Sedum ternatum is the Chicago area’s only native sedum, and unlike the sun-loving, non-native Eurasian sedum, it thrives in shade.   It is found mostly in limestone bluffs, but in my experience, it grows well in any dry shade situation.

I first discovered it at The Natural Garden and bought 2 clumps to plant within the cracks of my flagstone patio.

Beautiful, but not long-lasting in this situation.

It migrated to other shady areas around my patio where it has been rather obscure.    It will even grow and bloom under the total shade of other plants!

I used it along a stone edging in a shady area at a client’s –it’s turned out well in this  limestone-edged garden.  This is May of 2010.

Last year–2012.  Note how nicely it filled in and the profusion of bloom.

I then gave some to my daughter to plant on a shady northeast hill along the side of her house and look at the results! 

Sedum ternatum up close.  Lime green, shiny, succulent leaves define this creeping perennial.  The starlike flowers bloom in May and June.

Companions found in nature are Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadenses) and Bulblet or Bladder Fern (Cystopteris bulbifera).  Interesting litle fern–translucent bulbs form on the underside of the small, lacy fronds, which drop off and create new ferns.  I used to grow it amongst the flagstone in my patio, but it disappeared after a few years.  Worth seeking out.

My liking for gardens to be lavish is an inherent part of my garden philosophy.  I like generosity wherever I find it, whether in gardens or elsewhere.  I hate to see things scrimp and scrubby.  Even the smallest garden can be prodigal within its own limitation.    

 V.  Sackville West

  Wild Ones Walk in a Shade Garden

 A  dynamic couple, members of the Northern Kane County Wild Ones, opened their lavish shade gardens, decorative terraces, and rain garden to Wild Ones members and the public last week.  Over 60 people toured this unique property, a record for our garden tours.

I’m only going to show you the shade gardens today; watch for more posts of other parts of their gardens in the future.

These grounds are not a natural oak woodland or savanna.  It’s an old farm field in which farming had been abandoned; inevitably, a mixture of fast growing native and non-native trees invaded such as Box Elder, American Elm, Siberian Elm, and Buckthorn.  The owners have been removing these trees and at the same time, adding native understory trees, shrubs, perennials, ferns, grasses, and sedges, thereby creating one of the most stunning woodland gardens in the area.

Note how decorative the rock placed in the brick edging becomes as it breaks up the linear perspective.

 Clusters of fragrant, lavender-blue, 5-petaled blossoms of Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata) mix with Penn Sedge (Carex pensylvanica) along a path.  One of the most common woodland sedges and one of the most useful, Penn Sedge makes a fine matrix for early woodland wildflowers.  It is a running, low-growing grass-like sedge, 8-12” tall, in bloom in early April into early May.

Wild Ginger, Jacob’s Ladder, and Penn Sedge

 The rounded, heart-shaped leaves of Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) are an elegant addition to a shade garden. Spreading by rhizomes, the low-growing–6-8”–plant grows in patches in mesic or floodplain woodlands in the wild and is equally at home in a woodland garden.  Here it is combined with Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium repans) and more Penn Sedge.

Jacob’s Ladder is the first woodland wildflower I grew, given to me by my mother-in-law from her garden.  The leafy clumps are decorated with clusters of nodding china-blue cups that seed themselves cheerfully throughout the garden.  One almost imagines that the pinnately compound leaves resemble a ladder.

 Groundcovers  that thrive in shade

 Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)  and Wild Ginger, make a splendid combination in woodland gardens. Because these plants spread vigorously and delightfully, they will be easily available to you for free from the gardens of your friends and neighbors.

Ostrich Fern is rare in the wild, but during the 20’s and 30’s, it was ubiquitous in north side foundation plantings.  It spreads fast by underground stolons.  Elegant when emerging and unfolding, it becomes rather ragged by August.  (This might be mitigated if planted in naturally moist soil where it is found in nature.)  As a bonus, brown, fertile fronds emerge in the fall that give a striking silhouette in winter against the snow.

The deeply-lobed leaves of Virginia Waterleaf are exquisitely mottled (resembling water spots) early in spring when they first emerge from the ground, but as the season progresses, they become all-over dark green.

The globular flowers appear in May, usually an unassuming pale lavender, but this year several patches of mine were a deeper lavender-pink.  Why?  Perhaps the extra moisture from a rainy spring, but I don’t know.

 Looking into the terrace next to the sun room.

More Wild Blue Phlox and Penn Sedge, plus Carex sprengellii–another indispensable sedge.

(The common name of Carex sprengellii is Sprengel’s Sedge or Long-beaked Sedge, but, in my  opinion, it’s just as easy to memorize and say Carex sprengellii as it is Long-beaked Sedge.)   Clumps of Carex sprengellii arch gracefully, somewhat resembling Prairie Dropseed in size and habit.  Mix it in a woodland garden or use it more formally as an edging to a shade garden.  In nature it grows in moist woods, but in my experience, it grows well in dryer situations, as well.  A calciphite (lime-loving), it is extremely happy growing between the stones of my flagstone patio. It spreads by rhizomes and seeds itself about, as well, sometimes at quite a distance–each and every plant is more than welcome.  It does not do well in deep shade.

Later in the year Purple Coneflower, Culver’s Root, and Short’s Aster will join in the mix.

Rain channel and terrace made from old bricks rescued from a downtown street in Elgin that had been torn up.   Bur Sedge fills in the planter next to the holding pool.  There are no rain gutters attached to the roof; the rain sheets off into these rain channels.

The rain channel turns the corner around the sunroom, then runs under the bridge that leads from the sunroom to the attached garden shed.  More Bur Sedge (Carex grayii) grows in the planter next to the door. One 1 gal. plant completely fills the planter and spills out over the edges, in lavish abundance.  Large green, mace-like, starry seed sacks decorate Bur Sedge beginning in May and persisting into fall.  In nature, it is found in moist woodlands.

See my book Design Your Natural Midwest Garden, page 167 for the illustrated design of these areas.

 Chunk of concrete from old barn foundation has acquired a mossy patina.  Carex sprengellii at the right; Grow-low Sumac (Rhus aromatica ‘Grow-low’) at the left.

View north from the deck into a savanna.

Grow-low Sumac edges the deck; Foxglove Beard Tongue, Starry Campion, Purple Cone Flower, Culver’s Root, and Bottlebrush Grass are some of the plants that will bloom here in the summer.

Remove the lawn under the canopy of your trees and underplant them with any of the above.  The forbs (perennials), ferns, and sedges will greatly enhance the well-being of the trees (and the world).

Please refer to my previous post, Underplanting Trees, on March 2, 2012 at

http://naturalmidwestgarden.com/archives/1939

 Many years ago, when my children were young, we drove up to Door County to spend Memorial Day weekend.  The weather was quite cool–the tourist season had not yet started.  The peninsula was, however, exquisite; a beautiful time of year to visit.

The cherry trees, for which the county is famous, were all in bloom, a sea of white billowing blossoms everywhere, as far as the eye could see. Adding to the picture were carpets of Virginia Bluebells and  Great White Trillium beneath the cherry trees, a stunning blue and white composition.

While cherry (and apple) trees were common when I was growing up, one doesn’t see many cherry blossoms anymore.  But its relative, Wild Plum (Prunus americana) is common, seen in bloom in April and May in thickets along roadsides and at the edge of Forest Preserves.

Wild Plum (Prunus americana) grows to height of 15’ and suckers into a dense thicket.  The fragrant, snowy blossoms emerge before the leaves; in summer they produce sweet red and yellow plums to eat out of hand or from which to make preserves.  It’s not easy, though, to pick them before the critters get them.

In the home landscape, underplant Wild Plum with Virginia Bluebells and Great White Trillium–a stunning combination for anyone’s property.  Jens Jensen, who had a home in Door County,  used this combination in his designs.

Wild Plum combined with Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginiana)

Its pink buds turn into profuse, nodding clusters of sky blue bells on 18-24’ stems.

Close-up of Virginia Bluebells.

Great White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) with Bloodroot foliage.  It thrives in a moist, shaded,  diverse wildflower garden.

The three white, undulating petals of Great White Trillium form a funnel-shaped flower that stands above 3 green whorled bracts that grow out of a whorl of 3 leaves, triply earning its genus name.  As it species name states, It has large flowers, especially compared to  other local trillium.  As the flower ages it turns from sparkling white to dusty pink.  Great White Trillium grows from a short rhizome that produces a single flower at the top of a 6-12” plant.  The rhizome will often form large clonal colonies  (we can only  hope).

Then consider adding other wildflowers to the above composition:

Jacob’s Ladder, also in bloom now continues the blue color scheme.

Virginia Bluebells combined with Jacob’s Ladder at Chicago Botanic Garden, Mother’s Day, 2009.

The pinnately compound leaves of Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans) give it its common name;  the leafy clumps are decorated with clusters of nodding, china blue cups that seed themselves cheerfully about the garden.

One must consider hiding the dying foliage of the ephemeral bluebells that takes place after the flowers have bloomed and produced seed–it is neither quick nor pretty.

Arching clumps of Long-beaked Sedge (Carex sprengellii) will hide the fading ephemeral Virginia Bluebells.  My favorite sedge, it grows 1 1/2-2’ tall  and spreads fairly quickly by rhizomes and by seed.  It’s always welcome in my gardens, wherever it chooses to grow.

Here’s an announcement from Valerie Blaine, Kane County Naturalist.

GENEVA, IL — Learn about invasive plant species and how they impact us

all, at a May 16 nature program.

Natural Resources Director Drew Ullberg of the Forest Preserve

District of Kane County will discuss invasive species and their

effects on native flora and fauna.  “Invasive Plant Species of Kane

County” is Thursday, May 16, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Creek Bend Nature

Center in Saint Charles.

Ullberg will describe both the management challenges and successes in

the ongoing battle against invasive species. There will be a

question-and-answer session following the presentation.

This nature program is part of the Learn from the Expert series of

programs offered jointly by the Forest Preserve District of Kane

County, the Geneva Park District and the Saint Charles Park District.

Learn from the Experts programs are taught by experts in their field

and offer in-depth information about local ecology.  Advance

registration is required.

Registration for “Invasive Plant Species of Kane County” is $15 per

person. To register, call 847-741-8350 or e-mail

programs@kaneforest.com.

Creek Bend Nature Center is located within LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve

at 37W700 Dean St., Saint Charles.

You do not have to live in Kane County to attend this program.

For more information or a full roster of Forest Preserve District of

Kane County programs, visit www.kaneforest.com.

 James Thomson

Spring seems to have finally arrived–at least for this week.

March/April flowers just started to bloom the last weekend in April:

Spring Beauty and Toothwort

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) is common in woodlands. Clusters of tiny,  pink striped, white petaled flowers form a bountiful bouquet at the top of every stem. The narrow linear leaves make a pleasing background.  It seeds itself joyfully around the garden and into your lawn, if you’re lucky.  If so, do  I need to warn you not to mow the lawn until the plant fades away?  (I hope you never use herbicides.)  Spring Beauty may bloom as early as mid-March, and depending on weather, might still be found in bloom in early June.

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) is common in woodlands

Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata) is also common in woodlands and is frequently found in floodplains. The white or pink-tinged, 4-petaled flowers are only 1/2 inch across; the tight clusters do, however, put on a good show.   It forms vegetative colonies from its spreading rhizomes; it also reproduces by seed.

Toothwort (Dentaria laciniata) photo by Sharon Cross

On New Year’s Day, 1960, we moved into our newly built house in Century Oaks.  At the back of our 3/4 acre lot stood a majestic Bur Oak.  The land in front of it, where our house was built, had been farmed, probably for a hundred ears.  But the area upon which our oak tree stood was virgin land–it had never been plowed.  The land where the oak tree stood was level, then sloped gently down to a tiny creek.which ran along the back of the houses on our street, then into the adjacent Forest Preserve where it connected with Tyler Creek.

The following spring, scores of Trout Lilies emerged from the slopping, grassy area, a thrilling sight.  Diminutive white lilies rose from the wine-stained, mottled, gray-green elliptic leaves. But only from paired leaves–the single leaves are not mature enough to produce flowers.  (It takes seven years to bloom, says Dick Young.) Other nicknames are Dog-tooth Violet and Adder’s Tongue.

Trout Lily and Spring Beauty

The Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) is frequent east of the lake, but rare in Kane County.  This photo was taken at the old Natural Garden site in St. Charles.

Spring Anemones

There are 3 look-aike, white-petaled, spring ephemerals called ‘anemone’, but only one is in the actual genus Anemone.  They all bloom in woodlands in early spring but not necessarily in the same woods.  Some years the bloom can start as early as late March, continuing into April and May,

False Rue Anemone (Isopyrum biternatum) is the earliest of the trio to bloom, vying with Bloodroot to be the first flowering woodland wildflower.  The 6-petaled, white, buttercup-like flowers bloom above the dark-green, 3-lobed, tri-leaflets.  It forms abundant low-growing colonies in mesic woodlands. I’ve seen it growing and blooming with Spring Beauty at Tyler Creek Forest Preserve, a lovely combination.

False Rue Anemone  (Isopyrum biternatum) Photo by Susanne Massion

The blossoms of Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides) may have 5, 6, or 7, petals (really sepals) and may also have a pinkish cast.  Its leaflets grow in a whorl around a central flowering stalk.  Its species name, thalictroides, refers to its leaves resembling those of the genus Thalictrum or Meadow Rue.

It is usually found in somewhat drier woods than False Rue Anemone, according to Swink and Wilhelm.

It also colonizes, but the clumps are not as dense as False Rue Anemone.

Rue Anemone  (Anemonella thalictroides)

Wood Anemone is the only true anemone–Anemone quinquefolia.

A single, white, 5-petaled blossom arises on a central stalk, in bloom in April and May.  It, too, is found mostly in rich woods, but sometimes it grows in savannas or even prairies according to Dick Young.

This photo is curtesy of Jack Shouba, as is this comment.

“Anemone quinquefolia (which does not really have 5 leaves–it just

looks like it).”

Wood Anemone (Anemone quinquefolia) photo by Susanne Massion

The maroon tinge to the leaves is common.

Spring ephemerals pop up every spring, bloom for a short time, attract insects to pollinate them, make seed, and then gracefully fade away until next spring.  They grow in undisturbed woods, blooming in the full sun of early spring’s leafless trees; then become dormant under the full shade of the leaf canopy of summer until the following spring.   They grow best in rich, organic, woodsy soil.  Planting them on the north side of buildings is not as satisfactory as putting them under trees.  The north side of buildings are shady in spring and sunny in summer when the sun is overhead–the opposite of what the ephemerals prefer.

Go for a walk in the woods this week–both the weather and the scenery will be at their best.

Thanks to my contributing photographers:  Jack Shouba, Sharon Cross, and Suzanne Massion–you are all so talented.

For the first time ever–in 13 years–I was not able to burn my prairie gardens this spring.  Too wet, too cold, or too windy.  So I finally had to have it cut down, raked up, and tied up or stuffed into waste bags.

I don’t have a place to compost this much stuff, so I put it out for the city to collect and compost.  My gardens won’t be fertilized by the ashes of all these dead leaves and stems that grew here, breaking nature’s cycle. How will this affect my gardens this year?  Should I apply some organic fertilizer?  Blood meal, bone meal?  I don’t know.

Believe it or not, though, Spring is coming!

Get your native plant gardens started with plants from Northern Kane County Wild Ones Plant Sale on Saturday, May 5, at the Elgin Nature Center.

or call 847-794-8962

Good Taxes

“ ‘Good tax’ may sound like the ultimate oxymoron at first,” says Luigi Zingales, a professor of entrepreneurship and finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, and author of a new book,  A Capitalism for the People.  (No, he’s not a Socialist, he’s actually a Libertarian.)  He was referring to a Pigovian tax,  named after Arthur Pigou, the British economist who invented it.

I caught  Zingales last winter on Book Notes, a C-span program, where he said. “We should tax the things we don’t want, such as pollution, and not tax the things we do want, such as income.   That caught my attention and I would agree–so much so that I bought the book.

Taxing something that is harmful, such as cigarette smoking, can be mitigated by not using the product.  Taxing something that is harmful, such as creating pollution, which is what dumping our dirty rainwater into our drinking water is,  can be mitigated by keeping the rain water that falls on our own property in our own property.  The tax gives us an incentive to change our ways.

I’ve given you suggestions on how to do this in the past two blogs that I’ve written.  Let me refresh your memory:

1. Rain can be harvested, captured in rain barrels or cisterns.

2. Plant a rain garden at the end of your downspouts to infiltrate rainwater from your roof.

3. Build rain channels and/or install rain chains to direct rainwater into decorative pools, waterfalls, or fountains.

4.  What used to be referred to as a drainage ditch may become a vegetated swale by planting it with deep-rooted native plants that will absorb much of the rainwater that runs through it.

5.  Reduce your lawn to what you need.

6. Plant deep-rooted prairie plants that sponge up moisture and infiltrate rainwater deep into the ground.

7. Install permeable paving to improve rainwater penetration.

8. Consider a green roof to hold rainwater and reduce cooling and heating costs

The original pieces can be found here:

http://naturalmidwestgarden.com/archives/2697

http://naturalmidwestgarden.com/archives/2724

We–businesses, churches, and residences–contribute to the loss of our rainwater by conveying it as quickly as possible through pipes and  drainage ditches into creeks, streams, rivers, and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico, instead of capturing it for watering our gardens or infiltrating it to recharge our aquifer.   We also degrade our river (from which we get our drinking water) by sending contaminants directly into the river, which are not filtered out, from our roofs, driveways and lawns. In 2014, the City of Elgin will be considering charging a fee on all hard surfaces upon a property–roof, driveway, patio, and parking lots–which would be a powerful incentive for property owners to minimize the loss of rainwater.  The money received from the fees will be used to pay for the separation of sanitary and storm sewers in some of our older neighborhoods (including mine).  I think it can serve both purposes,  but the ultimate goal, in my view, should be to eliminate storm water from leaving our property.

Some people call this “taxing Mother Nature”, but it’s not Mother Nature who is causing the problem–it’s all those impervious surfaces that we build that is causing the problem.

This bears repeating:

With a natural groundcover of prairie or savanna, 40% of rainwater will evaporate, 30% will infiltrate deeply into the ground, 30% will infiltrate shallowly, and there will be no runoff.  

With a 35-50% impervious surface, 25% of rainwater will evaporate, 20% will infiltrate deeply, 20% will infiltrate shallowly, and 35% will run off.

With a 75-100% impervious surface which is where our commercial areas are, and most of our residential areas with their sleek green lawns are, as well, there is 15% evaporation, 5% deep infiltration, 5% shallow penetration and 75% runoff. 

(NEMO Project Fact Sheet #3, Cooperative Extension Center, 1994.)  

This isn’t some socialist project dreamed up by President Obama as some people are declaring.

In Germany, many cities charge householders an annual rainwater drainage fee, which is waived if rainwater runoff is harvested or infiltrated into the ground.  In Germany, grants and subsidies are available to encourage householders to take steps to minimize their runoff.

Here are a couple of examples from the internet:

Portland, Oregon

Clean River Rewards: Contain the Rain
Clean River Rewards is the Portland stormwater utility’s discount program. With Clean River Rewards, Portland ratepayers can save money and work for clean rivers and healthy watersheds at the same time.
If you manage stormwater on your property, you can receive up to a 100% discount on your on-site stormwater management charges because your actions help protect rivers, streams and groundwater from the damaging effect of stormwater runoff.
https://www.portlandonline.com/bes/index.cfm?c=41976

Austin, Texas

Rain barrel and cistern subsidies and rebates
The City of Austin Water Conservation Program distributes over 250 rain barrels per month to homeowners at a subsidized cost, and provides rebates for the installation of approved cistern systems. Commercial/industrial properties can receive rebates up to $40,000 for the installation of rainwater harvesting and greywater systems. New commercial facilities must install a separate irrigation meter costing between $5,000 and $25,000 unless they can provide 100% of all outdoor water needs from alternate water sources such as rain, greywater, and air conditioning condensate. See pages 54 – 55 of the following document online: www.twdb.state.tx.us/publications/reports/RainwaterHarvestingManual_3rdedition.pdf

Part 2

WHAT FALLS IN ELGIN SHOULD STAY IN ELGIN

  When rain falls, two things can happen to it.  It can infiltrate the soil and become an asset to local life, or it can run off and become a liability to life downstream.

James M. Patchett & Gerould S. Wilhelm

The Ecology and Culture of Water, July 1999

  Land use planners and engineers have, for the most part, designed swales, drainage ditches, culverts, and storm sewers to convey water as fast and efficiently as possible away from where it falls.  More and more inpenetrable surfaces mean more more and more dirty stormwater is directed into streams and rivers, carrying with it excessive fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides from our over treated lawns, oil and cadmium from our roads and driveways, grass clippings, leaves, and pet wastes from our yards, and roof granules from our roofs.  (In the case of Elgin, the city where I live, all these contaminants go into the Fox River, from which we get our drinking water.) Rain needs to be retained where it falls; rain and stormwater should be looked upon as a resource, not as something that has to be removed from the site as quickly as possible. We went through 3 ways last week; here are 5 more:

RAINWATER PART 2

  4. Reduce your lawn to what you need.

• Kentucky Blue Grass has very little capacity to absorb rainwater.  This is a drain set in the lawn of a townhouse community in Dundee that directs rainwater directly into a pipe that spills into the Fox River.

5. Rain can be absorbed into the ground by deep rooted prairie plants that sponge up moisture.

That little fringe at the far left side of the poster represents  Kentucky Blue Grass with roots that grow as deeply as the blades grow tall.  Everything to the right of that are midwestern native plants, the roots of which grow anywhere from 2-3’ to 15 ‘.  1/3 of the roots decompose every year, adding humus to the soil and creating channels through which rain can infiltrate the soil deeply .

With a natural groundcover of prairie or savanna, 40% of rainwater will evaporate, 30% will infiltrate deeply into the ground, 30% will infiltrate shallowly, and there will be no runoff.  

With a 35-50% impervious surface, 25% of rainwater will evaporate, 20% will infiltrate deeply, 20% will infiltrate shallowly, and 35% will run off.

With a 75-100% impervious surface which is where our commercial areas are, and most of our residential areas with their sleek green lawns are, as well, there is 15% evaporation, 5% deep infiltration, 5% shallow penetration and 75% runoff. 

(NEMO Project Fact Sheet #3, Cooperative Extension Center, 1994.)  

6. Build rain channels and/or install rain chains to direct rainwater into decorative pools, waterfalls, or fountains.

Rain chains can direct rain water into pools, troughs, rain barrels, or other containers.  One can use fancy chains with cups or… or use an actual chain.

…or combine different size chains.

7.  Install permeable paving to improve rainwater penetration. This is the entrance garden at Morton Arboretum.  The planting consists of a matrix of Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolis heterolepis) planted 2’ on center, interplanted with seasonal native plants–at this point, in early July, Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and Stiff Coreopsis (Coreopsis palmata) are in bloom.

A ribbon driveway has much less hard surface.  Even better would be to replace the grass with native plants.

the 

Stone and pebble path has spaces for rainwater to penetrate into the ground,

8.  Consider a green roof to hold rainwater and reduce cooling and heating costs.  Green Roof in Elmhurst, IL.

.   To be continued—

I  have a Power Point Presentation of the above slides and more to show to groups.  Contact me through my web site.

WHAT FALLS IN ELGIN SHOULD STAY IN ELGIN

When rain falls, two things can happen to it.  It can infiltrate the soil and become an asset to local life, or it can run off and become a liability to life downstream.

James M. Patchett & Gerould S. Wilhelm

The Ecology and Culture of Water, July 1999

Land use planners and engineers have, for the most part, designed swales, drainage ditches, culverts, and storm sewers to convey water as fast and efficiently as possible away from where it falls.  More and more inpenetrable surfaces mean more more and more dirty stormwater is directed into streams and rivers, carrying with it excessive fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides from our over treated lawns, oil and cadmium from our roads and driveways, grass clippings, leaves, and pet wastes from our yards,  and roof granules from our roofs.  (In the case of Elgin, the city where I live, all these contaminants go into the Fox River, from which we get our drinking water.)

Rain needs to be retained where it falls; rain and stormwater should be looked upon as a resource, not as something that has to be removed from the site as quickly as possible.

What can we do?

Let me count the ways:

(This is a long piece and I have decided to break it up into 3 parts)

1. Rain can be harvested, captured in rain barrels or cisterns.

Utilitarian and inexpensive–scavenged rain barrels made from containers that held car washing soap.

Rain Barrel painted by Stacy Reynolds for SWAN’s
(South West Area Neighbors) entry into a city-wide competition 4 years ago.

Rain Barrels may be purchased at cost ($75) from the City of Elgin.  They are also available through Conservation@Home, at local stores, and on-line.

One can attach a hose to the spigot or fill a watering can and then water potted plants or vegetable gardens with free saved water.  How much did you spend watering your vegetable garden or potted plants last year?  (In order to access spigot, rain barrels need to be elevated on a stone platform of some sort.)

2.  Plant a rain garden at the end of your downspouts to infiltrate rainwater from your roof.   Rain garden-a garden of native plants that grow in nature where the ground is wet in spring and dry in summer and fall.  Two downspouts empty into an area at the back northwest corner of my house, filled with  Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) in bloom, Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica shrevei), Fowl Meadow Grass (Glyceria striata), and Brown Fox Sedge (Carex vulpinoidea).  I have deep prairie soil, as do most people that live in neighborhoods built before WWII, and the water penetrates easily and deeply.

This rain garden sprung up by itself at the other end of my house.  Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum) and Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) rise up in the back, while Showy Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia speciosa var. sullivantii) grows in front.

A more elaborate rain garden for a client in Geneva.

A rain garden that infiltrates rain runoff diverted from a driveway.

Many soils in our area are mostly clay and do not readily absorb rainwater.  The rain garden or vegetated swale then needs to be engineered.  The depression is lined first with a gravel drainage layer topped with a layer of organic and sand amended topsoil.  Dave, an engineer, designed his rain garden to infiltrate rain water that comes from his neighbor’s downspouts.  The spectacular Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is in bloom.

3. What used to be referred to as a drainage ditch may become a Vegetated Swale by planting it with deep-rooted native plants that will absorb much of the rainwater that runs through it.

• Vegetated swale in unincorporated Elgin

Vegetated swale in Batavia

My neighborhood, unfortunately, still has combination sanitary and storm sewers that has resulted in terrible basement floods.  The federal government has now mandated that all such systems be separated, which is now happening, 1 street at a time. (The estimated cost in just my neighborhood, according to Mayor Kaptain, is $40 M.) In the meantime, the city applied for and won a grant to build 34 vegetated swales in the parkways in my neighborhood.  The news was received with great enthusiasm and 34 people volunteered to maintain a garden on their parkway.  The first one was built last fall and planted with neighborhood volunteers–a good time was had by all.

Neighbors planting vegetated swale in my neighborhood last fall.

Curb cut from street to direct rain water into swale.

Median strip in entrance road at Elgin Community College has been turned into a vegetated swale, September 2012.

To be continued:

• Sources are Stormwater Systems by Jim Patchett and Tom Price in Sustainable Urbanism by Douglas Farr, 2008
• The Ecology and Culture of Water by James M. Patchett & Gerould S. Wilhelm, July 1999

I wonder if the sap is stirring yet,

If wintry birds are dreaming of a mate,

If frozen snowdrops feel as yet the sun 

And crocus fires are kindling one by one:

sing robin, sing;

I am sore in doubt concerning Spring.

 Christina Rossetti

 I know–I already used this poem earlier this year, but it is still apt.

Friends of mine have seen flocks of robins and heard Sandhill Cranes whooping on their way north, but I have seen neither. But non-naive Winter Aconite poked out of the ground yesterday and opened its petals wide, a month later than last year, but more in sync with past years.

 First Day of Spring 2013

Earliest bulb, Winter Aconite (Eranthus hymelis) first day in bloom 3/20/13 at my house.

Last year, Winter Aconite began to bloom a month earlier–this photo was taken 2/18/12.

Last year, Bloodroot began to bloom on my birthday, March 17, along with Dutchman’s Breeches and Penn and Long-beaked Sedge, followed quickly by Virginia Bluebells.

 First day of spring 2012

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) in bloom  3/21/12  at my house

Penn Sedge (Carex pensylvanica) in bloom at my house 3/21/12

Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucularia) blooming at my house 3/21/12

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginiana) at my house 3/27/12.

Hazelnut (Corylus americana) catkins in bloom last year, 3/14/12.  The drought last summer and fall prevented the catkins from even forming last year so there are none at all this spring.

First day of Spring, 2013–yesterday–this year.

And this was last year–first day of Spring 2012

Bowl of pansy plants my daughter gave me last year.

Actually, last year, with its earliest ever spring, pleasant as it was, was far more worrisome than is this more typical Chicagoland spring this year.

Let’s see what’ was in bloom on Feb. 18.

Feb 18.  American Hazelnut (Corylus americana) catkins and Pussy Willow (Salix discolor) branches cut and brought into the house a week before.

Feb 18  Wild Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum) is our area’s only sedum.   In nature  it is found on shady limestone bluffs, but grows well  as an edging around  shady flagstone patios or concrete sidewalks or driveways.  As an added bonus, it is evergreen, as shown above.

Feb 18  Snowdrops  (Galanthus nivalis)

Feb 18  Winter Aconite (Earanthus hyemalis).  I realize these two ephemerals are not native, but they hitchhiked  here in transplants of native wildflowers from a previous garden.  Because of their early bloom, I can’t bear to get rid of them.  The Winter Aconite is joyfully seeding itself about near a tree that provides summer shade and allows winter sun.  The Snowdrops are near my north side back door and are diminishing.

What’s that?  You don’t see any of these plants blooming in your yard?

That’s because I took these photos last year on this date–when spring was way to early.