Joseph Cornell to speak in Ann Arbor on Oct. 16

Many parents and teachers treasure a book called "Sharing Nature with Children" by Joseph Cornell.

It's exciting to hear he's coming to Ann Arbor soon, and a public presentation is scheduled for Friday, October 16. 2009 at 4 PM.

More details soon.

Ironweed and coneflower in abundance

If you visit the wet meadows this week, you will see a profusion of dark-purple flowers on tall stems - ironweed is making its annual show. It contrasts beautifully with the light yellow blossoms of coneflower, prairie dock and stiff goldenrod.

Some joe-pye is blooming in the sunniest spots. Bee balm and milkweed blooms are nearly finished. (The wet meadows are a week or two ahead of my backyard, where there's more shade.)






The bumblebees are placidly gathering pollen, and some goldfinches were gathering insects this morning to feed their young. It's first-hand evidence of Prof. Tallamy's principle: native plants are the basis for abundant birds and other wildlife.

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.

Pollinator event was bee-utiful

Our June 20 pollinator event was a lot of fun.

We had a good turnout of adults and kids, a mix of long-time Wet Meadow folks and some new friends.

Dr. Tuell brought a display case with specimens of about 100 bees native to Michigan.

She also brought a bee-vac, a re-built DustBuster that safely captures bees and puts them in small vials (about 1' x 3") so they can be safely viewed up close.

She caught some bees that were visiting wildflowers in the wet meadow, including a couple of teeny-tiny ones. (She released them at the end of the day.)

She talked about native bees and answered questions from kids and adults.

(We'll have photos soon, I hope.)

After a potluck supper, we had a brief ceremony, then Abby, Nino and Shane planted serviceberry trees in the palace of nature.

"Kids See Pollinators Up Close" Saturday, June 20

"Kids See Pollinators Up Close" Saturday, June 20

at the Buhr Park Childrens' Wet Meadow

Come watch butterflies and other pollinators visiting the wildflowers.

• MSU entomologist Julianna Tuell will capture insects for kids to safely see up close.
• Learn how kids can be safe around bees.
• Hear about how beneficial insects help us grow blueberries, tomatoes and other foods.
• Kids can make a bee house (from natural materials) to take home.
  

Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 4:00 PM. Children must be accompanied by a parent. All are welcome at a picnic potluck at 5:15. Please leave pets at home.

Dr. Tuell speaks frequently about pollinators and native plants. She coauthored Attracting Beneficial Insects with Native Flowering Plants (MSU Extension Bulletin E-2973) and recently published a study that identified more than 100 native bee species on Michigan blueberry farms.

We'll also have a display of nest blocks from Matt Demmon.

This event is co-sponsored by Wild Ones and Natural Area Preservation.

Buhr Park is located at 2781 Packard Rd. 48104. For more information call Mark at 478-1333.

Morning at the Meadow

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

Public Meeting on Park Improvements

Several of us attended a public meeting this evening at Cobblestone Farm. The meeting was held by city parks planners to discuss 3 projects:

• Essex Street path and wet meadow (wet meadow III!)
  
• Easy Street path and expanded wet meadow I)
  
• Reconfiguring the entrance to the pool/ice rink to allow better ADA access, including bikes and strollers
  

About 6 members of the public and 2 parks representatives were there.



The two path improvements and wet meadows are part of the Buhr Park Stormwater Master Plan. Nice to see it put to good use!

It sounds like the Essex Street path will be done this summer. It will make the path a little straighter and more level than the existing path, which should be good for the kids, parents and others who use it daily for school.
There are a few remaining questions about tieing the path in at both ends. It will be an 8 foot path and it wasn't clear that there was room to tie the path in to Essex at that width or at the other end where the school-maintained path is 4 feet wide.

The wet meadow at Essex should be very nice. Since the path will be levelled off, the grade from the path to the wet meadow will be a little steeper than it is now. There was also a little chatter about technical details - would there be a drain tile installed below the wet meadow? We also requested that seeds and/or plants for this wet meadow come from local sources.

The Easy Street path is proposed to arc southward of the existing path to enable an expanded Wet Meadow I. We talked about keeping it straight and raising it, but it seemed best to move it south in order to have a continuous wet meadow and to better tie in to the cobblestone farm. That path would be 8 feet wide and bike, ADA, stroller friendly. The design will include a foot path or trail that would go through the wet meadow, for those who want a slightly more direct and scenic route to the pool.

The Easy Street path is not on a construction schedule, but having a clear design will make it more likely when funds become available.

Improvements to the Pool/Ice Rink entrance will be to enable better access. The plan is to take off a portion of the east side of the plaza at the entrance. Remove the top set of steps and create a ramp leading down to the parking lot. At the top of the lower set of steps, a ramp will turn left (north) and go down to the sidewalk.

The Pool/Ice Rink entrance improvements are not scheduled.