Forsythia

Every spring I look forward to the forsythia blooming. Here, this blooms on a scruffy patch at the base of the Howard Street Bridge. Usually a homeless person lounges about in this area, but since this was a rare occasion when he wasn’t here so I whipped out my camera. I am partial to forsythia because it reminds me of my childhood. When we were kids we had some that were so big that we used to play house inside of them. There were several different bushes growing in a row and it seemed like there were several “rooms” inside them.

As you could guess by this forsythia bush’s location, forsythia are very easy to grow and require little maintenance or special conditions. They are tolerant of polluted areas. Ideally, they require full sun, well-drained soil. Technically, forsythia are deciduous shrubs and are a member of the olive family. The leaves drop off in late fall but do not turn any exciting colors. Forsythia is of Asian origin and was discovered by Robert Fortune in the 18th century. Forsythia was introduced to America at the turn of the 20th century. The shrub was named in honor of William Forsyth, who was a prominent gardener in England

Forsythia blooms in March and April with yellow blossoms early in the spring and the blossoms are always on the previous year’s growth. As evidenced by my childhood activities, it can grow large, often between 4 and 6 feet tall and with a spread from three to five feet wide. It also grows fast, from 1-2 feet per year. It leafs out nicely and is often used for privacy. Single forsythia look best wild but if they are in groups they should be trimmed. Many gardeners prefer the unruly look and hesitate to prune them. Forsythia can be grown from cuttings. Cut a 3-6 inch branch from an area of new growth and then place is a pot of moist soil, keeping it moist. It will slowly take root over a few weeks.

Resources

How to Grow and Care for Forsythia

Planting and caring for forsythia

About Forsythia

Sweater Trees

One Sunday recently I was reading The Washington Post and they had one of those “wacky things about Baltimore” articles. Well, the quirky sites were typical, such as some oft mentioned shopping and dining sites. But, I stopped dead when I saw a mention for something called “the sweater tree”. Even more amazing, it was only a few blocks from my home, in front of the LovelyYarns shop. She collected abandoned knitting projects from the people who frequent her shop and then stitched them around the trunk. Apparently they also knitted meter cozies but they were quickly removed.

Apparently this is a part of a trend called urban knitting, or even guerilla knitting. Most famous is the Knitta please project began in 2005 as some of the members agonized about what to do with their abandoned knitting projects. Somehow this led to them surreptitiously attaching knitting to mailboxes and street signs in the middle of the night.
They call it “graffiti”, only using knitting materials. Since then, knitters have attached their knitwear to any available public place. Largely this consists of trees and light poles, but like in the case of Finish and Swedish knitters, it can extend to moorings, handrails, and whatnot. Surprisingly, this trend is visible in urban cities all over the world, even if it is not as prevalent as other art forms. Some cities, such as Yellow Springs, Ohio, led an organized effort to beautify their communities with “tree cozies”.

I’ve heard rumors of another sweater tree on 31st between St. Paul and Charles, so I will investigate that soon.


Resources

"Urban Knitting: The World's Most Inoffensive Graffiti" by deputydog

"A Sweater for a Tree" (AP story)

knittaplease.com

Median Strips

Essentially, median strips exist to divide busy streets and slow down traffic. Years ago these were mostly found in wealthy areas and were as much for beautification as for automobile control. Bolton Hill, where this median strip is located on Mount Royal Avenue, was built mostly between 1850-1900 and was one of the city’s richer neighborhoods. Some streets in this area have medians between the street for residents that goes directly in front of their homes and a larger main street and these acts as a buffer for noise and other traffic issues. Mount Royal Avenue is a main street that leads from north to south and the JFX has a major exit just north of this median; so speedy cars are a problem. Before this was built, though, Bolton Hill did not have as many traffic problems as other neighborhoods because there was no direct route north as Druid Hill Park is in the way. Mount Royal also paralleled the Jones Falls valley, so if one wanted to go east in those days they had to drive until they found a bridge. Thus, this median’s main function in those days was probably beautification.

Now we are mostly familiar with medians in the middle of large highways that are nowhere near cities. In the early days of driving, highways with planted medians were called parkways and the plantings in the strips helped relieve driver’s eyes from the oncoming headlights of cars coming from the other direction. After World War II plantings were used to relieve the concrete austerity of the new superhighways that were springing up in America. In recent years medians have appeared back in cities and suburban areas as a way to add green space and to beautify the community. Plants in median strips suffer indignities not encountered by average garden plants. They are hit by large vehicles, suffer lack of water, and in winter are sprinkled with road salt. There is also less soil to flourish in for trees confined to an island. A construction project is underway opposite the trees in this photo and you can see where people drive over the corners of the grass. And, if you were ever wondering if it is true that moss grows on the north side of trees you can see here that indeed it does.

Resources

Island and Median Strip Planting by William Flemer

Bolton Hill History by Fred Shocken

Doves

On the second day of March we had unusually cold temperatures and a snowstorm. I was going to take the usual snow shots of my back yard but when I looked out the window I saw this roosting dove. Mourning doves like this one are familiar sites in my neighborhood. I even had one roosting in an empty windowsill flowerpot one year. Like this bird, it didn’t seem to be bothered by being so close to a building.

Also like this bird, most Mourning Doves are medium sized and can measure about a foot long from beak to tail tip. They generally have small heads, long pointed tails, and are pale brown in color with white edges to their wings. Males are a bit more colorful, with rose-colored breast feathers and a bit of blue on the backs of their heads. They make a cooing sound that sounds like “Oooo ooo oooo”, which is why they are called the “morning dove”. These birds are similar to pigeons in that they bob their heads when they walk. Also like pigeons, they were popular game birds in Colonial times. They can still be hunted in Maryland and in some other states between fall and spring. Other than humans, the dove’s main enemies are hawks and tapeworms.

A lot of doves migrate south but as you can see here some still stay up north. Doves are found in all 50 states and adapt to most habitats, from rural areas to cities. They have even been reported near beaches. In winter they prefer to stay in flocks but they separate into pairs for mating and nesting. They begin breeding in March and April and their mating season can last to about August. Typically, they lay exactly two small white eggs. Both parents take part in chick rearing.
I’ve am told that Mourning Doves prefer ground feeding and that they mainly eat grains and seeds. They are fond of millet, and ours eat the millet seeds that other birds reject from our feeder. Aside from that, these birds are considered beneficial due to their high consumption of weed seeds. They are also just pleasant, soothing birds to have around in an urban environment.

Resources:

All About Birds: Mourning Dove

All-birds.com Mourning Dove

Familiar Birds-Mourning Dove, contributed by Winsor Marrett Tyler

Maryland Department of Natural Resources: Creating a Wild Backyard: Mourning Dove

I love old buildings and in some parts of town they are disappearing very quickly. This is the old Fallsway Spring and Equipment Co., which is on the corner of Eastern and South Central Avenues here in Baltimore. This is one of the very few old warehouses left in that area and so many were torn down for redevelopment before I could photograph them.

Most of the information I could find on this building just points to the fact that they are going to be redeveloped into condos. I gathered that this company made springs for trucks, as evidenced by many referrals on the web. Apparently the company is now located out of the city as now one web directory lists a Towson address for them, yet the Fallsway company’s own web site is down.

As for springs, they are generally metal wire wound into a cylinder, cone, or coil. They control force by compressing or expanding. In early history springs were items that were simply flexible. The first springs that humans manufactured are considered tweezers that were made during the Bronze Age. Springs were essential in the development of catapults. For this purpose, a Greek inventor named Ctesibius of Alexandria experimented with a combination of metals (tin in copper alloy) and hammering that allowed bronze to be bouncier. (3rd century BC) Later, the Romans pioneered the use of padlocks, some of which depended on leaf springs. (Opening the lock caused the leaves to compress.) Peter Henlein of Germany is said to have pioneered coiled springs in the 15th century. Clock makers wanted a simpler way to replace the weights within clocks that were a complicated way to keep accurate time. This innovation led to portable and more accurate clocks that ship’s captains and others in transportation could use. Spring manufacturing really took off during the Industrial Revolution as makers had the ability to mass produce machined parts.

If you are despondent because the Fallsway Spring company is closed, here is how to make your own springs. This is an extensive site put together by someone who doesn’t give him/herself credit. Mach 5 Motorsports has instructions on how to install them, but both sites caution about the danger of each activity.

Other Resources

Springs from “How Products are Made”

“A Brief History of Clocks”

The Stairs at Mount Royal Station

One raw and rainy afternoon this past week I walked by the staircase that leads down to the old Mount Royal Station (now part of MICA). I’ve always liked these stairs. They are old, wooden and a bit steep. They make me feel like I should run up and down them like a little kid.

Like many everyday things, no one really knows the origin of the staircase. They do date back to at least 6000 BC. People needed a device to travel over rough spots in the terrain, so they used what looked like a cross between a ladder and a staircase. (Picture a tree trunk with notches for people to step on.) Staircases then were mainly used outdoors. Soon, the Chinese pioneered the use of outdoor stone stairs because they believed that they would form a link between the land and the heavens.

In the Middle Ages castle architects made use of spiral stone stairs. These were excellent for defense as the man in the top position could swing freely while the man below (if right handed) could not because of the support column.

Mount Royal Station was built in 1896 and the stairs belong to what the Eleve Stairs website calls "the golden age of stairs". Many follow the standards of architect Peter Nicholson, who outlined his formula for stair construction in his books, such as The Mechanic's Companion (1831). He believed that stairs should not only be practical because they needed to facilitate movement around the building, but they should also be elegant and well made. Many of his theories are still in use today.

Sources:

Eleve Stairs

The Mechanics Companion by Peter Nicholson (1831)

Engineers Guide to Baltimore

Fire Hydrants

Last Sunday in Baltimore there was a large water main break. On Monday I had to walk to the library so I thought I'd walk by the affected area to see what it was all about. This is one of the hydrants the workmen opened, probably to clear silt out of the lines. This prompted me to look up the history of fire hydrants.

There is no clear inventor of the fire hydrant. For the most part, before they were invented people kept large vessels filled with water around. Cisterns were common in America even after hydrants had been around for 60 years or so. Firemen were helped by the introduction of municipal water supplies, which were simply buried wooden pipes. When they needed water, the firemen would dig up the street and punch a hole in the water main. Then they could pump out what they needed. After it was finished they sealed the hole with a "fire plug". This changed a bit when a large part of London was destroyed in an 1666 fire. The city added pre-drilled holes and plugs for easier access, and this led to the eventual development of hydrants. In America the hydrants we know of today were developed in the early 1800s. With innovations made just before the Civil War, hydrants of the 1860s looked very much like they do today.


Sources:

A Brief History of the Hydrant

The Fire Hydrant by Curt Wohleber