Lily of the Valley, Spring Woodland Flower

Lily of the Valley, convallaria majalis. . . belonging to May... the return of happiness.

Legend has it the  Lily of the Valley,  convallaria majalis, blooms every May to ensure the return of the nightingale. The floral emblem of Yugoslavia and the national flower of Findland, this fragrant spring bell-shaped flower is also known as Mary's tears. This imperiling and much sought after plant for perfumes, floral arrangements and my favorite spring flower* has a secret. All the parts of the plant are highly poisonous, including the red berries. This plant though very pleasing to the senses of sight and smell, can cause abdominal pain, vomiting and reduced heart rate. . . how could something so beautiful potentially cause so much pain and suffering? 

West side of house, contained lily of the valleys

Native to the Northern Hemisphere, this herbaceous perennial plant is spread by rhizomes, causing a massive carpet as a root system smothering any other competing plant that also would thrive in moist shaded organic soils. Resistant to the browsing deer that visit our yard, unlike the hosta, day lilies and tulips that the deer so enjoy in my garden, the lily of the valleys just keep spreading.

It all started when moving to our present home, I brought a clump of lily of the valley plants with us.
Planting them on the west side of our house, they have done very well. I can pick several bouquets to enjoy in the house mixed with other spring flowers.

I then decided to  plant them in the main garden and these plants have been like plants on steroids. Because of the invasiveness of the plants, they are everywhere in our garden, I actually have changed my favorite spring flower *to the lilac.

Two years ago, I decided to take matters into hand and started to remove the lily of the valleys in the main garden and in their spot I wanted to put a fountain and water element. It took me days and I filled 12 garden trash bags full of the plant.

Fountain with lily of the valley plants still lurking beneath.

The fountain was installed and it is a great addition to the garden. The fountian is bittersweet.  I knew the stolons and pieces of rhizomes that I didn't completely remove would come back to haunt me. I had not seen the end of the lily of the valleys.

I was right, so yesterday, I spent two hours digging the newly emerging lily of the valleys around the fountain. The moral of this story is, if you have been told something is invasive, listen, and if you choose to still included it in your garden, take the proper precautions to contain the plant.

Enjoy this last day of April and its showers!

42 Degrees! Really!

After all it is the end of April and we have had 80 degree days in March... who would have ever believed that we would be in the 40's for the high and possible snow mixed with the coming rain.

In order to not let the gloomy day get the best of me, I went through some of my photo albums.

This is what we have in store for us all. Sunny days and flowers and insects, butterflies and more flowers. .

Bee enjoying the Echinacea

Swallowtail

American Roots Nursery, Trish Hennig and Woody

"American Roots" plants hiding the sign.

Woody and Wayne

I am looking to fill in the bare spots in my woodland garden. What a great excuse to visit Trish Hennig and American Roots, her native plant nursery. We are always greeted by Woody, her constant companion. His enthusiasm on this cool windy day, was heart warming.
Hennig only grows MIchigan Genotype native plants she harvests from collected seed, division of her plants and  plants she rescues from endangered and compromised sites. She offers woodland and prairie plants, grasses, ferns, vines, trees, shrubs and sedges.
Unlike us bundled up humans, the plants didn't seem to mind the cool change, again, in our temperatures. After all, they are MIchigan natives and have grown over the eons to withstand our often extreme changing Spring weather.
                                                                                                                                                           

Walking into the nursery

Labeled plants and areas

When walking into Hennig's nursery, one gets the feeling of a well organized operation. The plants are all tagged and the tables are labeled. After reading my previous blog, you know how much I appreciate that detail. The plants are healthy and I can hardly wait to start filling my boxes. I had a list. I knew what I was going to purchase. In fact, I had emailed Trish a list and only added a few other plants.

I can not tell you how many times we said to ourselves as we drove to the nursery that we would only be buying a few, and we always would get carried away. The problem is not getting the numerous purchases into the car, though once we had to make two trips to bring them all home.The problem is the hours of planting when we get home. The reward from all the previous years was this Spring  we could see the plants are actually spreading. You saw in an earlier posting the Wild Ginger, Ascarum canadense, the Hairy Hepatica, Hepatica nobilis and Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis. 

Shooting Star  Dodecatheon

Blooming now are the Shooting Stars, Dodecatheon.

   

                                    Who doesn't love the Trillium, Trillium grandiflorum?

"Remember me, said the Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, standing tall.

It was time to pack the flowers in the car. Wayne and Trish we settling up with our grand total. Smiling all the way home, I knew exactly where we would be planting the new arrivals amidst the established plants in our garden. I am blessed!

Kincaid Stainless Steel Markers and my Garden

Last 25 of the 100 in the box

 I have a pet peeve,  I hate to wander through some one's garden and not be able to identify a plant. I dislike even more, when the host can't identify the plant either. That is why I do like to go to botanical gardens, usually, most of the plants are identified.So if I like a plant I know what I am looking for and can then go find a nursery to purchase it.

When Wayne and I started to go to day lily members' gardens, each lily was identified. Name of lily, the hybridizer and the year the plant was introduced was on each of the markers. I loved it. I also loved that the markers were sturdy, the tape with which each was marked wasn't effected by the extreme weather we have in MIchigan. So when Wayne and I started introducing natives,day lilies any other ornamental plant, tree or shrub, I tagged it. I wanted anyone walking through the gardens to be able to go home with the common name and Latin name of the plants in our garden. Our first tagging was done with the markers found in nurseries, or hardware stores. We marked each with the pencil provided and we were proud. We did a good job. Then Winter set in and we forgot about the gardens, never giving a second thought to the markers. As Spring approached we anxiously walked through the gardens to see what returned, we noticed the markers were bare. No names, no hybridizers and no Latin name could be found or recognized if there was anything left of the marker. We were furious, all the hours we spent marking the labels for naught! So we asked the gardener's with the nice labels, where they purchased them we were introduced to Kincaid Stainless Steel Markers.

Brother P-touch printer

We also learned one also has to have a Brother P-touch label maker/Printer and lots of cartridges of tape. Back to researching to look up names, hybridizers, in the case of the natives  the common name and the Latin name, again. When it comes to hostas, books, websites and knowing the past president of the Hosta Society helps.

It is well worth all the work when walking in the garden, one can identify each plant in our garden. Last Saturday at the Southern Michigan Day Lily Society banquet, we bought more day lilies and needed to make more labels. So after about two hours of work, I had the 28 new markers finished for the newly bought day lilies and the day lilies planted last fall in the new raised gardens. The  15 " markers come from a made in the USA company, Kincaid Gardens. Gary and Gail Kincaid were gardeners that were looking for a product that would last and started manufacturing their own. Truly many gardeners have benefited from their hard work. Worth every penny!

Arbor Week in Michigan Starts Monday!

I was curious about the evolution of Arbor Day. Googling Arbor Day History in Michigan,  this is what I found. In 1885, the Michigan Legislature requested the Governor to call attention to the importance of planting trees for ornament and replacement and by naming a day to do so Arbor Day was created in Michigan, 13 years after Nebraska started Arbor Day.

Eastern White Pine Pinus strobus

1965, Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas were celebrating Arbor Day at different times because of the sometimes extreme differences of weather conditions for planting. Then, Governor George Romney, to help unite the two peninsulas, declared Michigan would celebrate the last week of April as Arbor Week. The official day would be the last Friday of April. So Monday, April 23,  starts Arbor Week in Michigan and Arbor Day is Friday April 27th.


I then really became interested in how Nebraska would be so ahead of Michigan for declaring a day to plant trees that I 'dug' a little more in the history and here is what I found.


In 1854, J. Sterling Morton and his family moved to the Nebraska Territory. What makes this story so incredible is that Morton and his family were from Detroit, Michigan. Morton, born April 22, 1832, Jefferson County NY, was brought to Michigan by his father to start a business and they lived in the Monroe area. Morton attended private school in Monroe. He attended Albion College, class of 1850 and attended The University of Michigan. 6 weeks before he was to graduate, Morton was expelled for his outspoken views and controversial behavior. He then excepted a job working as a reporter for a newspaper in Detroit. He was later granted  undergraduate degrees from the University and Union Colleges in Schenectady NY.

 From Detroit, he moved his family to Nebraska, to a landscape that was flat, treeless and an open prairie. He and his wife, Carolyn, were nature lovers, they missed the variety of trees, forests and flowers Michigan and the East coast had to offer. So he and his wife, quickly started to plant trees and shrubs and flowers.

Morton was a journalist. Through the newspaper where he worked, he put his talents to use and spread his knowledge and enthusiasm for gardening and agriculture, especially for planting trees. Morton encouraged not only individual families to plant trees for wind breaks, shade and future building materials, he encouraged organizations and prominent businesses to do the same.

Morton soon became the Secretary of the Nebraska Territory, where he still encouraged the planting of his precious trees. On January 4, 1872, to the now State Board of Agriculture,(Nebraska became our 37th State on March 1, 1867), Morton proposed a tree planting holiday to be called 'Arbor Day'. April 10, 1872 was the day designated to celebrate. Prizes were awarded for the most trees planted on that day. It was estimated that the people of Nebraska planted over one million trees that day.

Jumping on the band wagon of the success of  the first 'Arbor Day', Robert W. Furnas, the now  Nebraska State Governor, declared that 'Arbor Day' was to be observed on April 10, 1874. It again was such a success that the next year it was declared a legal holiday in Nebraska. April 22, 1875 was the first legal holiday 'Arbor Day' in honor of Morton's birthday.

A huge celebration was held. The students planted more trees, a parade was held and Morton addressed the students at the overflowing and crowded Opera House. A quote from Morton's speech is "Each generation takes the earth as trustees". To view historical pictures of Morton, click here.

During the 1870's other states passed legislation to observe Arbor Day. In 1882 the tradition began in schools nationwide. The most common agreed date for numerous state observances is the last Friday of April.

Check the list for events in your area for Arbor Day. Follow in the spirit of Michigander, J. Sterling Morton and go plant a tree a native tree to Michigan. For a selection of trees to choose from go to   https://www.msu.edu/~linnellw/Michtree.htm.

Hemerocallis, Speaking of Lilies....

Patsy Carpenter

I have a weakness. . . . and it is pretty: Hemerocallis or the Daylily. Mixed with the natives that I have planted to feed, host and nurture the wildlife in our yard, we have day lilies.

 Almost too many to remember all their names, and yet I do. I should, as I have marked each one with its own stainless steel marker labeled with the flower's name, hybridizer and the year it was registered.

My husband and I belong to the Southern Michigan Daylily Society.  I know, you are thinking, it goes against everything I have written, Trouble in Native Paradise. It is a weakness and I will let you be the judge as you browse through the slide show of the beautiful flowers that make me smile as I walk through the garden each morning and get to take pictures of them before they fade away into the night, if I am a hypocrite.

As Sara Stein stated in her book, Noah's Garden, Restoring The Ecology of our Own Back Yards. "Our task is therefore nothing less than to create a new landscape". She wonderfully explains throughout her book how we all can help and recover how suburban development has on a grand scale wrought habitat destruction, one backyard at a time. We can mix the biodivesity of our plantings to help recover habitat loss and still maintain the beauty of our gardens.

I welcome your comments. Should one be a purist? Or can there be diversity in relandscaping our yards to support wildlife?

A North American Spring Bulb, the Trout Lily

Trout Lily, Erythronium americanum

A walk through the woodland area behind my house was rewarded by the sighting of  the Michigan native Erythronium americanum,  or Trout Lily. The open area between the wetlands and my gardens is an oak woodland forest. Tall trees now bare until the new leaves re-appear, offer the filtered light many woodland species, including the Trout Lily, need to grow. The Trout Lily, or Fawn Lily or Dog-tooth Violets, as they are also called, are found in thick masses or clumps. They form low mottled patches hidden by the layer of leaves and mixed in the rich moist humus soil they love to reside in.

Trout Lily

Michigan Lily Lilium michiganense

A member of the Lily, Liliaceae, family, the nodding flower  6 -10 inches high can be found on the top of a leafless stem or scape.  Mottled, gray, green and brown leaves mimic the markings of the brook or brown trout. This blooming season, co insides with trout fishing season, could this explain the naming of the plant? Only plants with 2 leaves will flower. Single leaves forming the massive clumps, will take up to 7 years to mature and then bloom. The flower has 6 tepals, consisting of 3 yellow backed by a purple/brown mottling sepals and 3 yellow petals. The lily opens each morning and closes every night. In their exuberance to open to the filtered light, the tepals open so far that they curve backwards, much like the Michigan Lily that blooms later in the summer.

The flowers are pollinated by ants that crawl about the forest floor. Once the flower blooms and has produced its seeds, they disappear, as fast as they appeared, under the carpet of oak leaves. They are best used in plantings of shade or woodland gardens. Spreading of the corms, which can be found 3-5 inches underground, is how this plant spreads and also makes this plant hard to remove. Why would one even consider doing so? Take a walk in the woods today and look for the Trout Lily. Michigan Trout fishing in designated streams opens the last Saturday of April. Visit www.Michigan.org for more details.

National Wildlife Federation Certifies New Wildlife Habitat



Red Admiral Butterfly

In the mail I received the Certified Wildlife Habitat certificate for our property through the National Wildlife Federation. My husband and I are now a part of a prestigious group of people across the country who are recognized for protecting and nurturing wildlife in our yards. In order to become certified, our property must provide four basic elements that all wildlife needs:

• Food
• Water
• Cover
• Places to raise young.

By providing these four elements, we have enjoyed an increase in butterflies, moths and birds.

Our property is free of fertilizers and pesticides. Creating this type of habitat not only helps the wildlife, but it can also help reduce global warming pollution and save energy costs as well. Unlike lawns, wildlife-friendly environments using native plants don't need constant maintenance from gas guzzling lawn mowers and constant watering. An additional benefit from the addition of plants vs. lawn is plants actually absorb carbon dioxide, helping to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 

Hummingbird Moth

For more information on how as a gardener you can reduce the effects of global warming go to www.nwf.org/gardenersguide. 

According to the National Wildlife Federation, providing habitats that not only nurture year-round resident birds but also provide stopover sites for migratory birds traveling between their summer and winter ranges aids the declining bird populations as well.
For more information about gardening for wildlife and how to have your yard certified please visit the National Wildlife Federation website.

Home Composting: Turn Yard Waste into Gardener's Gold

With the temperatures rising, as we are out raking the grass and cleaning out the flower beds let us be reminded that you have gold in them thar pile of leaves, grass and other yard clippings. Through the natural process of decomposition all the natural materials can be transformed into a soil-enriching substance called compost. Decomposer organisms, fungi, sowbugs, earthworms, beetles, ants and microorganisms(bacterias) too small for the naked eye to see, to the tune of 4 billion, (with a B) per teaspoon, all work together to transform yard waste into Gardener's Gold.

For a 5 minute home composting video click here. SOCWA, Healthy Lawns & Gardens.

BENEFITS OF COMPOSTING:

1. Compost improves soil structure,
2. Compost encourages root growth,
3. Compost aerates soil,
4. Compost releases nutrients slowly,
5. Compost supports beneficial microorganisms and earthworms,
6. Compost retains 10 times the amount of water held be other soils.

MAKING COMPOST IN FIVE EASY STEPS:

• Select a  plastic bin or choose an area to construct your compost bin
• Collect materials:

                                50% Brown  (leaves and yard clippings)
                                25% Green, grass clippings
                                25% Soil or previously made compost.

• Layer the materials, adding water as you go. Materials should be as moist as a wrung out sponge.
• Turn the pile, using garden or pitch fork, adding air. Needs to be aerobic.
• In 5-6 months, ready to use. Looks black, rich and smells just like Mother Earth! 

Earth-Friendly Fertilizers for Water Quality Protection 2012

As stated in a previous posting, begining January 1, 2012, Michigan law restricts phosphorus fertilizer applications on lawns. Our friends at SOCWA, the Southeastern Oakland County Water Authority, has compiled a list of  Earth-Friendly Fertilizers for Water Quality Protection.

Lillian  Dean, SOCWA, has sent out an email to Composters and this information may be of interest also.

There are some are new fertilizer products for 2012. Ace Hardware and Aco Hardware stores are carrying the products. Please be aware that two of the most popular products, thought to be phosphorus safe are not, they are Milorganite and Ringer Lawn Restore.

 As Dean states in the email, if you look carefully, Scott's does not seem to have ANY PRODUCTS FOR SALE that meets the fertilizer requirements, either. Some even have more than the required amounts of Nitrogen, another product under scrutiny. They may even have unwanted herbicides and pesticidies also. So please read labels, or if you have a company fertlilizing your lawns, request they inform you what is in their products that they are using.

Please read the previous blog and refer to the Fertilizer Act drafted by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and review the application rate. (0.25 pounds of phosphorus per 1000 square feet.)

Cattails and Skunk Cabbages growing amoung dead Phragmites!

Skunk cabbages in new growth area!

My posting for March 21, 2012 showed the skunk cabbages growing in the wetlands surrounding my backyard. I hadn't ventured to the area where the Phragmites were removed last fall. I think I was afraid I might not like what was happening there, so I remained in my back yard. Like the posting for March 28, 2012, I decided I have to walk the walk if I am going to post opinions for all to read. So I went to the area and lo and behold to my surprise, I found a lot more skunk cabbages growing then in the wetlands behind my backyard. I have never noticed anything but tall Phragmites in this area before.

New Cattails sprouting.

The removal of the Phragmites allowed the plants to grow. Not only were the cabbages emerging, new cattail growth is appearing and mosses are in the water. I will continue to send updates with pictures. I will even mention if a phragmite or two emerges. I know this is a work in progress.

Fall of 2011

I am including the picture from the area last  fall with Ian and Evan and myself standing in the shadows of the 12-15 feet tall Phragmites. Success is one area at a time!

Hairy Hepatica and Bloodroot

Hairy Hepatica

Every Spring I wait for the 'Hairy' Hepatica, Hepatica nobilis,
to bloom. As a child I remember picking bouquets of them to give to my mother. As I walked through my garden today even after the cold snowy days, the native plants all survived the extreme temperature changes and are blooming.  The Hepatica last only a few days, or sometimes just for a day. 

Bloodroot

The Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis Papaveraceae (Poppy Family) is open from the pink striped exterior of the buds to the now snowy white petals.

The May Apple, Podophyllum peltatum Berberidaceae (Barberry Family) is just starting to poke its head above the surface. The fruit that is produced is edible, but the leaves are toxic.

The flower with the heart shaped leaves ranging up to 8 inches is Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense. The leaves cover the maroon flower. I was able to capture a few today.

Enjoy the natives of Spring!

Michigan Law restricts Phosphorus Fertilizers Applications on Lawns

Begining January 1, 2012, the way we can fertilize our lawns in MIchigan has changed. In 2007, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, released a report from a Statewide Advisory Committee to control phosphorus loading into surface waters. These findings and the general rule in Public Act 299 of 2010 (Act 299) states no phosphorus fertilizer may be applied on residential or commercial lawns, unless it meets an exemption. The sale of phosphorus fertilizers in the marketplace is NOT impacted. Phosphorus applications for agriculture, gardens, trees and shrubs are exempted.
Act 299 Highlights:

• Starting January 1, 2012, a person shall not apply any fertilizer with available phosphate ( P2O5) to turf. Available phosphate (P2O5) may be applied at specified rates* under the following instances:

1. When a soil test or plant tissue test indicates phosphorus is needed;
2. For new turf establishment using seed or sod;
3. A finished sewage sludge (biosolid), organic manure or a manipulated manure (like compost).
4. On golf courses whose manager(s) have completed a Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) approved training program.

* These application rates are available at www.BePhosphorusSmart.msu.edu

• Local phosphorus fertilizer ordinances in existence before December 16, 2010 are grandfathered.
• Fertilizer cannot be applied to frozen soil or soil saturated with water.
• Any fertilizer released onto a hard surface, such as a sidewalk or driveway must be cleaned up promptly.
• The other provisions in Act 299 include new definitions, setbacks from surface water, $50 civil fines and outreach information.
• For more information, please visit www.michigan.gov/mda-fertilizer or www.BePhosphorusSmart.msu.edu.

PHOSPHORUS IN MICHIGAN'S WATERS
Phosphorus is a naturally occuring, essential plant, algal and animal nutrient. Although phosphorus concentrations in healthy plants are relatively low, it is essential because it is a structural component of nucleic acids, several essential coenzymes, phospholipids and the phosphate-rich molecules that help store energy in living organisms.

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant growth and was routinely used as part of fertilization programs on home lawns. As a result of over use of the nutrient, aquatic plants can grow to excessive levels. This potentially severe increase in plant growth, (algae and rooted plants) is usually associated with a condition known as cultural eutrophication, which leads to declining water quality. Soil testing is encourage, for not only the growth of your lawn but your flower beds. Correct application of either Nitrogen (N) or Phosphorus (P) fertilizers are an important part of sustainable landscaping.The month of April is prime time for soil testing, Join Lillian Dean and SOCWA for an informational program on soil testing and fertilizing options .
Learn more from SOCWA'S Soil Testing Flyer.