May Showers... and Bioswale Building

Coming out of the worst winter we've ever had, spring is even more appreciated than it usually is, and it's always wonderful.  It seems a bit late, and we've had a lot of rain lately, so I've gone ahead and had a bioswale installed.  More on that later.

Meanwhile I spent the winter taking the Michigan Master Gardener course and have lately been doing my volunteer hours at things like Plant-a-Row sites, plant sale for Habitat for Humanity and pruning at Tollgate Farm  in Novi.  It's close by and a world unto itself.  They now have some cows, chickens, goats, and a llama in addition to the three horses which were there over the winter.  We had our master gardener classes there.  They've got some wonderful programs including 4H clubs.

Today I went to Cranbrook for their annual plant sale.  I hadn't been in years, but the wild geraniums, trilliums and Mayapples, Podophyllum peltatum, which I bought there have really spread over the years.  Today I bought some more natives which I've put in the ground, except for two heirloom tomatoes which will have to wait for more consistently warm weather.

My biggest project so far has been to get the bioswales installed.  Unfortunately I didn't have anything to do with the installation most of which took place today in the rain.  John DeLisle owns Natural Community Services and he does ecological restoration and native landscaping.  The swale with its native plants should soon begin to capture the rainwater and especially pollutants rather than allowing them to go through the storm drain.

Day 1 of the Bioswale

Spring Came in with the Crocuses

I started this as a class project way before May 8, sometime in April.  At the time the crocuses had just started popping up. This was a delight after a relatively long, cold and drab winter. It made me wish I'd planted some new crocus bulbs in the fall as well as other early blooming bulbs like aconites and snowdrops. That is now officially on my to-do list for the fall.  I also have to get other colors besides the blues and whites, so Ruby Giant Specie Crocus, a light violet, as well as some yellow ones would provide more variety and pick-me-up. 

        Despite how grungy the leaves around the flowers look, I plan to leave most of them on the beds and just cover them with compost and mulch rather than raking them up. Less work and they can benefit from the leaves. We've had so much rain this week that the trees should be very happy after last winter's dryness, but we would all love some warmth and dryness about now.  Next up, daffodils!  And here they are.  By now, May 8, they're fading.  It's amazing how fast everything comes and goes in the spring.  But every day there's something new and often you don't see it happening till you look out of your window and say, "Wow, there are leaves on that tree.  When did that happen?"

So while these first two posts are out of order, Ill try and keep things in order and up to date from  now on.