The lupines are coming, the lupines are comng!

Lupines are one of my favorite native plants. The blossoms are a delicate purple color. And they attract many butterflies, bees and other pollinators.

I'm delighted that lupines are blooming in two places in Buhr park. One is the sand prairie in the upper (north) basin of WM II, on the west side of the park behind the swimming pool.

The other is in the original Wet Meadow, at the base of the sledding hill, on the east side of the park.

Here are a few shots of pollinators in action!

Butterfly Observations

A local expert in butterfly identification visited the wet meadows recently, with particular attention to the sandy upper basin behind the swimming pool.

He saw cabbage white, long dash, Peck's skipper, Ringlet, red admiral, silver-spotted skipper, and banded hairstreak butterflies. The banded hairstreaks were visiting the butterfly weed.

Wet Meadows in a Drouth Year

As awareness grows on the impact of this summer's widespread drouth across the central US, it's interesting to look at the wet meadows in Ann Arbor's Buhr Park. Wet meadows, like many artificial "rain gardens," feature native plants that can thrive when occasionally inundated, and that grow and bloom even if they have "wet feet" for days or weeks at a time.

So how have they handled this year's drouth?

Exhibit A, in very sandy soil (upper basin on west side, almost behind the locker rooms, says "Drouth, what drouth?". It's growing bigger, to catch more sun.

Well, you say, cacti are a special case. So let's hear from someone else.

Exhibit B says,"I'm happy and healthy, thanks." This shrub (Ptelea trifoliata or wafer-ash)is also in that sandy upper basin. For plants that thrive on sand dunes, every year is a dry year.

Take a look for yourself. I think you'll agree that many, perhaps most of the plants are doing just fine, with no supplemental watering. A community of diverse species, well-established and appropriate to the site and soils, is remarkably resilient.

Native wildflowers in bloom - June 4, 2012

A quick visit to WM-III (the basin near the end of Essex Street, north of the ice rink) revealed several wildflowers blossoming: dwarf iris (a few late ones), beardstongue (Penestemon) a favorite with native bees, coreopsis, and yarrow If you stop by, take a look at the new paved sidewalk from the ice rink area.

Rain Fills Up the Wet Meadows

The Weather Underground reports 1.57 inches of rain in the Ann Arbor area. The wet meadows collected their fair share and then began to overflow.

Wet Meadow 2, the largest of the wet meadows, did not show signs of overflowing. It is large and mature (and part of it is built on a pile of sand).

Here are some photos from a walk around the park on the evening after the rain.

Wildflowers are blooming in WM 3

Many of the wildflowers that neighbors planted last May in the newest war meadow are already blooming! These are very healthy plants, planted with care, and they're happy in their new home.

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There are many white bonesets and blue vervain. Also one very showy ironweed.

Also, the trees planted throughout the park by Rotary in June are doing well. (Most years we'd be watching to see if new trees need supplemental watering about this time, but this year's frequent rains have taken care of it for us.)

I especially like the two hop-hornbeams (Ostrya) near the Eagle Scout bench.

WM III rides out the big storm

The recently-planted wet meadow basin at the northwest part of Buhr Park appears to have functioned as designed during last night's big storm. You can see that a considerable volume of water flowed from Essex Street into the northwest part of the basin.













You can see water standing in the basin at about noon today (Sunday). This view is looking North, towards Allan School.

















On the downhill (southeast) side, towards the gravel parking lot, it's clear that water flowed through the spillway, as it is designed to do in heavy downpours.

What's In Bloom?

Today at wet meadow II, I saw the following in bloom:

• Bee Balm
• Black Eyed Susan
• Yellow Coneflower
• Prairie Dock (just getting going)
• Butterfly Milkweed
• Hoary Vervain
• Daisy Flebane
• Common Milkweed

and the tall skinny white one.

Morning at the Meadow

I passed by the wet meadow this morning and saw a few things in bloom and a nice misty feeling.

Wet Meadow captures Big Thaw

With the big thaw that started on Saturday, February 7, Wet Meadow I is capturing a lot of water from melting snow. By Sunday afternoon, only about 2" on the seat rock was above water.


Even on Saturday, Wet Meadow I was capturing a lot of water from melting snow.


Since the ground is frozen, water will not soak in very quickly.


If the weather stays warm, more water will collect on the Wet Meadow.

Rain, rain and more rain

At about 9 PM last night there was a surface stream pouring into the upper basin of the west wet meadow. Most of this appeared to be coming from the roof of the skating rink and the downspout at the sw corner.

At 9 AM today (Sunday) there was no visible water anywhere. More rain is forecast for this afternoon, so maybe we'll get some photos.

Big critters buzzing in the upper basin

If you've walked near the upper (north) basin of the west wet meadow, you've probably noticed some large flying critters. At first they seem like bees, but if you get a better look, you'll see it's a large black wasp with three stripes on the abdomen. It's the eastern cicada killer wasp.


While big, these wasps are not dangerous to people. The males have no stingers, and the females are not aggressive.



(photo from Prof. Chuck Holliday's Cicada Killer Page.)

These wasps breed near sandy areas. The females dig holes and bury cicada bugs for the young wasps to feed on underground. This leaves small mounds of sand you can see when walking by.

There are other web pages about these critters:

More photos and info at "What's That Bug"

and at Dr. Zachary Huang's Cyberbee site.

July Morning at Wet Meadow I

Wet Meadow I at Buhr Park.

Super Swampers, Global Warming and Observations

The Buhr Park Children's Wet Meadow Super Swampers met today to talk about the city of Ann Arbor mayors visit to the Blossom Eco Circle. They also took a stroll around the park to post signs and see what was happening at the wet meadows.

We compared our carbon footprint pie charts - they showed where the carbon we produce carbon comes from. And we talked about different things that we can do around our homes to reduce our carbon output.

We checked out Wet Meadow I. It still had water and slush in it. The winter melt that fills the wet meadow doesn't soak in to the frozen ground.

We also noticed that some small shrub seedlings at the north end of Wet Meadow II had been pummeled by sledders. They might not have noticed that the stakes and plastic guards were protecting small plants. Maybe we'll need to mark them more carefully and sturdily next time.

We also put up signs for the upcoming Wet Meadow Burn on March 26.

Wet Meadow I

The Wet Meadow still has some snowmelt.

Design Vindicated!

This afternoon's rainfall and snowmelt combined with frozen ground to yield large quantities of surface run off.

The three basins of WM II functioned exactly as designed - the swale behind the ice rink fed the upper (northernmost) basin.

When that filled, it overflowed through its spillway to the middle basin.




That one, in turn, filled and overflowed to the lower basin.





It's the most water I've seen since WM II was built in 2004.

Hats off to Jane Kleiner, the designer, Chris Mueller who excavated the basins and built the spillways stone by stone, the teens who helped plan, and everyone who helped.

Wet Meadow Full of Water

A day later, the rain and warm temperatures change the snow in Buhr Park to fine deluge. Note the ducks in this photo.

Winter thaws cause the largest buildup of water in the wet meadows, since the ground is frozen. It takes much longer for the water to disappear.

Wet Meadow Full of Snow

A day of sledding near Wet Meadow I. A beautiful sunny day, but the forecast was for a thaw.

Sunday Morning Stroll

Wet Meadow 1 is looking lush. This photo was taken yesterday morning.








Coreopsis are in bloom, as well

End of Year Picnic/Potluck/Planting

Last night over a dozen families converged on the playground at Buhr Park to celebrate the last day of Blossom, the beginning of summer and being together.

After playing, eating, and ice cream, the remaining crew converged on the north end of Wet Meadow II to plant wild strawberries and raspberries.

The wet meadows and the palace of nature appear to be in great condition. Coreopsis were the most prevalent blossom in the meadows. The oak, paw paw and tulip tree seedlings that were planted last year at the palace of nature appear to be in great condition.