Side Yard Rain Garden Plant List

The plant list has grown since the initial design. Here is the list: Wild Columbine – Aquilegia canadensis
Wild Ginger – Asarum canadense
Swamp Milkweed – Asclepias incarnata
Purple Milkweed – Asclepias purpurascens
Butterfly Weed – Asclepias tuberosa
Smooth Blue Aster – Aster laevis
White False Indigo – Baptisia alba
Blue Wild Indigo – Baptisia australis
Blue Wood Sedge – Carex flaccosperma
Frank's Sedge – Carex frankii
Pennsylvania Sedge – Carex pensylvanica
Redbud – Cercis canadensis
Northern River Oats – Chasmanthium latifolium
Green and Gold – Chrysogonum virginianum
Eared Coreopsis – Coreopsis auriculata
Bottlebrush Grass – Elymus hystrix
Wild Geranium – Geranium maculatum
Dwarf or Crested Iris – Iris cristata
Copper Iris – Iris fulva
Spicebush – Lindera benzoin
Cardinal Flower – Lobelia cardinalis
Great Blue Lobelia – Lobelia siphilitica
Trumpet Honeysuckle – Lonicera sempervirens
Virginia Bluebells – Mertensia virginica
Bayberry – Myrica pensylvanica
Royal Fern – Osmunda regalis
Black-eyed Susan – Rudbeckia hirta
Little Bluestem – Schizachyrium scoparium
Showy Goldenrod – Solidago speciosa
Celandine Poppy – Stylophorum diphyllum

Purpose of the Side Yard Garden

Here is what the Side Yard Garden hopes to suggest:
* One does NOT have to mow side yards (especially ones at 12%)
* All kinds of spaces, even side yards, can be beautiful and low maintenance
* Gardens don't have to be a lot of work to be beautiful
* Native plants can create wonderful gardens
* Rain water is a resource not a hazard

Swamp Milkweed - Asclepias incarnata

Swamp milkweed and Black eyed Susans should bloom soon

I am seeing a slight bit of color on the Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). It is different than the Butterflyweed that is orange and shorter in height. The Swamp Milkweed is already twice as tall (about 30" right now) and will bloom purple. It seems to do better with wetter and part shade conditions. In this location, it catches the shadow of the house for most of the day and it is closer to the bottom of microbasin 1.

Primrose cut back

The Primroses have mostly been cut back. They were overhanging the narrow grass strip that allows one to pass from the front yard to the back. I tried holding them back with a string line, but the plants were too top heavy. Some of the plants have grown to five feet in height! There are still quite a few that are left and are still blooming away. They seem to do fine as a cut flower by the way even when left in 80 degree heat. I expect there to be quite a bit of regrowth over the summer, so it should all work out. I think that primrose needs tall supporting plants around it to hold up to heavy wind and rain. The first plant of this species I have is supported by a chain link fence -- it also hasn't bloomed yet so the additional weight isn't there yet.

Primrose tip over

Well more rain tonight. The micro-basins held well. The fourth basin only filled up half way. The primrose really took a beating. They are about 4 1/2 feet tall right now, bent to get more sun and beginning to bloom. The heavy downpour just knocked them over -- way over. I've staked them up as best as I could, but they may need to be cut back. Bottom line, they need to be in full sun surrounded by plants that can help support their excessive height.

Rain in the garden

I've disconnected two of my downspouts from the sanitary system and directed them to the micro-basins. Saturday (June 17th) night's storm was the first test of the all four basins with downspout water. And it performed well! Pictured is the bottom basin (Basin 4) at the height of the storm. It's not even a quarter full. The other true test was the speed it infiltrated the ground. And when I checked about twenty minutes after the storm, there was no water in any of the basins! Sunday afternoon (June 18th) storm was interesting because the rain barrel was full. All the water passed through the overflow and down into the basins (3 &4). Still no issues, but I think I'll need a splash plate for the overflow or a pipe to get the water down to the basin with less force.

Primrose

The Evening Primrose is now blooming. It is somewhat irratic which ones are blooming first, but hopefully the rest will get the idea and do their thing. In the photos you can see how they open up more as evening comes.

Rain Barrel

The rain barrel was installed tonight! It took 45 minutes to get its height right, disconnect the downspout, cut off the sewer connection (the yellow thing in the photo), cap it, then connect up the rain barrel and check that it was stable. About the only tool it too was a hacksaw to shorten the downspout. If you look closely at the rain barrel, one can see that there is a regular spigot at the bottom (hooking up the garden hose) and an overflow at the top. The barrel holds 58 gallons of water which is a pretty good amount.

Weather Forecasting

Here are some links to my favorite weather sites. Just the facts, not hype: NWS Louisville 7-day forecast
National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center
The Weather Channel Forecast Maps

last plants

The last plants were placed in the garden. Blue Wood Sedge was the last go in due to a expansion in the design to include a fourth "micro-basin". Also one of the downspouts was disconnected from the sewer system and directed to that micro-basin. A chance of rain is expected Wednesday so we will see how it all holds up.

Screens

The screens of the utilities and A/C unit went up Saturday. There will be Trumpet Honeysuckle growing up them soon enough which will help screen the screens...

Jane House transformation

Here is the transformation of the Jane House.

"If we have inherited a world that is so disjointed by human action that it now requires our intervention, we will have to learn to accept that we must manage it on the basis of Nature's systems and not our standards" ~ David Hancocks A Different Nature