MinervaFlora - June Update

Walk east from the community building along the South Lake path and you will find a Horse Chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) next to both benches.

The Horse Chestnut tree can grow up to 70’ tall and 60’ wide and is native to Europe, specifically the Balkans, but not Ohio. It is a large, deciduous tree which is synoecious (male and female organs in the same flower).

The leaves are palmately compound with 5-7 leaflets. Check out the flowers! They show in spring in erect 4-12” panicles with 20-50 flowers on each, often in white, pink or even red. 1-5 fruits develop on each panicle, the shell of which is a green, spiky capsule containing 13 seeds (horse chestnuts). Nuts, bark, flowers and leaves are toxic. It prefers moist, well-drained soil and full to partial sun and does well in zones 4-7. 

Fun fact: A Horse Chestnut grew outside the window of the secret annex in Amsterdam, mentioned in Anne Frank’s diary. Also, the seeds were gathered in WWI and WWII to make acetone for cordite explosives!

Community Garden Update: The new metal boxes purchased with money from the Franklin County community garden grant have been assembled and installed. (Thank you to the FCCG grant and to Northland Alliance for being our fiscal sponsor). Pathways are nearly covered with barrier cloth, plants are mostly planted. We have made one donation to W.A.R.M. of about 8lbs so far this year. We have 3 new gardeners and this year we lost a gardener who has been with the garden since the beginning!

Minervaflora Update: The bench pots have been planted with the 2 broken pots near playground replaced. Invasive removal has slowed while we are tending to our own gardens and suspect plants are more difficult to get to. We had an offer of more tree saplings from a member’s relative and so 90 more trees/shrubs have been or will be planted in the greenspace. Minervaflora will host our 2nd annual plant sale at the MPCA Arts in the Park on Saturday, June 7th. Minervaflora’s Garden Tour will be held Sunday, June 29th from 1-5p. We are currently looking for gardens to participate. Check out mympca.org for more details. Have a wonderful summer!