Today arrived as a gorgeous sunny day! Yesterday’s coolness had disappeared, and the weather was in the 70s. I decided to walk over to P.O. Box Collective which was hosting a plant sale. I had heard that the group Recalcitrant Seeds would be handing out free native trees and I was interested in picking up an American Hazelnut and American Plum that they were offering. By the time I had walked over, just one hour into the two-hour plant sale, they had been picked clean. The volunteer that I spoke with said that they had brought about a hundred saplings thinking that would be enough but that they easily could have passed out 300. There was a somewhat Peanuts Christmas tree-looking American Persimmon that I received and planted in the corner space. If it does grow, I’ll replant it in a year or two to a better space but at present a swift soccer ball would decimate it.
I decided to walk home by way of the beach along Sheridan Road and stopped to take pictures of all of the wonderful plants along the way. Common blue violets were everywhere. They delight me and I couldn’t stop myself from taking pictures of them everywhere. The sun overhead on my walk had already cooked me enough that the cold water of Lake Michigan felt amazing on my feet and legs. It felt like everyone had come outside to enjoy the delicious weather. Despite it being May, quite a few kids were in bathing suits and in the water. My favorite moment was a small boy, maybe four or five, who had covered himself in the sand and lay like a starfish on the beach with a look of bliss on his face.
My walk north took me to the Sam Leone Beach Park where they are working on restoring a Black Oak savanna. Within hundreds of feet of each other, you go from the beach to grassland, woodland, and busy city road. I reflected on what an impact it had on my community to have access to all of these “green” spaces. The ability to take a short walk from home and be surrounded by nature is amazing and I believe in many ways, life-changing. So walking past the playground and seeing a sign about plans for a Nature Play area made me even happier. Once home, I delayed going inside by watering all of yesterday’s plantings and adding the American Persimmon. I also grabbed my trowel and harvested a few common blue violets that were growing in leaf litter on a sidewalk. They are currently the only blooms in the garden and make me feel a little more optimistic about everything else coming along. I replaced last year’s copper labels with plastic white ones that my mother had sent from Florida. They are low to the ground but hopefully still easy to read. I hope to add a laminated QR code soon so that anyone walking by can find out what is happening with the garden. Finally, I dragged myself indoors and had a well-deserved snack.
Birchwood Butterfly Corner 