Rain Garden Revisited

In February, it seems that winter will never end. I was organizing photos and came across a bunch of the yard. It was heartening to see the lushness of spring and summer and be reminded that the world will take on more shades of green.

In early spring, the rain garden isn't much to look at, but the fountain draws in birds like crazy. That white PVC is the power cord and it will soon be covered in leafy lushness. We have nesting blue jays, robins, and cardinals that call the yard home. The robins especially love a pool party and nest in the lilac tree overlooking the fountain.

By June, the China Snow Pekin lilac (Syringa pekinensis 'Morton') is in full glorious bloom and perfumes the entire block. Although it may sucker like crazy, it's now two stories tall and probably will keep going. It provides shelter for birds and blooms when few other trees are putting on a show. That's a Rivers purple beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Riversii') which I simply adore for the fact that it's emphatically purrrrrple!

In July, the rain garden really kicks into gear as it is planted mostly in natives and of those, many prairie species. It's a butterfly magnet and if you click on the photo, you'll see an Eastern tiger swallowtail deeply enjoying the liatris. This is when we are lured to the little patio to watch the garden literally buzz with insect life.The prairie plants keep on dazzling well into September, so we are a nice pollinator pit stop, too.

This is a functioning rain garden. It is about 10 x 12 feet and it holds about a quarter of the roof volume. It keeps that side of the basement dry and percolates in mere hours. We are spoiled with deep black loamy clay soil that drains, so I didn't have to do any amending when we dug this. Beneficial and beautiful!