Verdant Design

Spring is upon us. The rain garden looks significantly different than it did in January. Some plants are even beginning to bloom like Celandine Poppy/Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum). This plant will bloom from March to August in Kentucky. It is hardy from zone 4 to zone 9. The plant is great in part to full shade with a great leaf texture.

Another great early bloomer is the Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia x soulangeana). It is a mid-sized tree that has prolific pink blooms early in the spring, even prior to setting its own leaves. It has proven to be a durable tree through Kentucky winters and summers.

The recent ice storm will soon create another problem: flooding. With the temperatures hovering around freezing, the ice/snow/rainwater will momentarily back up around the community since the drainageways will also be filled with ice and slush. So, what can a rain garden offer when it is freezing? Well, one of the basic premises of a rain garden is it’s shape. It is a shallow depression meant to hold water for a short time on the surface. This offers a place for the melting ice to gather and not flood somewhere else.

Since the last photo, the lobelia and other plants have been cut back. It changes the appearance of the space, but the snow gives away the shape of the garden. The plants were all choped with the chaff left in place to acts as a mulch. This also acts to slow down rain water (rough surfaces slow water more than smooth).

Rain Barrel & Robin

So what do you do with a rain barrel in the winter?  We do get a good amount of our yearly precipitation from Autumn through Spring.  So rain collection and storage is still important.  The simplist thing to do is to put it on a slow drip.  That way the water in the barrel will be released over time after the rain event has subsided.  The view from the window was of seven Robins coming by for a drink.  So the rain barrels are good for more than just storage.

Verdant Design has a separate blog for sustainable garden design called Verdant Thumb.  It shows the ongoing life and changes of our 3-year-old rain garden, sustainable practices, favorite plants, and situations we have encountered. It is more of a gardening perspective for those who would like ideas for a yard. We hope it is a help for you.

Lobelia cardinalis

The view from the office window of the rain garden has changed yet again. The drama of the red Cardinal Flower has given way to the seed capules for new plants next year. The rain barrel is also more apparent since the Black Eyed Susan plants were cut back. Summer is turning into Autumn and soon the plants will all be prepared for Winter.