pollinators | See Jane dig.

The Plaster Creek Stewards had a native plant sale this afternoon hosted at the public library. According to their site, the group “is a collaboration of Calvin College faculty, staff, and students working with local schools, churches, and community partners to restore the health and beauty of the watershed.” The group focuses their efforts on “three areas: education, research, and on-the-ground restoration in the watershed.”

The plant sale was one of the many activities held in the city to celebrate Earth Week 2014. On the 15th of this month, I had attended a seminar at the Frederick Meijer Gardens about native plants. Native Plants in the Garden was given by Brian Majka of Cardno JFNew. So when I attended the native plant sale, I had a list of plants to seek out for specific, challenging areas of the Lot.

Native Plants for Dry, Sandy Shade

Along the east side of the Lot, against the foundation, is an area of dry shade. It has unfortunately been the site of many plant deaths. At first I felt sedum would work, but there is not enough sun. None of the gentle, morning sun the rest of the east side receives reaches the barren patch.

Here are the natives I brought home for dry / sandy / shade:

Wild Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis
Foxglove beardtongue – Penstemon digitalis
Hairy beardtongue – Penstemon hirsutus
Shortbeak Sedge – Carex brevior

Native Plants for Wet Shade

In the back, northwest corner of the Lot is a low area where a lot of rainwater will collect. The rain barrels currently are there along with a fern and a coral bell. The area gets a brief hit of afternoon sun.

Here are the natives I brought home for wet (seasonally flooded) / shade:

Cardinal Flower – Lobelia cardinalis
Great Blue Lobelia – Lobelia siphilitica (part sun)

Native Plants for Wet Sun

On the west side of the Lot where the privacy fence divides the front and back of the property, there is a downspout. The rain water is funneled out into this area causing it to often be soggy. The area also receives some toasty, afternoon sun.

Here are the natives I brought home for wet (seasonally flooded) / sun:

Cup Plant – Silphium perfoliatum
Monkey Flower – Mimulus ringens

Native Plants for Dry, Sandy Sun

Here is the only native I brought home for dry / sand / sun*:

Wild Lupine – Lupinus perennis

* To be absolutely honest about the lupine, I bought it because I was curious about the native lupine versus the nursery varieties I had grown in the past. It is also the host plant for the Karner Blue butterfly.

All the native plants I purchased will be living in the garage a few weeks longer. Grown from seed and still little, the advice at the plant sale was to wait until our cooler than normal Spring warms a bit more. I look forward to watching them grow throughout the season.

The Frederick Meijer Gardens has an annual exhibit from the beginning of March through the end of April called “Butterflies are Blooming.” The Other Half and I attended an evening event at the gardens which allowed me to try out my new camera.

The Caterpillar Room was an area dedicated to the lifecycle of the monarch butterfly. Monarch caterpillars are placed on various plants in the exhibit, like milkweed, that serve as a food source. The caterpillars feed and then pack themselves away in a cocoon known as the chrysalis stage. It’s from these cocoons the adult monarch butterfly emerges.

The main exhibit is held in the Tropical Conservatory. Upon entering the exhibit, you are surrounded by free flying butterflies. There are 40 tropical butterfly species from around the world represented in the exhibit. It was quite fun trying to snap photos of these pretty, little insects. Unfortunately, I could not get a butterfly with it’s wings open. The colors on top of the wings were quite brilliant.