Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County

By Ellie Dilworth, AmeriCorps Environmental Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator, Keep Durham Beautiful

With Spring fast approaching, it’s hard not to stare out the window and dream of being outside. Luckily, the third week in March offers a great chance to get out there: Durham Creek Week.

This year, Creek Week runs from March 18^th through March 25^th. Creek Week is one of Durham’s largest litter cleanup initiatives of the year; a collaboration of over 15 community groups, organizations, local government divisions, and businesses; and a week-long celebration of Durham’s creeks, streams, rivers, and lakes.

*Volunteers from Durham Tech at a litter removal event at Long Meadow Park along Goose Creek, Creek Week 2019 (Credit: Tania Dautlick)*

Tackling Pollution

One of Creek Week’s main initiatives is removing litter from waterways and raising awareness about water pollution. Litter flows into our waterways with runoff and pollutes water as materials degrade, leaching chemicals into the surrounding water and soil. Did you know, the chemicals from just one cigarette butt can contaminate around two gallons of water—removing litter is a big deal!

Durham’s main source of drinking water is Lake Michie, located in North Durham. However, most of the creeks and streams in Durham flow into Jordan or Falls Lake, which serve as drinking water sources for surrounding cities. March is a great time to remove litter from our waterways as much of the overgrowth is dormant, making it easier to get close to waterways, spot the litter, and go in there to get it out.

Durham has celebrated Creek Week since 2009. In Creek Week’s 13-year history, approximately 4,117 volunteers have removed 190,637 pounds of litter from Durham’s waterways. This year, Creek Week will host a variety of cleanups across Durham to remove litter both on foot and by boat. Below we’ll tell you how to get involved.

Educational Opportunities

While litter removal is a big part of Creek Week, it’s also a great time to learn more about our waterways, aquatic life, and water infrastructure in Durham. Participants can gain knowledge and experience through hands-on learning opportunities.

*Kids searching for frogs at last year’s Frog Watch at Sandy Creek Park, Creek Week 2022 (Credit: Laura Webb Smith)*

Some of this year’s events include:

Experiencing the explosion of spring song and mating activity among frogs at Sandy Creek Park
A bioretention tour at the City of Durham’s General Services Building
A Green Stormwater workshop at the Museum of Life and Science

An Educational Resource Guide with youth book recommendations and classroom activities and lessons can be found on the Creek Week website for a great way to learn and participate from home!

Recreational Activities

After lots of litter removals and educational events, it can be nice to spend some time exploring and enjoying our local waterways. Creek Week has ample opportunities for both fun and challenging—but still fun—recreational activities. Join Creek Week partners for one of many canoe and kayak adventures and classes which offer a new perspective on our lakes and rivers, enjoy free admission to explore the Museum of Life and Science on Durham Community Day, or team up for a hike along one of Durham’s many trails that run alongside our waterways.

Participate from Home

Whether you can attend an in-person event or not, you can still participate in Creek Week! Visit the Creek Week website to fill out this year’s bingo card. Participants who complete five spaces will receive a Creek Week patch. Those who fill out ten spaces will be entered for a chance to win a $120 gift card from Frog Hollow Outdoors. Durham County Stormwater is hosting a virtual scavenger hunt via social media with prizes for participants who get all the questions correct.

In addition to events in Durham, the Clean Water Education Partnership of the Triangle J Council of Governments hosts a Regional Creek Week event. For this year’s Regional Creek Week theme of “GSI Oh My!,” CWEP will be hosting a virtual scavenger hunt highlighting local examples of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). GSI provides an alternative to sending runoff unfiltered directly into waterways via methods of filtering and absorbing stormwater in the place where it falls. Implement green stormwater infrastructure at your home through things like a rain barrel or rain garden, or take on a larger project like bioretention cells or redeveloping the riparian buffer along a waterway. For more information on the scavenger hunt and Regional Creek Week events, visit CWEP’s Regional Creek Week webpage.

*Volunteers at a litter removal event at Beaver Marsh Preserve, Creek Week 2022 (Credit: Laura Webb Smith)*

Register and Learn More

If you’re interested in joining a cleanup, participating in a workshop, or attending a recreational event, visit www.durhamcreekweek.org and navigate to the events page for registration links. Space is limited for many events, so sign up soon to secure your spot. If you’d like to organize or lead a litter removal event, please fill out this form. Keep Durham Beautiful will provide tools for those leading litter cleanups. If you’re not in Durham but would still like to get involved, keep an eye out for similar events in your area by visiting CWEP’s Regional Creek Week webpage or the NC Creek Week Network Hub from the NC Department of Environmental Quality.

However you choose to participate, we hope you take the chance this March to explore, appreciate, learn, and care for our local waterways. See you out there!

Resources/Links:

www.durhamcreekweek.org (Includes Event Registration, Educational Resource Guide, Bingo Card)

NC Creek Week Network Hub

CWEP’s Regional Creek Week webpage

Registration Form to Lead or Organize a Cleanup

Article Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-3eo

Houseplants are having a moment. And African violets are everywhere in local nurseries and giving monstera (Monstera deliciosa) a run for its money. With the resurgence in the African violet’s popularity, it’s a great time to revisit Wendy Diaz’s article to learn more about their history, characteristics, and care needs. Plants often play a significant role in intergenerational relationships and familial memories, as Wendy’s piece illustrates.

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By Wendy Diaz, EMGV

Very few houseplants exist in my home. My gardening efforts are concentrated outdoors in our temperate climate; but there is one houseplant, no matter where I live, that I always like to have for both aesthetic and nostalgic reasons, and that is the African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha). My mother and her mother always had them sitting on a table next to a sunny window in small pots with saucers, so I feel I should carry on the tradition. Several years ago, my mother repotted my current African violet plant during her last visit to my home. I have a great spot for it in front of my westerly facing window, and every year it sprouts new crown growth, which I divide, repot and give away. It takes very little care. If they have the perfect growing conditions, African violets can flower almost continuously.^[1] Extensive care guides are available from the Missouri Botanical Garden ^[2] and the African Violet Society of America^[3] but I will summarize the basics for you in this little post.

*African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha) in clay pot with glass saucer in west facing window in February*. (Image credit: Wendy Diaz)

History

The African violet is native to the mountains of Tanzania and Kenya (Eastern Africa). Despite its occurrence in homes worldwide it is now only believed to grow wild in the Amani Nature reserve in Tanzania^[4]. The flower of the original species typically has 5 petals and ranged from pale blue to lavender in color. In 1892, the plant was officially discovered by Baron Walter von Saint Paul Illaire, serving as the imperial district governor of Tanginyika, who sent seeds back to his father in Germany. His father took the plant to the Royal Botanical Garden director and botanist, Hermann Wendland, who gave it the botanical name Saintpaulia ionantha. The genus is named after the Baron and the species is named for the Greek word ‘resembling a violet’, referencing its flower. Two British botanists discovered the plant previously and took it to Kew Gardens to be recognized, but the plants were in such poor condition that they could not be scientifically classified⁴.

A New York florist introduced the plant in 1894 but the drafty homes of the time meant the plants died when they were chilled and they gained a finicky reputation. With the advent of fluorescent lighting, better understanding of their required growing conditions, and the development of a wide variety of flower colors, foliage and sizes, African violets became a more popular houseplant². The first African Violet Show was held in Atlanta in 1946 and the 76th annual African Violet Show, organized by the African Violet Society of America, was held in May of 2022.^[5]

Description

African violets are low compact plants that typically grow in a rosette form with thick hairy green leaves and stems with velvety- purple flowers usually having 5 petals (two smaller petals at the top and three larger petals on the bottom) and yellow centers. The flowers emerge in small panicles (multi-branched) above the foliage. There are now a wide variety of cultivars that vary in size from micro-miniature (less than 3 inches across) to the large variety that can be more than 16 inches wide. My African violet is the standard variety and currently measures 14 inches wide and from the crown to top of flowers is 6 inches high. Various foliage types have also been developed, for example, leaves with wavy leaf edges, variegation or trailing habits. Flower types can be single blossom or double (10 petals) and multi-colored petals like white, pink, crimson and even yellow. Over 3000 photos displaying the diversity of African violet cultivars can be viewed in the photo gallery of the African Violet Society of American website.^[6]

Standard size African violet. Photo taken of rosette on February 28, 2021; thick green hairy leaves photo taken February 14, 2021 and close up of five petal purple flowers photo taken on February 10, 2021. (Image credit: Wendy Diaz)

Care

Because their natural habitat is tropical in moist and shaded conditions on steep rock crevices near streams, the African violet thrives indoors with humidity of 50 to 60%, in moist but well-drained soil in small shallow pots next to a sunny window, but not in direct sunlight. My westerly facing high-efficiency window appears to be ideal for my African violet all year but you may have to move your African violet from a south-facing window in the summer months. It likes acidic soil with good aeration (25%). You can buy specifically prepared soilless mix to grow your African violet, but I have been successful with just potting soil, taking care not to overwater and an occasional application of fertilizer to keep the flowers coming (1/8 teaspoon 20-20-20 fertilizer per gallon of water). Homemade soil mixtures should contain 3 parts sphagnum peat moss, 2 parts vermiculite, and 1 part perlite and care should be given to position the crown of the plant just above the soil surface¹.

African violets can flower almost continuously if their growing conditions are similar to the original habitat of wild African violets. (Left to right) In winter on February 10, 2021, in the fall on October 25, 2020 (pink dahlia and white muhly grass flowering outside in the background) and in the spring on April 25, 2018. (Image credit: Wendy Diaz)

The ideal pot should be smaller than the mature plant (they flower better if the roots are a little cramped; think crevice) and shallow (roots spread outward than down). In North Carolina if you don’t have your AC unit on high there should be enough humidity for the plants to thrive.

*A small recently divided African violet in a two inch pot with a 7 inch spread from the larger African violet in the background on February 28, 2021.* (Image credit: Wendy Diaz)

Water the roots, not the plant, and keep the foliage dry. There are self-watering African violet pots available to help make sure the plants get proper moisture and humidity but I have had success with a small clay pot placed on a dish. About once a week, when the soil feels dry to the touch, I gently part the leaves and pour room-temperature water from a narrow-spout watering can, directly to the soil making sure water spreads over the entire soil surface. I discard the excess water that drains into the dish making sure the pot does not sit in a dish of water for long. If you can remember and desire to maintain a symmetrical rosette form you can turn your plant a quarter-turn weekly. Occasionally, I snip off dead outside leaves at the base of the plant and pick off spent flowers. Each row of leaves produces a set of flowers only once.

*Weekly watering of my African Violet. Photo taken February 28, 2020* (Image credit: Wendy Diaz)

The most common problems are cold temperatures (they need between 60 and 80 degrees F), not enough light for flowering to occur (position within 24 inches of a window), or crown rot due to overwatering. If you notice spotting on the leaves it is probably because you splashed cold water on them. If the plant develops long stems they need more light or if they lose their green color the plant needs less light (bleaching has occurred).

If you have a sunny window facing south, east or west and a small pot and saucer you can easily grow an African violet. I recommend the African violet for a continuous flowering houseplant that will brighten your home, even in winter, and who knows you may inspire a new generation of African violet enthusiast or create your own southern tradition of a ‘passalong’ African violet.

In memory of my mother, Marion Millar (1930 to 2020) who introduced to me to gardening and African violets.