Photo of the Week: Winter Sowing 2024 Results

Small green seedlings of purple coneflower rise from an open white translucent gallon milk jug, a white label rises vertically in the potting soil.

When I started my winter sowing project in mid-February this year, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had never done any winter sowing before.

I had a few scares with deep cold spells in late winter and spring, concerned whether the native plant seedlings in the milk jugs would make it through.

And a couple times I did move the milk jugs into the garage overnight.

As you can see from my photo of the purple coneflowers, I shouldn’t have been worried!

Continue reading Photo of the Week: Winter Sowing 2024 Results

Photo of the Week: Mourning Doves

A pair of tan-brown birds with black dots on their wings, pink legs, and long pointed tails, the Mourning Doves perch on the edge of the square bird feeder. One bird has its wing slightly outstretched as it lands on the feeder edge.

A bird I see year round in our southeast Michigan area, the slender, graceful Mourning Dove is a bird I see or hear daily. Their coo-coo sound is often the first sound I hear in the morning. This morning, with our constant rainfall, this pair of Mourning Doves joined the local House Wrens, Northern Cardinals,… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Mourning Doves

Photo of the Week: Magnolias in Bloom at Nichols Arboretum

Gorgeous canary yellow flowers with long petals in a cup-like shape with a lemony scent bloom from brown tree branches.

Last week, when my husband noticed magnolias were blooming in our neighborhood, he asked about the flower colors.

He commented the magnolia flowers he had seen were mostly pink and white. I replied I had also seen purple magnolia flowers.

And said I didn’t think magnolia flowers were yellow.

Continue reading Photo of the Week: Magnolias in Bloom at Nichols Arboretum