Arbor Day was the idea of one Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902), a Nebraska journalist and politician. Morton thought Nebraska's landscape and economy would benefit from the wide-scale planting of trees. He set an example himself by planting orchards, shade trees and wind breaks on his own farm, and he urged his neighbors to follow suit. When he became a member of Nebraska's State Board of Agriculture, he proposed that a special day be set aside dedicated to tree planting and increasing awareness of the importance of trees.

Arbor Day was officially proclaimed by Gov. Robert W. Furnas of Nebraska on March 12, 1874, and the day was observed April 10, 1874. Nebraska's first Arbor Day was an amazing success. It was estimated that more than one million trees were planted. In 1885, Arbor Day was named a legal holiday in Nebraska and April 22, Morton's birthday, was selected as the date for its permanent observance. Morton first worked to improve agriculture in Nebraska. He then did the same for the whole United States when he served as President Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture. But his most important legacy is Arbor Day.

In the years following that first Arbor Day, Morton's idea spread beyond Nebraska to other states. Today all 50 states celebrate state Arbor Days with dates that vary in keeping with the local climate — from Hawaii's first Friday in November to Alaska's third Monday in May. The National Arbor Day of the last Friday in April was chosen because many of the states celebrate theirs on that date. California celebrates a whole Arbor Week, from March 7th to March 14th.

Arbor Day is also now celebrated in many other countries, although they have different names and often weeks instead of days. For instance, it is called 'Greening Week' in Japan and 'The Tree-loving Week' in Korea. Planting a tree is a good idea anywhere in the world!

For the homeowner, National Arbor Day is a great day to look over the trees on the property and plan for the future. Check your trees for damage, disease and pests. Think about planting a new tree as a windbreak, for shade, or just for looks. If you are a parent, National Arbor Day is a great opportunity to share some family activity, by choosing a tree and planting it with your child (or children). If you have no space to plant a tree, consider a small, slow-growing tree in a pot — or give a tree as a gift to someone who needs some trees on their property.

April 30 and May 1st, White Forest hosts the Annual Empire Orchid Society Show!

There will be a potting demonstration, along with great information on how to select orchids and grow them in your home.

If you grow vegetables year-round in an established garden you'll need to make space for summer crops. When you plant winter vegetables in fall you can usually pull up just about everything and start out fresh. But in spring when you plant summer vegetables it's not quite that easy, because the seasons for many crops overlap.

It's often necessary to plant among some winter vegetables that are still going strong and to pull out others — even if they aren't quite finished — in order to make enough room for summer vegetables.

The smaller the space, the more important it is to schedule your fall planting so that most cole crops — such as cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower — are finished by the time you are planting. If they're still going strong, plant them earlier next year. Peas are often getting ratty looking and mildewy by summer planting time, so pull them out and replace them with tomatoes and corn.

Onions and garlic stay in the ground to mature as the days lengthen. Be sure to weed your onions often; their small root systems can't compete with the roots of weeds. Replace parsley now or next month. A good place for it is east of a row of trellised cucumbers, where it will get some shade on hot afternoons.

By cleaning out most winter crops, and cultivating and amending the soil before summer planting, you help prevent a carryover of pests and diseases.