Events

"Roasted Green Corn and Ooxrat: The Plant World of the Huron/Wyandot
People"

Monday, February 16th, 7:30 pm
(The meeting time and place are atypical as it is a joint meeting with the
Michigan Botanical Club)

Speaker: Gerald Wykes

This is a naturalist's view of the historic ethnobotany of the Huron/Wyandot
culture that have called the Detroit River region home for centuries. It is
both a plant and a people story where arum, rabbit root and ne-pe-sha have
long served hunger, pain, and spiritual needs and one involving a native
healer named Katie who once roamed the banks of the Huron River.

Gerald Wykes is currently retired from the Huron-Clinton Metroparks after a
32 year career as an Interpreter and Director of the Lake Erie Marshlands
Museum. He is a freelance author, illustrator, and historian and continues
to pursue stories which explore the complicated links binding the human
and natural world. His 2014 "Michigan History" article on Milkweed use
during World War II received the Michigan Historical Commission award as the
best article of the year.

Native shrubs can provide blossoms in Spring, and colorful foliage in the Fall. All year they give pattern and texture, visual interest in the backyard landscape.

In addition, they provide food and habitat for colorful butterflies, songbirds and other creatures.

Learn about easy-to-care-for species that will thrive in your yard. Sources, planing techniques and similar details will be covered.

Prepare now to plant in April and May.

All invited to view photos of witch-hazel, thimbleberry, dogwood and other
native shrubs in nearby backyards, parks and natural areas.
Learn how to add year-round beauty to your yard.
Information about species, sources and planting tips will be provided.

Mark Charles has been growing shrubs in Ann Arbor for more than two decades.

Wild Design by Drew Lathin

How do we create gardens that satisfy a certain need for aesthetic order and balance and at the same time provide refugia for all the bees, bugs, and butterflies that will call it home. How does one create a native plant garden that the neighbors will study with delight?

Come and listen to what one of our local designers has to say:

Drew Lathin is the General Manager of Creating Sustainable Landscapes. He is a sustainable landscapes consultant who is creating ecologically restorative urban and suburban landscapes. As an outspoken critic of conventional landscaping practices which destroy habitat, result in species extinction, and threaten the biodiversity upon which humanity and all life depends, Drew utilizes native plants in his beautifully installed landscapes that support wildlife, and reduces or eliminates resource inputs such as pesticides and supplemental water.

Free and open to the public.

This event was originally scheduled for 4/9/14. Actual date will be announced once we have a better idea of when the spring ephemerals are going to be visible.

Come and enjoy an evening celebrating the recovery of one of the loveliest displays of springtime ephemerals close to town (whether you are coming from Dexter or Ann Arbor). ?Toni and Ken Spears along with a lot of other folks have been working for the past few years to rescue this area from an overwhelming number of invasives.

Early April is the beginning of the spring wildflower season, and we hope to find one of the earliest bloomers, harbinger-of-spring, which has been observed previously at this park. The lovely small woodlot near the Huron River has a wealth of wildflowers, and we?ll look for other early starters, such as bloodroot and the large patches of false rue anemone and trout lily. ?The trillium, wild ginger, and cutleaf toothwort typically appear a bit later, but who knows what this weather pattern might bring. Large chinquapin oaks also live here.

The wildflower walk is free and open to the public, but there is a $5 vehicle entry fee for the park. ?Please do not bring pets. ?(734-604-4674) ?If it Is warm, come early and have a picnic.? (Park closes at 8pm.)

This new course will explore developing pollinator gardens and native plantings.

Strong fruit and vegetable production often depends on the tiniest of garden
visitors ? native bees and honey bees. Learn how to design a beautiful garden
that will boost your crop production, attract beneficial insects, and support
native biodiversity. This course is taught by Washtenaw County Naturalist
Shawn Severance.

**New for 2015** $5/class fee for all classes to discourage no-shows;
registration is required. Walk-ins are welcome.

Native Shrub Planting and garlic mustard pull

Mary Beth Doyle Park in southeast Ann Arbor: meet at the end of Verle
Avenue, west off of Platt Road between Packard and Ellsworth.

Tremendous progress is being made on this large preserve to increase the
native habitat. NAP will be providing tools, glove, plants, and
instructions, though you can always bring your own favorite toys.

Children welcome when accompanied by a parent.

Tremendous progress is being made on this large preserve to increase the
native habitat. NAP will be providing tools, glove, plants, and
instructions, though you can always bring your own favorite toys.

Children welcome when accompanied by a parent.

(Mary Beth Doyle Park in southeast Ann Arbor: meet at the end of Verle
Avenue, west off of Platt Road between Packard and Ellsworth.)

STEPS for Kids volunteer action
Planting Shrubs at Montrio Pond at the Pinelake Coop.
(Pinelake is located in Ann Arbor on S Maple Rd between Liberty and Pauline, on the west side of Maple,
and Montrio Pond is as far from Maple Rd as you can get on the property.)

STEPS for Kids volunteers ?will be clearing areas for this summer's planting, as well as planting a few wetland shrubs and trees around the pre-settlement, spring-fed Montrio Pond at the Pinelake Coop.? STEPS for Kids is a nonprofit 501c3 org that offers low income children healthy outdoor activities and teaches them about native plants, among other things.? ?Help out for a few minutes or an hour, as your afternoon allows.

http://stepsforkids.org This site also has a photo gallery and information on Montrio Pond.

Go to the website and you will see just a pond and a fence and some happy kids helping to develop the garden which helps to filter run off from the parking lots into the pond ?the tallest point in Ann Arbor and, thus, part of the watershed.? This picture was posted years ago.? You should see it (and them) now.? Lush vegetation and bigger kids rapidly being replaced by kids who are novices to this and need enthusiastic teachers for basic spade work, pruning, and planting.? They are terrific fun to be with and sharing your basic skills will go a long way to keeping this project going. ??Diane Macaulay and Deborah van Horn got this all started and will really appreciate some partnership.

Mark your calendars, and we'll send a reminder closer to the time.? The children need enthusiastic role models to help them plant for good and learn to love nature.

Hopeful Oaks Native Plant Garden by Nancy Stoll
1314 Broadway Street, Ann Arbor
[email protected]

This garden started as a backyard plot but has spread to the woods
surrounding it.? There is both sun and shade with corresponding flowers and
shrubs.? The garden tour will focus on plant selection.? We will look at
which plants are good choices for the location and why, and which ones are
less successful or downright mistakes!?

About ten years ago the area was lawn or mostly non-natives such as
honeysuckle and garlic mustard.? There is also an area that was new fill
dirt with no topsoil.? Now most of the non-natives have been removed and
there are about one hundred species of native trees, shrubs, vines, and
flowers.? The area under care has been progressively enlarged, so it is
possible to see established gardens, recently planted areas, ?spots under
construction, and areas that are still "honeysuckle heaven." ?This is not a
large garden--maybe 1/4 acre, but it shows what can be done with an average
lot in the city.

Plant selection is the first challenge when starting with highly disrupted
ecosystems.? There are no native plants to give clues what belongs there, no
established microbes in the soil to support what is planted.? It is tricky
building a balanced ecosystem from scratch, and it takes a long time.?
Research, looking at what grows in nearby natural areas, and trial and error
have led to what is now established.? It is an ongoing process!

Another challenge is groundhogs and deer.? The former get trapped and
removed.? The latter are somewhat repelled by sprays, fences around certain
plants, and a crazy lady in her slippers banging together pot lids, but the
deer still do a lot of damage.

The third challenge is hubby who really prefers lawn and traditional
plantings.? Not everyone is a native plant enthusiast.? A gradual
encroaching of natives, guerrilla gardening with seeds and small seedlings
quietly planted, and stealthy applications of basil bark herbicide very late
at night are ways of subtly transforming a city lot to mostly natives.

Triumphs in this garden include the appearance and egg-laying of the giant
swallowtail and American lady butterflies, the accumulation of plants to a
point where they are spreading to the neighboring lots on their own, the
acquisition of the backyard habitat sign from the National Wildlife
Federation, and the popping up of a few native volunteers.

Program is free and open to the public. Questions: 734-604-4674

The AAWO are welcome to start the garden tour at our
place with refreshments and a brief description of the history behind the
gardens at Caroline and Jack Wallace's.

The genesis of the Mulholland Gardens began 250 miles to the north of Ann Arbor in 2003 when Carolyn and I were seduced by the beauty of the native seasonal flowers and plants in the meadows and woods surrounding our condo at Boyne Mountain. Buoyed by success of transplanting local native plants and seeds on the ski slope behind our Boyne condo, plus an opportune sighting of a drift of Allium in a dense thicket on the easement behind our Ann Arbor condo, we decided to develop a Mulholland Garden on both the north and west easements. After receiving permission from the city in the spring of 2009, we hired a tree service company and our condo landscape service to clear the thickets in the north and west side easements, and to help prepare the soil for planting in the fall. I drew a plan for the north garden; plants were ordered from Wild Type in Mason, MI; a seed mix was purchased from Michigan Wild Flower Farm in Portland, MI; a neighborhood planting party was organized, and the north garden was launched in September. To make the start of two gardens more manageable, we decided to delay planting the west side garden for one year, meanwhile covering the surface with three layers of a Sunday NY Times paper J and mulch to suppress the weeds; the west side garden was started in 2010.
There are 70 species of plants in the two gardens with 91% being native. The north garden, which has grown considerably from its modest beginning, is about 2,100 square feet in area, while the smaller west garden is about 600 square feet. We were blessed last year with perfect weather for the Mulholland Gardens, and we are hoping for the same this year. I?ve attached a photo of a gold finch enjoying its breakfast last summer for your viewing pleasure.

Caroline and Jack Wallace
241 Mulholland St (between Liberty and Washington, one block east of 7th
St.. Convene at their unit which is the first as you turn into the drive
and parking area.

Greetings!

Next week we will visit a treasure of a prairie tucked into a surprising site. We last visited Diane Macaulay's prairie garden back in July 2011. Wait until you see what it looks like in August with the plants in lush maturity, helped by this spring's heavy rains.

Diane's house is about 1/4 mile south of W. Liberty, on the west side of Maple. Look for the entrance in the palisade (stockade) fence at the north end, where there is also a mail box with the house number. The house is barely visible, but you can't miss the fence.

Please try to carpool as parking is limited.

As part of the River Hop* join us for any or all of these great opportunities led by Wild Ones members:

10-11:15 am: Native Plants of the Cascades. Nancy Stoll and Stacie Printon will lead a tour of the native landscaping along the new Cascades (a whitewater rapids feature built by the City of Ann Arbor?a great place for tubing or a picnic!). Meet at the Argo Canoe Livery shelter. Best parking is at #3 on this map , which is near where the walk ends.

Noon-1 pm: Riparian Buffer along the Huron River. Marta Manildi will show the native landscaping she has created in her river?s edge yard that is both beautiful and so important for preventing stormwater runoff into the Huron. Great for pollinators too! 1045 Cedar Bend Dr.

1-5:00 pm: Come see Nancy Stoll?s amazing garden of native flowers, shrubs and trees which includes numerous micro-habitats?sun, shade, and hillside. Stop by anytime during these hours?Nancy has created a self-guided tour handout.
1314 Broadway St.

*River Hop: A weekend of fun activities located in the neighborhoods near the Huron River by Broadway and Pontiac Trail in Ann Arbor. For more info see click here .

Questions, contact Barbara Lucas at [email protected]. Hope to see you on the 29th, and bring your friends!

Saturday, Sept. 26 at 1pm
At the Leonard Preserve
North Union Street
Manchester

The Leonard Preserve is the largest natural area in the County's system of NAPP preserves, 259 acres that protect nearly one mile of River Raisin shoreline. Located just northwest of the Village of Manchester, this rich and diverse?landscape includes rolling hills, woodlands, wetlands, prairie and former pasture land.? The diversity of habitats makes for very good wildlife viewing.? Wood ducks, coyotes, blue racers, and Blanding?s turtles are some of the animals you may see at this preserve.?

Jacqueline Courteau will be leading our tour focusing on her research showing the impact of the local deer population on these diverse landscapes. (See the attached photo for her work using deer exclosures which is a way of measuring the impact of deer browse.) The very diversity which was the basic reason for the purchase of these lands is being eaten away year by year. Habitat for a complex network of species is being reduced. If you take a look at the browse line of the trees, you can see as well how the deer are destroying their winter food supply. Come and hear from a scientist what these impacts are.

Hope to see you there. We will be meeting in the parking lot at 1pm.

Click here for Google map

Join us for this end of season celebration of our triumphs (and occasional frustrations) with promoting and growing native plants and natural landscaping. Start assembling pictures of whatever part of this drama you wish to share. Bring a dish of your favorite food and, if you remember, your own plate, bowl, and cutlery. We will also be announcing the recipient of the 2015 Bob Grese Deep Roots Award.

And, don't forget to gather and label seeds from your garden. We will be sharing those at our January 13th meeting. If any of you need particular species, please indicate this to the listserv. We can bring some to the potluck if you know you won?t be available in January.

Also, if you have ideas for programs or garden visits, please let Andrea Matthies know.