Monroe County Master Gardener Association

I just couldn’t wait for Photo Friday to post these photos. So I called it What’s up on Wednesday:

First Jennie sent me this photo of Dame’s Rocket. She wrote:
“The weed/wildflower is having a very good year. Mom and I loved seeing these thick patches along our ditch banks.”

So my garden had a photo shoot By Annie B Photography in Temperance. Some of you will notice my new vertical wall structure, that wasn’t here on last years tour. Here’s the results:

Almost as it’s end, but this is an Itoh peony

Allium

The rose that had not bloomed for 2 years, Finally, buds, and it’s loaded. Yes, it is a David Austin after all.

At Last, rose bud, I planted a Memorial Garden for those who passed from the virus and for our beloved pet Ziggy who passed as well. There are three of these rose in that garden, along with some other great items. It’s also a new addition this year.

Bud of Poppy

Poppies in bloom

Columbine

Another peony

White Bleeding Heart

Columbine

My new vertical structure. It’s to hide those brown garbage bins.

Bloomstruck hydrangea, just budding. It was very popular in last year’s tour. Planted a second in the structure

One of the structure planter areas

climbing hydrangea

Lantana

Bleeding heart

Rex begonia: Escargot

Another new addition, Proven Winners – Chaenomeles Double Take Orange (Quince). It’s a winner for sure, it reblooms and is thorn less.

Columbine

Heuchera buds

Heuchera –

The blooms of my Hellebore are beginning to seed

Bloomstruck just beginning to color

Heuchrella

The humming birds are visiting this honeysuckle

Geranium

Baptisia

closer view of Baptisia

a rose, I’m thinking it may have an issue from chemical used ,appears a bit archaic.

A bloom of that David Austin.

Lungwort, Pulmonaria

A rex variety of Escargot

Curly hosta

Helebore

My favorite of this session, Columbine

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Gail sent this information to post:
Native Plant Sales:
https://mailchi.mp/3529bbaa8c44/native-plant-sale?e=59451f14cf

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Some interesting information, via Jennie and Naida
Plants to avoid:
https://www.fws.gov/midwest/news/PlantsToAvoid.html?fbclid=IwAR1884f5mSB-K85GNP4EBygJVEKmG8k8fktBybL_9WWZLZPXfshe_aJvFXk

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By Gail K.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE? IS IT OR ISN’T IT ?
DAFFODILS,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty
–Wm Shakespeare, The Winter Tale
Following my most recent posts I want to share a question I had while putting the articles together….

When you look at this photo do you see a daffodil or narcissus??
What about these??

these??

My quest- search the internet & find the answer.
NARCISSUS: Latin, Botanical name for Daffodil.

DAFFODIL-March birth flower common name for all members under the genus Narcissus.

The Narcissus is a conspicuous flower with 6 petal like Tepals, surmounted by a cup or trumpet shaped corona.100’s of species. Native to Asia, China & Mediterranean; European colonist brought to the New World.

Finding terminology confusing; thanks to a web page “Dave’s Garden,” I finally grasped the concept of a “complete flower.” The outer whorl has 6 Tepals; 3 sepals & 3 petals, making the perianth. The second whorl is 1 central corona/trumpet which varies in shape & color.

I hope you see the specific parts above?.

This along with foliage, # of blooms per stem, size, color & flowering time determine “classification” of 25,000 registered hybrids.

per Webster Dictionary-
Daffodil-various perennial bulbous herbs (genus Narcissus) of the Amaryllis family esp’ one whose flowers
have a large corona elongated into a trumpet (compare narcissus-jonquil) {so that is why they are in the bulb show}

AMARYLLIS- University of Minnesota web page, good info- Species amaryllis Belladonna-from Africa, in zone 5 we see them as forced bulbs in winter. However, the genus amaryllis, includes the name “Naked Lady” and we do plant those in zone 5.

PAPERWHITES – prefer zone 8-11, minature white blooms, used in zone 5 as forced bulbs during Christmas season-

Next
JONQUILS- quail daffodils/Narcissus jonquilla family (specific type of daffodil); planted in fall- zone 4-9, display “clusters” of 2-4 small, fragrant yellow flowers per stem. In Mediterranean jonquils may be white with short tubed shape blooms.

I discovered, I have more Jonquils than “Daffodils” but I do prefer the small size & clustered look

but trust me–I did this unknowing what I was really doing……..after all, a bulb is a bulb and if the flower is
yellow with a trumpet & comes up in spring–it’s a daffodil…right?
Moving on-
DAFFODILS- relate to larger flowering versions; the trumpets being long, in various colors.

Some trumpets are ruffled

and those with no trumpet labeled as double.

again I ask–Daffodil or Narcissus???
Right or Wrong??? Does it really matter??
I hope this ditty will bring a smile

DAFFODOWNDILLY:

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
and curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
“Winter is dead”
A./A. Millne, “When We Were Very Young”

In closing: such back & forth in weather and having to maintain social distance—
this seemed most appropriate-enjoy hope to see ya all soon! g

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Wm. Wordsworth, “I Wander’d Lonely as a Cloud”

GK

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I just discovered this post among my many emails, so am posting for your information. Somehow I completely missed it.

Naida sent this to me to Post.

Draper-Houston Meadows Preserve (no dogs allowed) is just yards west of the Milan Kroger store on Mooreville Road.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/michigan/draper-houston-meadows-preserve-trail

Thanks,
Naida

After I gave a talk on local Parks and Preserves earlier this year, Naida asked if I would lead a walk through Draper-Houston Meadows Preserve during this spring’s wildflower season. I agreed. Then I learned that retired Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Naturalist Faye Stoner was set to do that very thing. I suggested that MIlan Garden Club take advantage of Faye’s superior botanical knowledge and plan to join her walk. Then came COVID-19, and it seemed that all such opportunities would have to be abandoned to accommodate social distancing.

Then an idea hit me. With everyone itching to get outside and enjoy Nature after having been cooped up so long this spring, why not set up a Self-guided Wildflower Tour. Here it is.

Depending on how much you want to bask in the warming spring weather and take in Mother Nature’s wonders, the walk should take you somewhere around one to two hours. For your safety from infection, I urge you to walk it alone or only with family members with whom you are cohabiting. It would be a good idea to have masks for those times when you meet or pass someone on the trail. (I’ve encountered 10-15 other visitors each of the two days it took me to assemble the information for the map!) And, it should be possible to step 6-feet off the trail whenever two parties are passing, but please choose your steps carefully so as not to damage the vegetation.

During your walk you may also want to look for the first evidence I’ve seen in my 50 years in Milan of Beaver activity. You’ll spot that right beside the east end of the north pier of the bridge. It’s a beaver-cut willow stump about 6″ in diameter. Also, while walking the trail along the flooded area and the Buttonbush swamp, keep your ears pealed for amphibian songs. In the past few days I’ve heard Chorus Frogs, Leopard or Pickerel Frogs (a dry, rising series of non-musical croaks), and Anne called out our first Tree Frog call of the season as we walked Day Road last evening. And, of course, don’t spend all of your time looking down. The migratory birds are returning. (Anne just pointed out our first house wren of the season repeatedly, and I mean repeatedly, entering and exiting the gourd nesting chamber right outside our kitchen window. Like the absent-minded onetime school teacher I know well, he would literally walk out his “door,” turn on a dime, and go back in for another look. I bet he did that 10 times in two minutes!

While making my rounds of the Preserve yesterday I recorded Mallards, Canada Geese; Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy or Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, American Crow, and Song Sparrow. Always check out any big dark bird flying or soaring overhead. It you can spot white at either end, you will be seeing one of the Bald Eagle pair that are raising their 4th brood of young right now in their nest withing the city limits of Milan! And with today’s warm, sunny weather, a dozen or more species of warbler and other spring migrants should soon appear.

Two final bits of advice. The trails are wet and muddy at this time of year: wear appropriate foot gear. I got by OK with sneakers, but I’m very careful of where I step. And it is tick season already. This past week I have already removed two ticks that had not yet embedded in my skin. It is best to wear long pants and tuck them into calf-length socks, then spray Off around the junction. (I’ve had hundreds of tick bites over my lifetime and have suffered no ill effects, but after every walk through natural vegetation, when showering it is a good idea to do a full body “feel” for “moles you didn’t know you had.)

John Farmer

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Gail sent site for Oak Opening Events. Below is a link for their site information:

https://mailchi.mp/e4c3b4440edf/oak-openings-region-blue-week-2020?e=8f5512a66a

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Stella is already volunteering/planting at TBG and had this
update on the sensory garden plan we heard about. Worth posting?
Stella writes:
Thought this might be of interest to members since Steve came and talked to
the group when this was just a concept.
They have the cement poured and are starting on the raised beds. Many are
built and now the are looking to line with garden fabric! Goal to plant and
have it available soon -pdate on the sensory garden plan we heard about.

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Here are some Updates on Kingwood’s Garden in Ohio, from Gail.
Just click on this link:

http://xpt3r.mjt.lu/nl2/xpt3r/nhm.html?m=AM0AAG9EXUIAAAABtSwAAAB9oocAAAAAF3wAAEbiAA_dswBeozgyYO2-PArxRnSDRwOKXIz5OQAPm4U&b=980c96a8&e=0db1a4bd&x=ZnS_1lHKxs4kUIlBvgr9KQ

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Received this from Naida, yesterday

Good news! This morning’s report from Governor Whitmer’s office means that we will be able to offer our plant sales in May online. We are working out the details. Stay tuned! We’ll be updating you with information in the coming days.

The botanical gardens continues to remain closed for now, but you can still walk the trails at Matthaei and the Arb. Remember to respect the recommended distances on your walk. Thank you for your patience and support.

Gardens at Matthaei

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Article & photos by Gail K.
Many of us are familiar with Hidden Lake Gardens-before I take you outside for some much needed ZEN– let me share just a couple of indoor pictures from the Arid Dome-
As a bonus, the plants in this area were also in bloom–

ABOVE: based on the white color, who may be the pollinator for that cactus???

Who needs to bloom when you look like this??

Recalling the 2019 Polar Vortex–the tropic dome in its current state.

HLG lost many plants in that weather event. Dedicated to get that area restored-what a project!!
Leaving the arboretum-; once outside, signs of the spring awakening- LOOK at this magnificent Witch hazel outside the visitor center.

Hiding among the last fallen leaves of fall–Snowdrops

and this interesting plant–I don’t know the name. A good homework project–who can name this plant???

As I begin my “car” adventure note all the snowdrops which blanket the ground in the hillside Hosta Gardens.

Makes a nice grouping and the Hosta are still asleep so this is a great way to have a seasonal interest in this large area.

At the edge of the arboretum parking lot– a clustering of Witch hazel- such vibrant colors for an otherwise dull time of the year…

Now you know me-drawn to the water I got out of the car. Watching my steps,I spotted in the leaves these hidden gems.

Maybe Jennie can ID these, I don’t know??

I wish for you all some calm sense of ZEN-I can’t give you smell or sound so you will have to take a moment to close your eyes with each picture & just imagine. Are those frogs I hear??

“ONLY THOSE WHO WANDER FIND NEW PATHS”
Norwegian Proverb

Smell the heavy, musty aroma in the moisture hanging in the air
So alone and yet peaceful:


“PURSUE SOME PATH, HOWEVER NARROW AND CROOKED, IN WHICH YOU CAN WALK WITH LOVE AND REVERENCE”
Henry David Thoreau

“IF THE PATH BE BEAUTIFUL, LET US NOT ASK WHERE IT LEADS”
Anatole France


Have you ever wondered why?
Who may have been here before you?

Standing on the crest of this hill- shhh-listen-music;so thankful for our many birds

Art by nature: Just one of many

If a tree falls in the forest—and no one is there Does it make a sound??

Folks-I hope you were able to sense the calm. You too can experience this—from the luxury of your car;
making this a “safe endeavor” at this time–

I would encourage you to go & enjoy. When able, I pulled over & parked—got out and truly appreciated
all that my senses could take in, at that moment in time…. ALONE.
Peace g

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