The Orchid of Perseverance

It's a good thing, I think, to be reminded where perseverance will get you. If you are a plant in my garden, it's a requirement for survival. I generally fail when it comes to planting bare-root plants that come in the mail. The people selling plants assume I know what I'm doing and mean well. I mean well when I order them. The plants sure mean well. I like to believe they want to live.

A couple Winters ago, I had some pots stored in the garage. One such frigid pot contained the scraggly bare-root of a small, fragile-looking native orchid called an Epimedium. It was in a pot with some dirt as part of the "meaning well" journey of coaxing it to sprout, the idea being then I would plant it. It did actually sprout, and I set the pot in the garden. That's my trick for figuring out where a plant wants to live, but you could also call in procrastination. I never did actually get it into the ground. I stuck the pot in the garage with the rest of them, and pretty much forgot about it.

In the Spring when I started inspecting pots to move them outdoors, something looked weedy; it had all this unkempt leggy growth from being in the dark, and I actually thought it was remnants from the previous summer. Imagine my surprise to find it was that little orchid, persistent as all hell, not only alive, but blooming in the dark of my garage. I planted it as soon as the ground was workably warm, close to the edge of the garden. The flowers are small and deserve to be seen close up. After a season of growing, and another Winter, it is blooming again. What a treat!

Epimedium rubrum

The plant is also called a Bishop's Hat Orchid because of the shape of the flower, not owing to any divine intervention in its survival success. The persistence of this little plant turned a lot of our gardening towards native woodland species. Living in zone 5, we have a fair number of options for climate. Living in solid urban deer country limits that severely. Last year they ate hostas, lupines, tulips, columbines, geraniums, and I don't remember what else. They don't generally eat woodland regulars. Epimediums are considered ground covers (less invasive and far more interesting than Lily of the Valley). I was thrilled with the idea of masses of them in the gardens.

So... we added more. About 7 more. Three different varieties total.

Here's another now blooming, yellow flowers: 

Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum'

One more variety yet to bloom, a lavender-pink color bloom I think. If I find any more colors, I'm sure I can find room for them too.

CSA Season begins soon

This will be our 8th year getting veggies from Tipi Produce - I am so excited! The peeps are excited! Even the Dog is excited (did I mention she loves veggies?!).

 The weekly veg has thoroughly changed they way we eat. I'm looking forward to the constraints of cooking by what comes in the box. Too many choices is not easier.

Our first box should look something like this:

Mmmmm....

Shaking off the mothballs.

Early in the dark hours of this morning, I heard an Eastern Screech Owl. I always remember it as the woman's cry in the night that frightened so many early immigrant settlers to North America. To me it seems melancholy and exotic. They are common but I don't hear them as much as I do the Great Horned Owls around.

I am completely enchanted by owls, and so it seems as good a reason as any to share this note as a way to quietly get this blog in gear again. 

Not So Fast (The Daily Bite)

It appears I may have been wrong. News is out today that SoMil has agreed to provide big bucks to improve this site for development for non other than Wal-Mart. I feel like I've been kicked in the stomach. This will decimate our neighborhood and kill what's left of our downtown.

I certainly hope SoMil receives enough tax income from this new development to make up for the drop in property taxes that will occur in the surrounding neighborhoods since property values will suffer. It's a TID though: tax incremental district. So if they do, it won't be for awhile.

Neighborhood Disaster Averted

I'm so excited today, relieved and hopeful even. I've learned that proposed plans for a Wal-Mart in our neighborhood have been terminated. It's an incredible relief: the plans had been for a 100,000+sf store that would have drawn upwards of 30,000 car visits per day through residential neighborhoods, past two different schools and a number of churches, and the closing of a residential through street. The parcel of land is only partially vacant, so several local businesses would have been absorbed - that is: purchased, shut down, and demolished.

Image from SMCDA

The current development proposal posted on the South Milwaukee Community Development Authority website shows a creative mixed use plan of housing and small retail with parking, dressed up with trees. What a wonderful addition this would make to our South Shore community!!

The Daily Bite

Deerfly "courtesy" of WebMD

The morning's walk through Grant Park was literally interrupted by bites - deerfly variety. Better than mosquitoes only because they leave no itch. Worse than mosquitoes because they actually care to bite me. In the arse. While bending over to pick up Nora-doodle (there's irony there somewhere...). I spent most of the walk keeping them off the dog, who walked faster than normal to keep away from them. So much for a relaxing lake-side stroll to start the day.

Prothonotary Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler (Wisconsin DNR image)

I thought it was a Goldfinch when it landed in the cherry tree outside the kitchen window. Only, finches prefer the nijer seed-filled sock, and this bird was perched in the tree, eating something tasty from an open knothole in the trunk.

As I watched it, it occurred to me that the bright yellow male Goldfinches have black caps, and this bird did not. I tried to pay attention to details of color, and ID came from the trusty bird guide.

We are apparently in the northern-most breeding region for this warbler. They like floodplains, so perhaps the creek that runs through our backyard  qualifies (the mortgage lender sure thought so... but that is another story). Being the geeky-dork that I am, I emailed the state biologist about spotting the bird. I'm hoping two things: 1) that I can learn what to put out for these birds to eat, and 2) that he even cares... Then again, he's running a nesting program for this warbler, so maybe only geek, not so much dork.