Verdant Design

Celandine Poppy or Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) is a wonderful woodland plant that doesn’t require any special effort to grow.  In fact it grows in shade to part-sun, reproduces easily, and only gets to about 18″ in height.  On top of that, it is a plant that consistently blooms around Derby.  It is native to the Ohio Valley, so it is perfectly adjusted to our climate and soils.

One of the real benefits of a rain garden is water infiltration. When rain water enters the soil it does a lot of good locally as well as decreasing the amount of runoff (and therefore flooding). So what kind of infiltration can be expected? April 5th’s evening storm was a good example. We had roughly 0.38 inches of rain in about ten minutes according to the nearby MSD rain gauge. Here are a series of photos with the first one taken during the rain storm with water running into the micro-basin, the second just as it was ending with water being retained and the third ten minutes after it ended with the water fully infiltrated into the ground.

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 Louisville Bike Summit II happened last week. It is a part of a process to see the city move to the next level of becoming a Bicycle Friendly City. The event focused on the 5 E’s: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation. In light of the current economic downturn, it is even more important to focus on creative ways to see biking become more safe and prevalent in our city. Check the Bike Louisville website for updates and recommendations coming from the Bike Summit. Photos of the event can be found on the Louisville Flickr site.

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).