Double Sun

A Three Rivers sunflower in the sun.

Juneberry

This is the flower of the earliest blooming local, a lovely shrub or small tree of the rose family native to the Three Rivers area. Starting in June there will be lovely sweet berries. Amelanchier has many species in Michigan; this one is probably A. arborea.

The plant is called "Juneberry" locally, referring to its early fruiting. While visiting relatives on Martha's Vineyard I learned that it is called "Shadblow" there; the reason I was given is that it blooms in early April when the shad, a valuable food fish related to herring, comes up from the ocean to New England rivers to spawn. "Blow" in the sense of "full-blown", but I'm not sure whether it refers to the blooming of the fish or the blooming of the trees!

Most plants indigenous to North America also have common names that reflect the general irritation of early European settlers when they found themselves having to deal with unfamiliar plants. In that vein the Amelanchier are also called "serviceberry" - implying that the plant's berries would "serve" as a (barely tolerable) substitute for more familiar European fruits.

Marsh Marigolds

Marsh Marigolds to glow as they rises out of the muck along the Portage River. I love the bits of pink in with the green of the soft round leaves. Caltha palustris is native to the Michigan; we have quite a colony of it along the river. It is also found in similar zones around the world, and found hybridized as a garden flower as well. Although the common name "Water Buttercup" persists, it is not an aquatic plant and can and does grow where it is fairly dry - but it is in the buttercup family of plants. It's called "Gundega" in Latvian; the Three Rivers area has lots of Latvians.

Fall Color in Black & White

The saturated colors of fall are still occupying my sight and photos, so for my monochrome this week I went for more leaves. These are of cranberry viburnum, hanging over the Portage River. The fruits are the size and color of cranberries, but aren't edible - not even the squirrels will eat them. The plant is indigenous here, though, so it is odd that nothing eats it!

Somehow the leaves, which are now yellow and pink, seem more translucent than when they were green. I think using b&w brings this out.

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The Monochrome Weekly has more of the world in monocrome; take a look at http://monochromeweeklytheme.blogspot.com/.

Shining Fall Color

Although most trees and plants are still green, we have a first taste of fall in a hedge of native shining sumac (Rhus copallina). It is also called "flameleaf sumac" in the nursery trade. Taken on Portage Ave. along the Portage River in Three Rivers.

Bioswale

I just found the Three Rivers educational bioswale, which also serves to filter water running from the park's lawns and the Petting Zoo. I first spotted the beautiful wildflowers, then saw the sign. I'll have to go back to try for the flower photos again, the ones I took weren't very good. Here's what the sign says:

A bioswale is a low-gradient basin system, which contains a dense cover of vegetation and is used to maintain and clean runoff. The gentle grade of the land slows the water flow, while the soil and vegetation filter storm runoff, removing 30% to 80% of pollutants such as petroleum products, excess nutrients, metals and sediments that may be found in stormwater.

It is an environmentally sensitive approach to pollution control that adds natural beauty to the community and provides a haven for many mammals and birds.

The bioswale in Scidmore Park is designed to minimize sediment and street runoff as well as animal pollution. The water collects at one end of the bioswale and is filtered by native plants and soil, which reduce the amount of pollutants entering the Rocky River. Native Plants have large root systems which make them great filtering agents.

Studies have shown that 70% of water entering streams, rivers, and lakes have been carried there from storm water runoff. Bioswales can be built at a residential level and can have a large impact on water quality in a community.

Sunflowers

Local gardens are full of sunflowers! The top flower here has dropped a frosting of pollen onto the leaf below.
Sunflowers have been domesticated for more than four thousand years (first in Mexico), and have been used to symbolize the sun in many cultures.