Two views of bloodroot

One at Beyond the Fields We Know: After the Rain and another at Details of Nature: A Beautiful Day

Good News for Michigan Gardeners

The Nature Conservancy in Michigan - Nature Conservancy Scientists Help Meijer Shoppers Pick Better Plants This Spring

This press release, found via The Invasive Species Weblog is a note of good news for those of us in Michigan.

Yes, I know there's a commercial motive, and yes, it's not perfect because they will still sell non-native species, but it's a strong step in the right direction. Positive reinforcement is more powerful than whining ...

Memories times two

This picture is from our home and habitat in Virginia. Although I'm happy with my move overall, I invested a lot of time and emotional energy in creating a habitat there, and it was hard to leave it behind. In addition, we have a sentimental attachment to this plant. Our pussywillow was rooted from one which my husband rooted as an elementary school project, then planted in his parents' backyard. We took a cutting from it and after several attempts, successfully rooted in in Virginia. I'm still trying to restart it here in Michigan.

Pussywillows are a member of the willow family. They thrive in wet soil and in soil with lots of clay and/or poor drainage (In Virginia, we had a high water table, being on the edge of the flood plain, and lots of clay). They are nonetheless drought resistant and hardy to zone 2.

The catkins appear in mid-to-late February, an early sign of spring, and provide early season food for migrating songbirds as well as resident birds and small mammals.

I'm looking forward to the day that the next generation of this plant successfully puts down roots in Michigan.

There's something wrong with this picture

From The Firefly Forest

Cacti. Snow. In the same picture(s).

Not in my back yard (unfortunately)

The Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum are two of the treasures of Ann Arbor and of the U of M. Although I prefer native Michigan plants in my own yard, I can appreciate a resource that cultivates and displays a world-wide variety of plants for educational and cultural enrichment.

Like zoos, such institutions help preserve species that might other wise become extinct. Recently, the Matthaei acquired a Wollemi pine that will be cultivated for a few years and then moved to the MBG conservatory for protection and public display. It's exciting that a species that has existed for more than 200 million years is being nurtured nearby. I'd love to have one as an indoor plant for my office, but I'm not sure what I'd do in a few years when it became taller than I was. So I'll enjoy the one in the conservatory, and continue to focus my efforts on nurturing outdoor native plants.