Advice From Nature: Doldrum Daydreaming

So let's say that you have spent around 10-15 minutes a day out there during the dog days and finding a good sit or walk to be much more enjoyable than weeding or planting.  That Spring energy is long gone and now you just want to look at the pretty flowers and blowing foliage.  I can't say that I blame you, as the annuals have begun to take on carpet proportions and the mid-summer perennials are starting to put on quite the show.  Maybe you are looking out there thinking that some of those would be nicer in greater quantity or arranged differently.  Maybe you are noticing that that plant labelled "full sun" seems to actually be doing far better in the partial shade of your eastern wall (looking at you, hollyhocks).  Maybe you are wondering if any of this makes sense, and are stumped, bored, puzzled, frazzled, exasperated, etc.

It happens to the best of us.  The history of garden design is marked at certain points by sudden shifts in inspiration brought about by global exploration, accidents, a lack of weed control, and thrift.  All of these causes have in common one feature: nature.

That's right, sometimes things changed just when someone looked past the garden into the forest or fields and thought maybe the Primal Designer was on to something.  We got lucky here in SE Michigan, as many little pieces of nature converge into a rather diverse buffet to devour.  So hey, let's step outdoors for a minute and see what we have to throw at our cultivation craze right from our own backyard.

In general, SE Michigan can be categorized as having three basic groups of natural setting with one significant subgroup, and then a wet and dry version of each.  They are boreal, from the north, eastern forest, and prairie, from the west (with the savanna being that significant subgroup).

The boreal world has probably the least noticeable presence in our relatively mild corner of the state, with some amazing pockets of "up north" existing here and there.  I will launch into these amazing little places in greater detail, but if you want to find some in the meantime, head towards Brighton; tamaracks (Larix Laricina) are everywhere.  For windshield tourists, Beck between Seven and Eight mile has several large specimens on the west side of the road, which is the eastern border of Maybury State Park.  Grand River, out just east of Pleasant Valley, features a large stand on the north side of the road.  Nearby Kensington Metro Park features a ton more, in a trail that passes through a fen, which features some prairie stuff meeting the northern stuff.  In general, the further north you head, the more elements of the boreal world one will tend to find.  Just around Birch Run one will find coniferous trees  getting peppered into the forest, and I-94 just short of Port Huron features birch and pines giving a mocking "welcome to Canada" effect, despite Sarnia across the way being rather southern for Canadian standards.

As for how the boreal can be introduced into our gardens, let's just say that a little shade can go a long way.  These trees like their feet cool, and they and their companion flowers like the soil to be moist and acidic, just like blueberries and such enjoy.  As you can see from that tamarack up there, though, give them an inch and they will take a mile and be right at home.

The eastern elements are going to be rather common, being found pretty much wherever forest has been allowed to spring back up or has never been mowed.  Most state and metroparks will be full of wooded areas, and our variety of deciduous trees is amazing enough to mean we can put on fall shows to rival most of the destinations that leaf-peepers drive hundreds of miles to find.  Midsummer inspiration can actually be found for those cursed/blessed by shade: see what works in the understory, if only in log and fern combinations!  Hines Drive features a trip along the Rouge River with many parks to pull off into and explore the eastern forests up close and on foot, completely free of charge.  Highland State Recreation Area features Haven Hill Natural Area, where one can find EVERY forest type in Michigan, wet and low and high and dry.  In a few places, especially along the Black River and French River, you can get really eastern and find the odd Appalachian plant...

Island Lake State Recreation Area

For most people, the forests are going to be present in elements in the backyard already, be it in the form of trees, ferns, or even a few shade loving wildflowers.  More on all this later!  For now, head out to a park of some sort, or just look out your door.  We do forests well here in SE Michigan.

Before we cleared a lot of them out, though, the forests shared the stage with a very, very special kind of landscape: prairie.  We tend to think of the grasslands as being a flat, boring, Kansas sort of thing.  In truth, grasslands were as much as a third to half the battle in Michigan and neighboring Ohio and Southern Ontario, even more so in Indiana and points westward.  Fires, dry soils, and slow growing trees were responsible for making southern Michigan into a very exotic tapestry of grass, tree, flowers, and lakes and rivers.  Very little of this landscape is left to us, because that amazing grass and flowers gave us some incredible soil which proved irresistible to farmers and the open landscape cried out to developers and surveyors.

Island Lake State Recreation Area

In many places, the grass married the forest, with the oaks serving as the trees in the wedding.   The result was a park-like landscape full of amazing flowers and incredible views.  When you travel back roads in the country and come across a lone giant oak, odds are it survived the axe and is centuries old, once standing over such a landscape.  Restoration efforts are slowly bringing them back, by letting fire do its thing and keeping the invasive species away.  One of the best places to find savannas is at Algonac State Park, which grades into wet prairie, forests, and the rare Lakeplain Oak Openings.  Needless to say from the pictures, Island Lake State Recreation Area also has a few prairies and savannas; you just need to head off the beaten path.

Island Lake State Recreation Area

Needless to say, native plant gardeners drool over grassland inspiration.  Meadow gardens, prairie gardens, etc. are our attempt to make midsummer flower beds boom with color.  You could easily make a mock oak savanna just by planting a few native oaks in your lawn!  No matter what your soil is like, if you have a little sun, you can reproduce some of this lost Michigan on your lot.

So get out there!  Find some local plants to try, or at least be inspired by the natural landscapes.  Think content, layout, structure, etc. 

Entering The Doldrums

"A lot of people like to enjoy the desert from air-conditioned rooms." 

Usually by this time of year, there is a temptation to not head out into the heat and humidity as much.  This year we have experienced a rather cool June with tons of rain that would otherwise make us jump for joy to have such true summer weather, but then we got the mosquitoes... Weeds start getting aggressive, intense blooming perennials like peonies have long since bit the dust, and the mid-summer bloomers are really not quite there just yet.  I call this period the doldrums, as it has the power to knock the wind out of a gardener's sails.

The best thing to do at this point is inventory walking.  Take slow, focused walks through the garden and engage in some moderate weeding, perhaps to free some veggies and flowers that might have been buried.  See if anything could use a little perking up, consider transplanting some friends to free up them and others.  Even just spending 15 minutes a day out there will add up into keeping the garden in mind and/or out of neglect.  Yeah, things might seem like a chore, but a little attention out there can turn it back into a delight.  If nothing else, there are going to be berries out there!

The best is perhaps still yet to come; spring is a glorious renewal but summer is an incredible bounty and tapestry getting ready to shine.  In addition to glads, daylillies, and the amazing Russian Sage (Perovskia Atriplicifolia), the vast majority of our most amazing native prairie plants are getting ready to bless us with a show that launched a thousand plant-collecting ships to decorate European gardens with North American splendor.  As we speak, billions of various liatris species are about to turn the world pink and purple, to the delight of every butterfly in the state.  If you don't have any of these species, perhaps a trip to a local nursery is in order; the annuals might be all gone, but so will the crowds, and the perennials will be in bloom and probably on sale. 

To keep up the inspiration, try seeing what's cooking at a local nursery.  Go for a visit to one of our many preserves and state parks to see our native flowers in action.  Better yet, consider volunteering at one of the DNR's volunteer workdays; you get to learn about native flora and invasive species, and they almost always take place at an off-the-beaten path, remnant natural location that might otherwise not be marked or ever visited. 

Roadside Imports: Chicory

Roadside Imports features plants that are introduced to Michigan and have naturalized.  Some of them are invasive and should never be planted in gardens.  Today's featured species is largely not invasive.  

Driving along roadsides here in SE Michigan in June and July will often treat the riders with a lovely blue show.  These "wildflowers" are actually from Europe and western Asia, and are known to most as the Chicory (Cichorium Intybus).

Taken along a road outside of Waltz.

They have seen use for a very long time as greens, herbal medicine, and the roots are often ground up as a little bit of fun for coffee.  I've never consumed nor grown them for any of these purposes, but last year one did end up in my curbside cactus patch, growing right out of play sand and granite stones.  You see them in similar situations along roadsides, and they tend to enjoy disturbed and open sites such as these.  That said, while they are easily at home here in Michigan, they never really take things over.  Sure, in prairie and savanna restorations they often go crazy, but once the larger grasses and flowers take over they don't make much more of a show.  This is indicative of their original, ancient home over in Eurasia, probably fire-disturbed grasslands and clearings.  They seem to like it dry, but not overly so, as indicated by the overall distribution in their native and introduced ranges; they get sparse out west and the further east into Russia one goes.

If you want to grow them in your garden, they seem to thrive under harsher conditions of neglect.  I have never seen them for sale before, probably because they are largely considered a weed, but they grow extremely easily from seed.  That said, if you have a rather open, neglected flower bed, they will probably pop up for you on their own!  They look lovely, they are all flower in terms of structural effect and dominant features, and they are great deer food (which can either be great for trying to provide a distraction or terrible for attracting them even more). 

Magazines For The Gardener: Michigan Gardening Magazine

Browse any periodical section in our area bookstores, grocery stores, etc. and you will most likely come across Michigan Gardening Magazine, a local flavored magazine printed under the umbrella of the larger State-by-state gardening periodical empire.  In general, I find that said organization tends to lump Michigan into the broader "upper Midwest" category, and in the past I have largely purchased single issues of the magazine to read articles by people I actually know or have met, or to stop being so cabin crazy in the winter.  I have been increasingly impressed by the last several issues, however, and the latest one, pictured below, seems to have taken the offering to new levels.  The presentation is much more visually appealing, the content is actually teaching me new things on every page, and even the normally basic/novice-focused q & a and regional report sections seem to be either showing that our local gardeners are getting more intense in their hobby or that the magazine is starting to cater to a much broader audience.

Honestly, I'm probably going to subscribe to this thing once I get my new address (and HUGE garden) going.  Of note in this month's issue is a section on our native milkweeds, a lovely photographed piece on Belle Isle's garden spaces, a look at fruiting shrubbery, and a closing article by Joseph Tychonievich on why rain and our typically wet Michigan summers are not to be frowned upon.  As usual, regular contributor Lisa Steinkopf (of our local Steinkopf Nursery at Farmington and 8-Mile!) covers notes of interest for our corner of the state in the regional reports feature.  Come to think of it, the magazine is really good for informing local readers about the who's who in local gardening efforts, along with some of the fancier current events.  "Michigan" gardening indeed!  Give it a go before you head to the fancy 10 dollar summer specials on the magazine rack; odds are there will be much more substance here at half the cost.  

What Are Those Red/Pink Roses Everywhere?

There are plenty of commercial plantings out there that seem to only use a very limited, if dependable, palette of plants.  Those yellow Stella D'oro daylilies are everywhere, for example, and why not?  They bloom for long time, can handle the worst of our winters without a problem, and can pretty much be neglected yet still thrive as if in the hands of an obsessive gardener.  I get a lot of questions about how to get such miraculous plants, as well as about plants that feature prominently in malls, downtown areas, office complexes, etc.  One such plant is that lovely rose that you can find just about everywhere.

Yes, they are everywhere, but I only have this one poorly backlit picture. 

They are called Knock Out roses, a shrub rose (amazing, bush-growing roses that are great in general landscaping, beds or alone or whatever place you can throw them in) that blooms as much as a floribunda (roses that bloom more than any other woody perennial in existence; this description is only partially exaggerated).  They are a lovely reddish-magenta, bloom like crazy throughout the growing season until the first heavy frost, nearly indestructible even in the face of wintery doom and summer heat, and are often on sale if not cheap as hell already.  As a result, they get planted a lot in those high-beauty, low-maintenance situations demanded by parking lot landscaping.  Often, this means they get abused with rocks for mulch and torched in concrete beds, almost never protected during winter and rarely irrigated. 

In short, if you want pretty roses that you can practically ignore, well, they have tons of these at your average garden section at most big box stores, and healthier specimens at dedicated nurseries.  They can fill the gap of your "I need something pretty and big" or "I need something that takes neglect well".  Granted, they also respond well with some care, and that color... well let's just say it's lovely enough to form the centerpiece for the theme of an entire garden.  I am a bit rose crazy this summer, but believe me when I say that Knock Outs are an easy yet lovely choice for SE Michigan. 

Bigger, Better, Bloomier? The Deal With Bordine's

"Bordine's is like the Walmart of nurseries."

This quote is from a neighbor, a particular fellow of discriminate, expensive taste in terms of landscaping.  He's in the landscaping industry, and is pretty much forced to endure big box package gardening all day and every day.  He loathes the mundane, his garden kryptonite being your average variegated foundation plating hostas.  For my part, based on my own grimacing that I make whenever I see a plethora of blue spruces in landscaping, I am pretty sure I understand the sentiment.  Now don't get me wrong, I am all for planting what you like and what can work well in the situation you are presented with, but if you just lack imagination and are giving the world more boring landscaping... even if you are stone broke, you can do better!

At first glance, Bordine's would seem to be a big box retailer that offers the same "shut up and plant this" offerings that your average Home Depot or Walmart presents in their garden centers.  In many ways I am not quick to suggest either a novice or experienced gardener should head to their nearest Big B.  After all, most of what they have to offer you can get anywhere else.  How do they rate on the service side of things?  While they exclaim that their purple people are all knowing, most of their sales-floor help is lacking in enthusiasm and knowledge.  You see a lot of college age kids; pretty blondes are at the registers, while all the men seem to be hauling bags of dirt and fertilizer around.

That's when it hit me: maybe they are looking for a summer job that they can learn something from and that they can gain experience in a new field for.  Every more mature Bordine's employee that I have run across has known what they are talking about, and enjoyed it too.  I usually see said employees making careful rounds around the plants and having small discussions about product placement with real concern about trying to spice up the display.  That's a difficult task in a place that does look like a giant greenhouse!

Their talents tend to shine much more at the entrance.

Granted, I have only been to the Brighton and Grand Blanc locations and have never seen the flagship store in Rochester, but the overall pattern of their stores likely follows an all business sort of plan.  So I can forgive them for presentation and sheer quantity based on, well, being a high volume business, but I'm less inclined towards generosity in the quality department.  Truth be told, I have never had to worry much there; not a single plant has ever been a bad purchase.  Yes, I'm definitely in favor of getting the best of the best for particular species at specialty nurseries, but I would definitely say that an annual from Bordine's is going to beat the tar out something from a non-nursery big box retailer.  Appearances can be deceiving, for despite the scale of the operation, Big B is still a dedicated plant growing machine, and local at that.  

And you know what?  They do actually have a few things you can't readily get at the plant stand around the corner.  While I am sure I could find Bayberry (Myrica Pensylvanica) or Baldcypress (Taxodium Distichum) elsewhere in the area, I never have, and I know they will be there and alive and kicking (until winter pulls a fast one with -20 something and makes me cry).  They also seem to have a ridiculously huge menu of annuals to choose from, so much so that I go back after my flat purchasing at the trusted, wonderful local places and experiment with more exotic fare from Big B.  In the near future I might go back for another helping and will probably share said menu choice in a post!

So what inspired me to write about Bordine's?  Well, I was not going to mention them at all in this nursery barrage that the blog seems to be on, but for the roses.

Oh yes, they have tons and tons, and they are in ship shape.  I think the only place that I have thus far been rose shopping that has come close to variety has been Farmer John's, though I do fully intend to check out some downriver destinations that are apparently amazing for roses.  This is my first year really getting into rose insanity, so I have honestly never tried looking for them before.  I have always noticed the selection at Bordine's, however, offering full sections of floribundas, grandifloras, flower carpets, miniatures, shrubs, hybrid teas, etc.  Even when I was not really into roses (I know, I know, sorry!) I always took a notice of how Big B had a rose section the size of most smaller nurseries and nearly the size of the of their perennial division! 

Bordine's is definitely worth the venture.  To be honest, I usually head there many times throughout the year, even into their Christmas displays.  Bigger, for sure.  Better, certainly in some ways.  Bloomier?  I have yet to try their plant food.  They seem to be doing something right in that regard, though.

Bordine's is found in Brighton, Grand Blanc (their huge growing center), Clarkston, and Rochester (their HQ and flagship store).

Their website.

Their facebook page.

Nursery Review: Native Plant Nursery (Ann Arbor Farmers Market)

Yesterday we explored the wonderful opportunities afforded to us by Butterfly Weed, one of the many excellent native plants found here in Southeastern Michigan.  While I fully intend to launch at length into a diatribe about why native gardening is utterly amazing, for now I figured I would just mention a good place to stop by tomorrow, if you happen to be heading to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market.  Even if you didn't have such a trip in your plans, consider going just for the Native Plant Nursery.  As the deceptively simple name suggests, they pretty much specialize in plants native to our local region, with emphasis on wildflowers and grasses.  That said, they also produce trees and shrubs, and will be happy to break down that broad wildflower category into appropriate packages, depending on your growing conditions and the level of restoration to wild conditions, if any, you want to achieve.  You will almost always run into this fellow here:

Greg is holding my latest purchase, a Prairie Dock, two Ohio Spiderworts, and two Joe Pye Weeds.  More on these individually later.

His name is Greg Vaclavek, probably the most (mind the pun) gregarious individual I have ever run into in the plant growing industry.  He's able to answer even my most plant-geek plant questions, and much can be gleaned about what you can/should be doing with plants just by listening to him talking; there will often be a line full of patient people waiting to get a chance to pick the ear of the guru.  Even if you end up buying nothing, a trip to even catch a little free garden wisdom here is worth it.  That said, if you do come to buy, everything is laid out with a ton of information in front of each plant.

Sorry for the usual glare.  This was on a tablet camera. 

My advice to first time native plant growers is the same advice that I would give to novice gardeners of any type: pick the right plant for the right place.  If that label calls for sun or shade, bake or cover accordingly.  If it calls for moisture or dryness, soak or neglect accordingly.  Native plants will work well in cultivation in general, but even more than some exotic annuals and perennials, they will thrive if you try to mimic their natural conditions.  They were, after all, made for doing it well right here, right now.  Greg and company have their plants displayed as such, with simple yet abundant data on what does and does not work for each plant.  Best of all, they are all locally sourced and grown from wild type seed; your flower will actually be a child of a long line of plants from our corner of Michigan!

In addition to keeping it real with the local varieties, they offer kits to make breaking into the experience that much easier and once you get used to the game, can also take requests to bring in the following week for offerings that they don't typical bring in.  They take cash, but you can always get tokens at the market office if you are running on plastic.  As should be obvious by now, they don't have an independent storefront, and you pretty much have to come to the market to visit the nursery, although in a pinch alternative arrangements could probably be made.  That should not be an issue though; why would you not want to go to the market?!

Going Native: Butterfly Weed

While I intend to spill into a lengthy diatribe later regarding how amazing native plants are, for now I would like to mention one in particular, our lovely little orange wonder, the Butterfly Weed (a.k.a. Asclepias Tuberosa).

I honestly forget where this is from, and might even be home grown from local seeds.  Those cacti you see at the bottom, by the way, are indeed "perennial"!  We will see them later on.

It's pretty damn easy to grow, and here in Michigan we can usually neglect it and it thrives.  It can make its way through most drought, owing to a large taproot (which means it does not do so carefree in confined situations like pots or urban dirt that has a concrete bottom).  It does fine in rock gardens, sandy patches, and seems to be fine in my thick, unyielding clay.  For those gardeners who have trouble finding a strain that their clay can make friends with, Prairie Nursery out of Wisconsin does offer a clay-loving variety.  I've personally never had a problem with it, though I also tend to be very intense when it comes to establishing perennials.  A bit of water goes a long way to getting that long taproot where it needs to go.

Soil issues tend to not be much of a problem for this species compared to just being able to find it.  In some years it gets touted as the be all and end all of "attract monarchs to your garden" sales pitches at nurseries.  In most years, however, I find people asking even at native plant sources where they can find some of this amazing plant.  The most consistent source for stock that I have yet found is George's Livonia Gardens, which offers a very basic native plant selection, but is a great place to get the bare bones of a wildflower garden going.  That said, they are also fairly easy to grow from seed and can be found along roadsides and meadows/fields/prairies.  They form very distinctive pods which are architecturally pleasing and carry the plant through the winter as a design element.  Leave the pods to ripen in the garden, where they will do the work for you, usually giving out a nice healthy plant the following spring.  Failing that, you can find their seeds even at most hardware stores, but for a fine native such as this, nothing beats our local type population (more on this in another post).

The picture above really does not do the plant justice.  The orange has an intensity that is in my opinion unmatched in the plant world.  Only the California Poppy (a.k.a. Eschscholzia Californica) comes even close to the brilliant, almost neon orange that this wonder puts out.  Gardeners have long since bred it into various other colors, but the original orange remains the most brilliant, awe-inspiring flavor.  Back when Michigan had more in the way of natural prairies, it probably stole the show even among other wildflowers.  Such has certainly been the case in every prairie and savanna patch I have ever been to where it has been present even in small numbers.  In the garden, it can compete with even the flashiest annuals.

Even way in the back there, it still has a commanding presence and is the brightest thing next to the orange marigolds up front.  That little patch, by the way, has quite the plant diversity and history, and is something I will re-visit frequently for individual plant coverage and design concepts.  Speaking of which, Butterfly Weed is obviously a very painless choice for integrating natives into an overall design.  Unlike most other milkweeds, it has a very clean appearance and does not usually get derided by the ordinary, non-gardening folks as "weedy".  In contrast, those tall common milkweed stalks were responsible for this patch getting repeatedly mowed until I dressed it up some more.  That's a real shame, as both plants offer very different structural contributions to the broader garden landscape.  Alas, Butterfly Weed tends to look more like a typical garden plant, and tends to be a happy find while weeding, at least if the weeder has ever seen one in bloom.  Half the time I find them growing freely in the lawn and am very reluctant to send them away; for what its worth, they do tend to transplant easily at such a young age.  Keep that soil ball around the roots intact and well-watered in its new home and you can transplant fields of them. 

Equally at home in rough or formal settings, Butterfly Weed works well with many plants, notably other wildflowers.  I am particularly fond of using them in contrast with white/silver foliage plants such as the various sagebrushes of the Artemisia genus, and they also look nice with other shrub-sized plants such as roses.  Alternatively, group them with low-growing annuals for some vertical contrast.  In South East Michigan, Butterfly Weed tends to give an opening bloom around Mid-June (these pictures were taken today, June 18th) and even without deadheading (pinching off the faded blooms) tend to give another bloom later in July and early August.  They like it hot, and tend to finish blooming before the fall, but I have seen the rare late August show as well.  The blooms tend to last the better part of a week, sometimes as long as two.  Don't pinch off the second bloom, as the pods will develop, and they look amazing!  Give it a go, you will not be disappointed. 

Things To Do: Settling Into Summer

By now the initial surge of spring energy has mostly evaporated from many gardeners.  That nursery binging and bed creating has given way to maintenance and the art is looking more like a chore to many.  This past spring we SE Michiganders were absolutely blessed with a very early last frost in April, and May featured quite a lot of heat and moisture; as a result, especially after our brutal February and lingering cold March, we got active very early.  Burn out is inevitable in those who sprint instead of marathon run!

So what can still be done these days, especially with local nurseries that still have stock?  Well, don't be afraid to go out there and grab some of those last veggies or annuals.  Many of them will start to come on sale, and the creative does not need to give way to the preservative so quickly.  Eastern Market still has lots to offer the eager grower, and the Ann Arbor Market is going to keep on being impressive through early July.  Those two shows are by far the best around, but most towns and cities will also feature a more intimate, local flavor market: click here to find one.  As usual, get excited over your local market, but don't neglect your local permanent nurseries either.

In particular, I would like to take the opportunity to say thanks to a great vendor at the Ann Arbor Market, namely Wagner's Homestead Farm.  Cheryl Wagner had a lovely display of color that managed to immediately draw in my discriminating eye. 

As the sign notes, her family has been at this for some time now, and it shows in the quality of the bedding plants they bless our little slice of the world with.  The displays are reason enough to go visit vendors like the Wagners, as they serve a vital early summer role as both sustaining art and inspiration.  This is a wonderful time to make some minor additions and write new chapters in the organically evolving garden, and with frost a distant memory and certain perennial shows being "in between", now might be the time to consider the merits of annual beds.  Anyway, the last time I visited Cheryl's stall I purchased an Annual Phlox which I then decided to punish/experiment on by putting it in the cacti boulder pile I have going.  Don't worry, I actually do water the things, and they seem to be doing pretty well in the pile.

Hey, she did say it could take hot and dry, and so far both plants are positively thriving.  Annual Phlox (or Phlox Drummondii) is a gift to us from Texas, but has not been eagerly received in Michigan for the most part.  As is usually the case, this North American native is extremely popular in Europe and people went nuts for it ever since Thomas Drummond brought some seeds back with him from his Texas adventure in the 1830s.  You could be exciting Michigan and exotic and unique by trying out some of the stuff like our fussy European friends, or you could be boring Michigan and just buy some flats of whatever over at Home Depot.  If you are one of the cool gardeners and happen to be in Ann Arbor tomorrow, buy some phlox and see what other great offerings Cheryl and her neighbors have to offer.  If you are slowing down on the momentum and enthusiasm, this might be just the ticket to rekindling the romance!

Some Advice For New Gardeners

One of the reasons that I started this blog was because I was getting inundated with requests for help from people trying to dive into the gardening game.  Everyone had different ideas of what the art and science meant and how they should make their mark in the horticultural world, and I can say that seeing gardening through novice eyes once again has been a very awesome thing.  Perhaps these eyes have forgotten all the confusion and worry that goes into setting down roots for the first time, but one of the things I would like to share with everyone, novice to expert, who reads this blog is... relax.  Just relax. 

1.  Take it easy.  Unless you are growing kelp or kudzu, and in SE Michigan that means neither plant, things are going to take time.  Gardening is not for people who like instant results; plants are living things that are trying to make existence happen like the rest of us.  Be patient with your plants, respond to their needs with deliberation and reason, and enjoy the unfolding drama. 

2.  This is a footnote to "take it easy": dream big but proceed slowly.  Start with a few plants that you like, and then with a single bed, and give it a few weeks to see how it fares under your guidance.  If the weeding and care does not seem to dominate your gardening experience, then consider more plants and more beds and diversify and enlarge your entry into growing country.  This is very important because you want to enjoy your experience and not let it turn into a chore.  Yeah, it can be easy to go crazy once you get into this path of life, but it can also come with some degree of conversion zeal that burns out a lot of people.

3. If you do find yourself really taken by a particular plant, be it an entire species, or just a single sort of fellow, feel free to go crazy anyway.  Stick to the one bed at a time rule, but feel free to indulge in reading up on your favorite botanical friend and possibly plant a whole lot of him or her until you are satisfied.  For me personally, my weakness is for rhododendrons.  I could have a garden full of them, even just one type, and be thrilled.  There is no such thing as too many!  You can learn a lot about plants in general by focusing on your particular friend.  When the time comes to find new friends, you may find your attention moving around; in a few years you will be surprised at just how many different plants you have in your garden and by how well you have come to know them, simply because you did take things one step at a time and were not overwhelmed.  You may have then become a plant junkie, and your garden will be amazing.  Good job!

4.  Listen to good advice but laugh at bad opinions.  What I mean by this is don't let snooty plant people push you around.  If you like X plants, don't stop liking them just because someone says that they are hard to deal with, ugly, etc.  A weed to one person is a beautiful flower to another (within reason, don't go nuts with the milkweed because odds are the neighborhood association with tar and feather you; yes, I like milkweed and its benefits to monarchs), meaning that a weed is something growing where you don't want it to.  Now, if they tell you that X plant is going to be hard to deal with here in Michigan, by all means, listen up and find out what they mean, so that you can enjoy it and give your friend a fighting chance at survival.

5.  Your local library is your friend for helping your plant friends.  In some parts of SE Michigan, we are blessed with a network of libraries that you can get books from even if out of your local area.  Head to the gardening section and take advantage of the free information.  For that matter, you might even have lovely landscaping around the building that has been lovingly made possible by volunteers.  If you see them in action, converse, learn, enjoy how awesome our libraries are!

Basically, as the meme says, keep calm and carry on.  Oh, and if I am allowed to sneak in a quick 6: Placement is not always permanent.  Like plants tend to be, let your imagination and design mission go organic and make things happen as they work for them and for you.  I'm going to throw out a before and after set of pictures to show you the start and current status of a garden bed to sort of visually demonstrate what I am getting at in this post.  This bed had some ups and downs and is now considered my "shut up, neighbors" bed made for curb appeal as much as my enjoyment.  I let it get out of control at one point and it turned into quite the mess of grass and buried plants; seeing the abandoned lot aspect of it prompted me into action to make things better.  Only one of the original plants is still there, while the hostas have remained and served as the core of a partial-shade foliage dominated garden.  In fact, the whole thing pretty much started when my beagle of happy memory passed on; she used to make this her spot to pee on the grass and ensure nothing could ever grow here.  Every time I muck around in the dirt here makes me think of an unfolding story inspired by a fascination with hostas and the need to do something about a bare spot. 

Like I said, an unfolding story.  An epic poem rather than an article, a marathon rather than a sprint.  A beagle that has become a birch!

This?

Started out as this:

Market Review: Ann Arbor Farmer Market

Every Saturday from 8am to 3pm Kerrytown in Ann Arbor gets swarmed by people doing everything from protestors seeking signers for various political petitions to hagglers trying to get the best price on a wooden duck doorstop.  From April to October, the crowds are joined and enhanced by plant sellers and searchers.  True, this is not expansive in scale as the legendary Eastern Market, which despite my general avoidance of I find to be an experience all SE Michiganders should give an annual pilgrimage to, well... the Ann Arbor market is just friendlier and easier to handle.  The Ann Arbor Market has the charm and relative calm of our smaller town markets (even though peak Saturdays can often by crowded) with the more exotic availability expected of a larger market.  Plant wise, you can find everything here from heirloom veggies to exotic perennials to native plants.  I have a few favorite vendors which I will visit in individual posts more closely, but I felt that Friday night was a good time to introduce the Saturday morning market. 

Busy, but not insane.  My apologies from the horrid lighting on the shot.

They also have a Wednesday morning and evening scene, which I have been to only once in the dead of winter.  Obviously they did not have a lot in the way of plants available, but you could still get some cold frame greens, seeds, and make a few new friends with the heartier vendors.  If you need a January nursery fix, even this little bit can help quite a bit.

That said, the best time to go looking for plants is May and early June.  The sales, however, continue unabated until August, when some vendors head away for the month. 

For the novice gardener, the Market can be a great place to meet some gardener friends, see what other people are trying (in an effort to both broaden the plant palette and get some ideas about combinations and garden structure), and learn about plant prices.  The best part about going to any market, and this one in particular, however, is the expert help close at hand.  Here you are face-to-face with vendors who usually also happen to be owners and growers and can respond to individual questions immediately.  You also get the advantage of on-hand variety and can walk back more easily to a vendor when you change your mind about not making a purchase; this is much easier than turning the car around after leaving a nursery.

For the experienced gardener, this is just a really fun place to go.  I've found odd things here I never figured I would find outside of a catalog.  The vendors are typically friendly and seem to be in it for the conversation as much as the profit.  If you want to dive head first into the realm of total plant nerd-ness, this is the best venue to do so in short of a conference or society meeting. 

For both types of gardeners, and non-gardeners, it offers to the jewel that is Kerrytown, full of bookstores, coffee shops, restaurants (including Zingermann's Deli, which among other treats has some of the best Root Beer on the planet, perfect for the thirsty plant shopper), etc. 

Getting to the Market can be tricky, but not impossible.  It is easy to find, being pretty much at the last stretch of Detroit street before it hits an end at Catherine.  Parking is a challenge, and my best recommendation would be to find one of the ramps that are four or five blocks away from the market.  Carry bags and/or boxes to transport your treasures back to the car, as the vendors can sometimes be in short supply.  Expect to pay about 2-4 dollars for parking for an average visit; the kiosks at the ramps have card readers, but as the Market mostly takes cash (except for the tokens you can get from the Market office in case you forgot to bring non-plastic currency) this should not be a problem anyway. 

Best time to visit: May and June.

Websites:

Main Site

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Nursery Review: Alexander Farm Market

Alexander, like our last reviewed nursery, Blocks, is distinguished by decent prices (for the most part) and quality of product.  They are not nearly as large, but perhaps because they are a bit more out of the way for most in metro Detroit (but pretty much easy to get to from most of greater SE Michigan), they tend to be ready and waiting for the customer a bit longer.  As a smaller operation, they tend to take longer to get everything up and running, but this year they exploded onto the scene within their opening week with almost everything laid out.  They certainly do an excellent job at presentation.

<drool>

Scratch that... they have some of the finest nursery displays I have seen anywhere in the industry.  Greenhouses four and five are a feast for the senses. 

Aside from the sheer beauty, they have a friendly, helpful staff who can tell you everything you need to know about making their products thrive.  If the staff and the selection of merchandise is any indication, Alexander Farm Market is run by gardeners who like beautiful and vigorous plants.  Why?  Because they practically give away their flowers and veggies, yet they are plants which of the same quality would qualify as premium offerings at many other nurseries.  Here you will find heirloom and rare varieties of vegetables, a huge selection of perennials, and flats upon flats of more types of annuals than you can imagine. 

Seriously, this is just a slice of the buffet.  Go see for yourself ASAP!

Picture your typical gardening dictionary, and you are likely to find everything and anything from it here.  That's right, this is a small, basically mom-and-pop operation, yet it makes Bordine's look small in terms of variety.  My only wish for them is that they start getting a native plant section going, but I would not be surprised if that is right around the corner; they improve noticeably every year I go there.

Even when the plants start to run out, there is still every reason to come visit for the fresh produce from local farms and their own home grown corn, picked daily.  Once they start opening the produce store on site, the place turns into a rival for the best farmer's markets of the region.  I could gush on and on...

For the novice, Alexander combines both an extensive variety in a very local, non-threatening small scale atmosphere.  You will find stuff to try here that will be more than suitable for most area gardens, but you will also have many options that will invite, rather than dissuade, you to dive in even deeper.

For the experienced green thumb, this is the place to get really crazy with perennials for a very obvious reason... wait for it...

They offer starter perennials at 99 cents.  That's right, 99 cents.  We're talking everything from coneflowers to lupines to lobelias and then some.  Yeah, they start out small, but by the end of the season they are positively huge and the following year, for an investment of around 20 dollars, you can have a garden that looks like you poured gold into the making thereof.  They rotate the stock too, so that every new year you are going to find new things to grow.  The same goes for their cells of annuals, which run 1.09 for four plants, or for their veggies which run a little bit more.  This year I encountered all the coolest heirloom varieties I figured I could only get by seed from the mail order places like Baker Creek.  They even sell flats of corn.  Corn!  Sorry, but I think that's fantastic. 

This is not to say that they don't have high end offerings either.  Do you want designer 70 dollar peonies?  They have those, and at a fraction of the cost that you would find them at big box garden centers.  They have bananas, cannas, variety pots, and even moderately priced faerie garden crap, which I will probably find a new love for with a niece on the way, meaning I will be sucked in even further into this awesome place. 

Just go pay them a visit, and bring as little as ten bucks, even though you will easily want to spend thirty and have to dig a whole new garden bed.  The downside to them is that you will wish you had spent over a hundred once you get home.  Yep, I love this place just that much.  OK, so the real downside is that the parking can be a pain in the behind on a busy day; don't bring a massive truck or try to come during the dead of the afternoon on a weekday.

Alexander Farm Market is located off of US 23 just north of Ann Arbor, off of Whitmore Lake rd, which is a left turn off of North Territorial which exits off the freeway.  Head west on North Territorial to the first light, which is said road.  Alexander is a few hundred feet down the next left, but you can't miss it for the giant sign at the corner.

Best time to visit: Now! Why aren't you there yet?

Websites:

Main Site

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Nursery Review: Block's Stand And Greenhouse

When I started this blog a few weeks ago, the planting season was getting underway and local gardeners such as myself were in their full spring fever.  Nurseries around the area were crowded full of plant fanatics and eager growers looking to tell winter to buzz off, and the concept of writing to share with all of you the rush was... a bad idea.  To new growers, the thought of having you smashed into a mob full of overly-energetic retiree-aged hobbyists and fanatical master gardeners is amusing but also intimidating.  Let's be honest, April is a time when you see the good, the bad, and the ugly in the gardener's world.  Now, however, the crowds have died off a bit, the staff is more than eager to keep sales running smooth, and nurseries are a grand place to visit.  I'm going to show you around a few of my favorites. 

To be fair, most of them are downriver, on the west side, or even further in both directions.  I know some of the more experienced visitors here will shout out names like Telly's and Eastern Market, as well as a slew of places I might have never heard of.  As we all know, however, metro Detroit consists of people who think that anything on the opposite side of Woodward is terra incognita.  By all means, suggest a place for me to go, but in the meantime you are going to see a lot of "west side nursery story".  Our first visit takes us south, actually.

The most incredible selection, in terms of sheer volume of healthy, hearty plants that you will find anywhere in SE Michigan is going to be at Blocks at Eureka and Middlebelt, just outside of Metro Airport.  You know how I said things get nuts at nurseries in late April and early May?  They get positively INSANE at Blocks.  This is because they grow their own stuff for the most part, they have incredible quality to it, and they have tons of stuff. 

Picture this times 20, and you have Blocks.  HUGE.

Mind you, they also tend to actually sell out of stuff, too.  Remember what I said about avoiding the crowds?  I apologize.  Don't do it for Blocks.  Learn to handle the mob, get some good plants, and go within the first week of their opening at the top of May.  Next year, if I still maintain this blog, I will make a reminder post about them around that time.  They are simply that good.  Their staff is helpful even under the insanity period, they carry a wide variety of selections of everything from fruit trees to exotic veggies, and their pricing is, well, affordable.  I am particularly fond of their 3 for 10 one gallon perennial pots; they seem to have a unique selection every year and said sale has brought many new perennial friends into my life.  For comparison, many gallon perennials cost anywhere from 7-20 dollars at most other local nurseries, and are often big box grower purchases.  Blocks sells you their own stock, for the most part. 

For the novice gardener, they are an excellent place to dive in to the hobby/calling and get lost for a few hours.  You will find everything from good, cheap garden hardware (like those adorable frog watering cans) to every sort of plant you will ever need to start making your little slice of paradise with.  They also have seeds, roots, mulch, and more free advice than you can shake a stick at.  Yes, Blocks will be intimidating if you are starting out, but it will also be convenient, one-stop shopping with help right around the corner.  Your wallet, if nothing else, will thank me, both in terms of initial investment and with how well your purchases do. 

For those with more advanced green thumbs, all I have to say is that if you have never been here, go.  In my opinion, Block's is going to offer a selection every bit as worthy as Eastern Market, and the prices and attitude are far, far less elitist.  Don't get me wrong, Eastern has some incredible stuff if you enjoy city driving, parking, and if your credit score is good enough to get you a bank loan.  At Blocks, you might have to park a fair piece from the gate, but you won't have to fight to get a spot, and the staff will actually smile at you.

Speaking of smiles, my two friendly cashiers.  They are friendly while not sacrificing efficiency; the crowd behind them was also ringing out and yet the lines were pretty decent.

OK, so I exaggerate, but for the most part, the experience in Romulus is going to be a bit less stressful than at the Market.  I accordingly promote Blocks as a worthy EM level alternative. 

The downside to them is that they do tend to sell out rather quickly, before summer even really gets going.  If you are finicky about frost and want to wait until Memorial Day to do your planting, you will most likely be out of luck.  The other drawback, to some at least, is that they are not very much into display.  Their flats are healthy and beautiful, but presented in unremarkable rows and tables.  For the novice, this can sometimes be a deterrent from getting too excited about the place; my best piece of advice is to go with a more experienced gardener who can point the way and draw you to some truly great purchases.  For my needs, the no-frills approach to the display works out just fine; Blocks is pretty much an essential trip for the basics concerning veggies and annuals every year, and a bonus in regards to perennials.  I come for the quality and affordability.  If you want a show while you set up the backbone of your garden, go to Eastern Market. 

Blocks is located at Eureka and Middlebelt in Romulus, Michigan.  It is two miles away from I-275's Eureka exit, and over 3 from I-75's Eureka exit, so fairly easy to get to from many places in SE Michigan.  I tend to combine my annual binge at Blocks with visits to other downriver nurseries, which can be another reason in justifying driving from as far away as Lansing or Port Huron to pay them a visit. 

Best time to visit: Early May (or whenever they open, usually the last weekend of April). 

Websites:

Main site

Facebook page

In Defense Of Annuals

Note for the novice:  Annuals are those flowers that you have to plant each year.  Perennials are those which come back on their own.

Annuals.  Those lovely things that often tend to flower profusely throughout the growing season.  They come in amazing colors, are bred to flower like crazy, and have such huge curb appeal that many hardware and home decor stores now carry plastic versions of the popular varieties for the less than green thumbed.  In early spring our local nurseries bring out their first vibrant annual displays of pansies, and in a steady, choreographed march we get petunias, zonal geraniums, snapdragons, etc. until fall when we get mums and less-than-perennial designer asters.  In comparison, the perennials on display are often between stages of floral display, but people seem to fly on past the flats of color and toward the 8 dollar coneflower pots.  In some ways, this is a great thing, but in other ways the preference towards perennials is marked more by confusion than by common sense.

Consider the following lines:

The beginner/casual gardener:  

"Annuals?  Why would I want to waste money on things that won't grow back?"

"I want the plants that come back every year, you know, the ones where you don't have to do anything to them once you plant them."

The experienced gardener:

"Annuals are so common and boring."

"I'm after perennials rather than annuals because they will keep improving and expanding every year.  I want this garden to look old and well-developed.  I don't want to stare at mulch all day."

The hippy:

"Hey man, what about the pollinators?  Grow native and let the bees thrive!"

We've all been there, each one of us finding some comfortable place in the statements above.  Money and the environment tend to drive our gardening direction, and annuals always seem to be a luxury best reserved for the truly obsessed plant people.  After all, those highly bred petunias won't be back next year, nor will they provide the best, if any, food for the bees and butterflies.  They also tend to be everywhere...

But then again, so do a lot of perennials.  Many houses have foundation plantings of hostas, hydrangeas, black-eyed susans, (don't get me started on pachysandra), etc.  If they don't, odds are that the home gardener is a bit insane, and like your author, is so plant mad that the place is a buffet of almost gross looking variety.  Additionally, they might also be into the natives, which might mean that there are periods where nothing is in flower, or, worse, is "let wild" and looks unkempt. 

So?  Who cares what people think?!  I enjoy my garden and keep it the way that I want to.  Society is overrated.  Screw the neighbors!

The 80% of you that are still reading are doing so because you are clearly shameful sycophants to societal whims.  OR, you actually care not only about your landscaping, but about its place in the larger local landscape.  Gardening, even for the socially unconcerned, has elements of community attached to it, however small.  When we work in our gardens and try to make them more than just a mowed lawn with a few shrubs attached, we are partially doing so because we want to make our little corner of the world more appealing.  Hell, aside from the law forcing us to, most of us mow our lawns for that very reason.  We also tend to weed for the same results, and sometimes, we even show up with a flat of snapdragons.  Then something funny happens: the neighbors do it too.  Then you both start bumping into each other at nurseries and stealing seed catalogs from your respective mailboxes, all because a little color drove you the good kind of crazy. 

Annuals, you see, are great little accent pieces that can keep the flowers going in between our other proud blossoms.  If nothing else, they can also help distract the eye from a messy bed, spent perennials, etc.  As noted, you can start in chilly spring with the pansies and end when you thought your nursery visits were over in the fall by planting mums.  They are window dressing...

 they spread cheer and color...

and they provide slow season support to our local mom-and-pop nurseries; that pansy flat you buy in the first week of April may be the most encouraging thing to happen to the manic owner concerned with both the bills and the preparations driving them up the wall. 

Note: Orange pansies were purchased at Mike's Garden (South Lyon), blue and golds at George's Livonia Gardens (Livonia).

They also give you something to do in the garden, with near instant results, at otherwise less than visually impacting working times.  On the extreme end, you might find that you actually like using them, and may just turn into a crazy Victorian with carpet beds of the colorful little things.  Annuals are powerful like that!  (Note: Don't be afraid to try this, even while I encourage diversification and definitely going native). 

Because Boring Landscaping Is A Sin

Hi, I'm Brent, a transplanted Ontarian living in the slightly warmer land known as Southeastern Michigan.  I've been a gardener for quite some time, fascinated with plants ever since I first realized what they were and noticed how many varieties they came in, probably when I was four years old and blissfully enjoying the long trip down US 15 and I-95 from the Toronto area to Fort Lauderdale.  I've studied them, found a definite preference for the wild versions, and even decided to try to monetize the experience by becoming a salesman for a lawn care company.  Like many other gardeners, I go a bit insane around this time of year akin to some sort of pagan ritual dancer offering praise to the grain goddess; this year I figured I would try and belt out an aria of worship in the form of this blog.  But seriously, does the world really need another gardening blog?

Of course it does!  That said, I think I can get a bit more specific in this one.  If you love gardening, want to learn how, want to learn more, or just want to let me know how wrong I am about the whole thing, then stick around and enjoy the bad writing and horrid photography.  More so, if you have any of these afflictions and happen to dwell in Southeastern Michigan, a.k.a. anywhere from Port Huron to Jackson and then lovingly backed by the lovely province of Ontario, definitely stick around.  If you live in Chicago, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toronto, or even some crazy place like Rochester, know that most of what I talk about can apply to your landscape as well, and perhaps even entice you to come and spend money here in glorious Detroit.  Trust me, we could use it, and not merely as fodder for the casinos...

I'm not going to make any false promises with this blog; updates may be somewhat infrequent as I am consumed by the actual joy known as gardening.  What you can expect, however, is the following:

-Introductions to amazing plants that you should really give a chance.

-Reviews of garden centers, nurseries, and even landscapers, including those requested to be reviewed (BKryda@gmail.com).

-Reviews of books, periodicals, and websites dedicated to the act of gardening.

-History and geography sharing pertinent to SE Michigan gardening and horticulture.

-Cool pictures of garden finds in the area that simply must be shared with everyone.

-Long-winded diatribes on why you should not only like rhododendrons and cacti, but plant as many as possible without getting sued by your neighborhood association.

-Tours of public gardens and local and state parks.

And so on.  Come by in the next few days for our first installment, and know that if you have boring landscaping, not only will I write about it, but I might even come by in the middle of the night and mulch all your pachysandra.