What's blooming in the rain gardens right now!
May/June
We finally have flowers. Blue flag iris and coreopsis are the first. We have monarch butterflies visit to lay eggs on our swamp milkweed, and we look forward to caterpillars. The sedum (native to Korea) is starting to bloom on the green roof, and visitors ooooo and aaaaahhhhh. Yes, it's pretty! Come and visit us in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Garden tour day, June 21, 2008!
July
The flowers really start to get into the swing of things. We have liatris, bergamot, culver's root, thread-leaved coreopsis, swamp milkweed, and prairie dock amongst the natives blooming. Our russian sage is blooming, too. All this flowery action has sparked heavy butterfly traffic here at the Center of the Universe. A lovely tiger swallowtail visited our bergamot today. With the sun shining through, it looks like stained glass.
January/February
We have snow. The question we get most often this time of year is, "Do rain gardens work in the winter?" The answer is, "Yes!" Even though the plants in the rain gardens are dormant, the rain garden is still soaking up stormwater.
Rain gardens have deep, loose, absorbing soils that are kept from freezing by a layer of organic mulch. The water that enters them during the winter months can filter down into that soil, or else that water is snow, and just sits there until it melts, and then it soaks in.
The rain garden behind our building at 1007 Lake Drive, SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, is doing just fine with all this wintery weather. It is even doing a little extra stormwater duty, because this time of year a little of the water off the green roof is going in there, too.
July/August
The killdeer eggs hatched. Currently, in the Center of the Universe rain garden, we have Liatris, swamp milkweed, daylilies, narrow-leaved coreopsis, brown-eyed susan, bergamot, anise hyssop, prairie dock and Culver's root in bloom. It's just beautiful.
June
Look what we found in our nursery: another nursery! These are killdeer eggs, and the mom killdeer was complaining to us the whole time we were there. Aren't they beautiful? She should be proud. We expect these to be hatching in the next four weeks.
May: We have liftoff!
Things are emerging, growing, and getting ready to bloom. Stay tuned....
March: Signs of spring!
Prairie dock knows it's spring. Even though we have snow, it is sending up little ruby-red shoots to gladden our hearts.
The scientific name of this wonderful plant is Silphium terebinthinaceum. It is a relative of cup plant, another Silphium, and has similar cheerful yellow flowers with seeds that birds adore. Instead of its leaves making cups, prairie dock has a basal rosette of handsome, glossy leaves.
These plants live long lives and are wonderful additions to your garden. Place them where you can enjoy the distinctive leaves, and where the three to six foot tall flower stalks will fit into your flower scheme.
We have this plant in our office rain garden, where it posed for us (patiently) today in the snow.
February: It's still snowing.
The pretty seed heads of swamp milkweed, culver's root, and switchgrass dress up the winter rain garden. The picture at right is the Center of the Universe rain garden behind our offices. We tell people, "It's not dead; it's just dormant." There is plenty of biological and chemical activity going on in the soil, mulch and root level of this rain garden.
November: It's snowing.
This is the time of year to enjoy the pretty seeds, graceful grasses, and wildlife that visits them in your rain garden this winter. Don't deadhead anything until next spring, or you will lose the wildlife habitat benefits of your native plants.
Here at raingardens.org, we are stratifying seeds (giving them a cold treatment) so we can plant them in our nursery next spring. You can still garden until the soil freezes, and we are dividing plants--but it's awfully cold!
October: Mist Flower
Things in the rain garden are going to seed, but mist flower (Eupatorium coelestinum) is blooming merrily away, right next to everything that is busy going to sleep for the long winter. The flower is the exact color of Crayola Crayon's periwinkle blue. These flowers are so pretty against all the intense fall colors.
If you are not rigid about all your plants being native, these look lovely right next to short reblooming golden yellow daylilies.
Another nice trait of mist flower is the way it spreads into a substantial colony. You get big blocks of color in just a couple of years, starting with only a few plants. It also divides happily, and will bloom profusely the first year you replant it somewhere else. It's just a great rain garden plant!
In the spring it is important to remember that mistflower is a slug-a-bed, and won't wake up from dormancy until late June. Some people assume it didn't survive the winter. It's just a late sleeper and a late bloomer, like some of us rain gardeners.
September: New England Asters and Goldenrod
New England asters combined with goldenrod are one of my all time favorite sights. Some plant combinations are just breathtaking, and this is one that nature designed just for our pleasure. Add a few garden spiders with their beautiful wagon-
Goldenrods get a bad rap. Most people think they cause seasonal allergies, but the real culprit is ragweed, a wind-pollinated plant that blooms at the same time as goldenrod. The beautiful flowers of goldenrod would only rile up your allergies if you stuck the flowers or pollen up your nose, which is what you would have to do to get it there. Goldenrod is insect pollenated, so it doesn't blow around. Plant some goldenrod, and enjoy that blaze of fall color in your rain garden!
JF New Donates Plants
Lots of beautiful NEW PLANTS are blooming in the rain gardens, such as the Guardian Angel Homes project on Burton in Grand Rapids. Several hundred plants were donated to these "Healing Gardens", and many were left over for our nursery and other rain gardens in our city. Thanks, JF New, for gifting our rain gardens!
August, 2005
Midwest Living Magazine Sent Photographers!
The rain gardens were in full flower, in spite of the heat and drought. Our thanks to all the volunteers who have done so much to keep the rain gardens blooming this summer! Because of your efforts, the rain gardens were in glorious condition for the visit of some professional photographers from Midwest Living Magazine. We have the July/August, 2006 issue in our office and the piece is very nice. Thanks, Midwest Living!
Cup Plant
Silphium perfoliatum
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Cup plant has cups! The cups are formed where the stem pierces through the leaves ("perfoliatum") and water collects in the little cups. It grows almost ten feet tall and has sturdy, long-lasting bright yellow flowers.
We found a gray tree frog hanging around the cups of the plants in our nursery.
When including cup plant in the garden design, it is wise to consider the height. In a prairie, the plant will be supported by neighboring grasses and prairie wildflowers. In a rain garden, if tall grasses and other sturdy things are not planted around it, the cup plants will flop over sideways.
Cup plant will bloom beautifully and prolifically through August and September. Butterflies are attracted to the cheerful flowers, and 
Cup plant seeds itself and spreads, so one is often sufficient. You will soon have little cup plants for all your gardening friends, who will love them as much as you do.
Interested in seeing a scheduled presentation?
Check our Presentations link for current and future events.
New! Rain garden brochure for the Great Lakes Region.
The rain garden brochure can be used throughout the Great Lakes region, including Canada. We hope this helps your efforts to raise awareness about stormwater issues. Download our rain garden brochure in pdf format by clicking here.
Want to get involved?
Join us for a rain garden planting or care day!
City of Grand Rapids
Plaster Creek Native Plant Nursery
2005 Growing Season
The City of Grand Rapids Environmental Protection Services has donated a two acre site for a permanent native plant nursery. The site is behind the wastewater treatment plant at 1300 Market SW in Grand Rapids. The garden is near Plaster Creek, behind the city impound lot.
The site was prepared by the city in early October, 2003.
The native plant nursery needs some people to love it. We welcome people who would like to help out during the 2005 growing year. Mulching, weeding, planting, propagation, and labelling plants are some of the tasks that we need help with.
We need volunteers to give the nursery some weekly attention!
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Work days are ongoing through the growing season. We welcome master gardeners, naturalists, and others who enjoy spiffing up a garden. There is always something to do out there; dividing daylilies, collecting seed, mulching or weeding.
Volunteers, please call our offices and speak to Patricia to find out about work days, for directions, and for more information (616-451-3051).
You can also email us from the contact form on this website (see link above).
We have long looked forward to having a home for native plants that can be used for rain gardens and by the City for native landscaping use. We welcome people who would like to get involved in creating and nurturing this much-needed garden. It's full of butterflies, toad and flowers all summer long.