Jenna and I just checked in this morning at NVCC to see how the rain garden plants were coming along. It finally rained last night. Fortunately, Mike Schwartz of NVCC has been watering to plants and helping them establish due to the lack of rain. I'm glad to say that the plants are growing well and establishing themselves. The front of the rip rap has accumulated significant sediment which indicates that storm water is flowing into the garden. However, one problem presented itself -- the entire garden was full of golden rod!
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| The front of the rip rap with sediment from the rain storm |
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| Large view of rain garden with milk weed and golden rod |
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| Common Milk Weed |
The golden rod presents some advantages and disadvantages in the rain garden. On one hand, they do add more plants to the basin and its banks so that more water will be diverted from the storm water outlet. The milk weed is great to have as they provide a habitat for monarch butterflies. On the other hand, the plants that were chosen for the garden must now compete for sunlight, soil, and water. Jenna and I did a couple hours of weeding to give our selected plants more room. We'll check in again in a month or so. We are hoping that as the grasses, ferns, and other plants establish themselves more, the golden rod will be less of an issue.
As for the rain garden plants themselves, they are starting to look very nice. Some have even started to bloom!
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| Baptista australis in bloom |
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| Ostrich Fern |
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| Tall Panic Grass |
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| Joy Pye Weed |
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