ypsi~dixit

Kudos to Mr. Weedy. This update is rooted in good common sense.

I guess this decision stems from the growing native-plant consciousness.

Stupid non-native plants really pollen comparison.

Way to squash the opposition!

I'm thrilled to see this idea come to fruition.

Hey, Mr. Weedy is really qualified in the environmental department.

I'm already taking a lichen to him.

I have to admit that I wouldnt mind it if the City of Ypsilanti were to do something similar. I would have to hire someone to help me get rid of my lawn though, because other than garlic mustard (which I have been pulling and pulling) and chicory (which I leave alone because I think it is pretty), I dont know which plants are native and which are not.

Lynne: Well, no wonder: there are 1800 plants native to pre-European Michigan!

Here's a good starting point, and you can look at pictures here.

Ann Arbor's own Native Plant Nursery, whose site seems to be down, sells a wide selection of native plants at the AA Farmer's Market every Saturday. That's where I got mine. They have special discount packages: 40 plants for, I think it was around $30, in a box.

My favorite? The rugged Purple Coneflower. My whole front yard is full of 'em, along with (#2) black-eyed susan, both natives.

Unfortunately, most of the really nasty weeds (bull thistles, bindwind, etc.) are European introductions.

Poison ivy's native though...hmmmm.

The Native Plants nursery site
is back up. Their Michigan Plants Database is great!

Thanks, Jim!
Wow--you're not kidding! For anyone who wants to make a flowerbed with native plants, you have a million choices!

I can't encourage people in Ypsilanti enough to plant natives. I can truly attest that in the 10 years since I've been increasing my native plantings (starting with a large bed of echinacea), the number of interesting native songbirds in the neighborhood has risen dramatically. When we first moved into the neighborhood, we used to get all excited to see a purple finch. Now, we have goldfinches (so many we've become blase about it), chipping sparrows, Carolina wrens, pine warblers, flickers, and this year, a pair of nesting red-bellied woodpeckers.

OK, not everyone will be as geeked about more exotic bird species, but for the beauty alone, plant wildflowers! The local chapter of Wild Ones is very active and has much more info: http://www.for-wild.org/chapters/annarbor/.

That almost makes me want to plant thistles! What other plants do goldfinches like? They're a favorite of mine but I don't think I've seen one since moving to Michigan.

My finchies love the big seedheads of my purple coneflowers in the fall and pick 'em clean and I do mean clean.

Lisa is right, Wild Ones is a terrific resource and in my experience is happy to answer a question or two if you contact them. They also have a discussion bulletin board you can join (you don't have to be a member).

Yes, the purple coneflowers (echinacea) are the absolute favorite of the goldfinches. But I think the other wildflowers create a community of plants that just seem to attract everything. I often see them in my wild plum trees, for example, not sure why. The chipping sparrows spent an hour hopping around my flagstone walk, eating the bugs between the stones ...see, the tasty bugs come with the native plants. I don't know what's attracting the red-bellied woodpeckers, but maybe they rely on the goldfinches to find good habitats.