan that there will bea lot of people there because they will
so be patient, come out,have a good time. And my best
advice to you is get there whenit starts at three and you'll have a
good time. But they park everywhereout there. It's even a long halland
road. It's a crazy, crazyevent, but it's so much fun and
(17:11):
if you can help, we certainlywould love for you to do that good
stuff. James, anything else youwanted to add today? Yeah, you
know right now. You know we'regetting that cooler season and you may I
know we mentioned in our programming,but spiders and snakes are going to be
very abundant this time of year,right, I know, I know I
always talk about the snakes, butI know that's the time of year.
I get so many people who kindof get a little, you know,
(17:33):
hesitant, because like, oh,you know, I don't want to I
don't want to be around them.And as I've always mentioned before for the
many years I've been with you,as you know, as again, as
long as you leave them alone,they'll leave you alone. They just need
the black top to keep warm.And then eventually about early mind no Fember,
they're going hibernation and you won't seethem until about April. Many.
Yeah, we have a beautiful orbweaver at my house. We generally get
(17:56):
one every year around this time,early September, and we literally check almost
every other day to see, youknow, what's what's it look like today?
Did something destroyed? Is there anythingin it? And my wife even
puts out a little couple of waterfor it, and it's just, you
know, it's interesting, you knowhow that works. But they really are
beautiful creatures. And when you seewhat an orb weaver can do and how
(18:19):
it'll look one way and then anhour later it'll look totally different, I
mean, because it's done. It'sit's just it's unbelievable to see how nature
does its thing with those, andpeople are like, well, I don't
like spiders. They're really cool howthey are. They are very cool.
Good stuff, man, Thanks forcoming in as always, and if you're
new to this podcast, make surethat you hit follows so every time we
(18:41):
post a new and you will geta notification right on your phone. He
is James Anderson. He is thenaturalist here in Marion County at the Marion
County Park District and if you wantmore details on what he does, check
them out on Facebook.
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