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.