The flower(bed) project
Well, it may have taken the better part of 6 wks. but the good news is it's finally done. The flowerbed has landed.
Lois & I planted the first two-thirds (of 19) together last Thursday, but I did the last third by my lonesome. It took me 3 days for 7 plants, but I did do it. Quite fitting that it's done just when the grass project has come to fruition, all the straw having disappeared beneath multiple bright green blades of fresh new grass.
But...
...ironically, we're now in the midst of a mini-drought out here on the lakeshore. The town instituted (odd-even) lawn-watering restrictions 2 wks. ago, while rainfall 30 miles east in Grand Rapids has set new records. Maybe Danny can enlighten me about the meteorological mechanics behind this phenomenon? That is, every storm raining buckets on Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin & Illinois, subsequently dries up when it gets over Lake Michigan & the lakeshore but then re-forms inland to set new precipitation records for the central & eastern parts of this state?!? Really quite maddening.
Anyway, now the rest of the lawn is laboring to keep up with the new sections. So the bad news is that while I was concentrating on watering the new patches, the front sections went brown & have nearly reverted to the sand dunes this town is built upon. And when the forecast mentions a chance of rain, however miniscule, we now know it means for somewhere west or east but not here.
On the other hand, the good news is that I'm learning all about the mechanics of heavy duty vs. medium duty hoses & impulse vs. other types of sprinklers. The hard way, that is. Like when the hose ("medium duty") that came with the house — & served me just fine last year — springs a mid-point leak after being baked in the sun. Or while trying to find the perfect position & setting for the sprinkler, more water lands on me than on the grass.
But I'm getting lots of exercise running in & out to move hoses every five minutes. And I've got a lovely new flowerbed with an assortment of colorful, charming flowers: 2 by 2 varieties of coreopsis, 3 gaillardia, 3 mullein, 2 dianthus, 3 white phlox & 4 non-flowering artemisia (for foliage/ground cover). And they all appear to be NOT dying. And that's not to mention the hanging baskets of 3 ivy geraniums & 3 impatiens I've kept alive out on the front porch. And a verbena, scaevola, fuchia & calibrachoa hanging around & about, alive, on the deck. And the 2 peony bushes whose flowers are now spent but whose foliage is still alive. And the assorted flowers Gretchen left behind, blooming scattershot beneath the lilacs. Geez, am I all flowered out? Nope...not yet...just praying for rain.......
Okay. Here is a preliminary guess at why your flower bed is drying up: your flowers have learned not to wet their bed! Seriously, I suspect the meteorological answer is the lake effect. There are many kinds of lake effects. If the path of the air crossing the lake (called the "trajectory") is long enough and is crossing cold water, precipitation on the west coast of Michigan will be surpressed. As that same air moves inland, the heating from the ground will cause it to rise and result in precipitation. The opposite lake effect occurs in the winter: cool air crossing warm lake water will pick up moisture and, when it gets lift from the increased elevation of the shore line, you get precipitation in western Michigan. I have not been looking at Lake Michigan temperatures, but they are typically cooler than land temperatures early in the summer. The air trajectories reflect the jet stream path, which is largely a function of ocean currents over the northern Pacific. Yes, "el nino" and other ocean temperature anomalies can impact the weather in western Michigan by helping to steer storm systems. Hoping your "bed wetting" improves,
Love,
Danny
By: Dan Berkowitz :: Sun., Jul. 17, 2005 @ 11:02 PM