In my little slice of the world there is a beautiful native flower that refuses to prosper. According to the books, it grows on rocky ledges, and it grows in rich soils, but it won’t grow in my somewhat fertile soil. I have killed more than one in my continuing ...
Sometimes, when you’re all bound-up from studying, or teaching, or from eating too many burritos, it’s good to get out, get some fresh air and enjoy nature. On a built-up campus like Michigan’s however, sometimes you need some help to find native species (beyond the stately trees in the Diag, ...
Early to mid-spring is, to me, the best time to take a walk in the woods. Many would argue that the colors of fall make that the best time; it really can be showy, and shuffling through newly fallen leaves is always fun, for kids and immature adults such as ...
Boxelder (Acer negundo) is the native tree that draws almost disgust as another native, Cottonwood (Populus deltoides). But why? Why should this member of the maple family draw such ire and disdain? Sure, it doesn’t always have the best shape, and sure, it attracts Halloween-colored bugs, and, to be honest, ...
On Saturday, in my sunny backyard, I did some yardwork including cutting down last year’s growth. Normally, about now, I'm cursing the gray, late-starting spring that we know so well in Michigan. This time, I was in my shorts and not the least bit chilly. In fact, if you’d looked ...
Winter, or what we call winter around here, is great for revealing what you may have forgotten since the past growing season: spots in your yard that are often or usually wet. Many people curse them as "difficult places to mow" or "places only the dog/duck loves," but if you ...
It's not spring yet, and while the skunk cabbage is probably doing its thing in a swamp near you to hurry things along, we still have time to spend with native woody plants. This tree doesn't exactly have pods, but if you see a stately large tree with splotchy white ...
The trees are still bare and the ground is still brown with some green, so we still have time for another native tree that produces pods, or something like it. American Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) is not a member of the pea family (Fabaceae) like the previous trees (Honeylocust - Gleditsia ...
When you think about popular, colorful ornamentals, Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) often comes to mind. It's a real crowd-pleaser, with a graceful, ornamental shape that puts out a "bouquet on a stem" look, with thousands of tiny pink/purple flowers lining its branches in early spring before its leaves emerge. And, ...
In this on-going mini-series about native trees that make seed pods, today we’ll learn something about the former state tree of Kentucky, the Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioica). This is the largest of the Michigan native pod-makers, and it makes a very nice addition to many situations that need a tall ...
Pods. The leaves have fallen and now we're left with twigs, bark, nuts and pods to set one deciduous tree apart from another. To help enjoy the assets of late fall and winter, and fill the gap in new growth between fall and spring, we'll use this and the next ...
This is it, rivalry week for the University of Michigan, the week when the team from the state to our south comes up to pollute the pristine atmosphere of our fair town for a football game. Normally, the only buckeye that I can honestly say I like is the delicious ...
A walk through an oak forest right now will reveal some yellow and brown leaves, perhaps a red here and there, and maybe a stray yellow flower or two from a bluestem goldenrod or a lavender smooth aster, but there is no mistaking that the growing season is over. But ...
Okay, admittedly the extent of the native plant sea does not match that of the Pacific Ocean, or even the Indian Ocean, but some important proponents of the value of native plants, and the danger of some non-native (alien) plants, are having a significant impact on landscapes and legislation across ...
They come fast, and they come with a vengeance. The underlying xanthophylls, anthocyanins and carotenoids finally overpower the cool green chlorophylls of summer to make those leaves fiery reds, lemony yellows, molten golds and tropical oranges. The bright new colors also go quicker than they come, so this week we’re ...
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com AnnArbor.com's partner news site MLive.com is on a quest to find the best barbecue in ......
Get the Ann Arbor RSS Feed
AnnArbor.com