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Introduced in the House on April 17, 2008

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Our tourist industry could stand the help.

Here's another great idea. Water-Smart Gardening (Part One) Posted by Monica Milla June 28, 2008 17:44PM Categories: Gardening, Statewide Monica Milla The Water-Smart Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens. Water-smart plants are colorful and beautiful, and require minimal care. Click for larger photo.In my recent trip to Colorado, I was interested to discover plants adapted to live in the semi-arid climate of the Great Plains region. I was surprised and delighted to find that many of these plants, which require less watering and fertilizing, also grow in Michigan. In fact, many of them are in my own garden. This isn't too big a surprise, I guess; I'm an organic gardener and I don't tend to water much, except when planting, transplanting, or growing something from seed. I rarely use fertilizer, preferring to amend the soil with compost. Plus, I'm cheap. Some might call it frugal, but by whatever name, I don't like to spend money if I don't have to, and watering can become expensive. So it makes sense, even though I hadn't thought about it in these terms before, that my plants are water-smart.(Ooh, does that make me smart, too—or just lazy?!) In Colorado, which has an alpine desert climate (it gets cold, but it's dry), it makes sense that water is at a premium and people actively look for drought-tolerant plants. It turns out that the Denver Water Department coined the term xeriscape in 1981. They took the first part of the Greek word for dry, xeros, and added the last part of landscape to get (ta da!) xeriscape. Mr. Webster defines xeriscape as "a landscaping method developed especially for arid and semiarid climates that utilizes water-conserving techniques." Denver Water says xeriscape is "beauty without waste" and I'm all about that! Monica Milla Prickly pear cactus is hardy in Michigan and eventually blooms.Of course, succulents are great water-conserving plants. Remember my yucca? That's a great example. So is prickly pear cactus, which not only grows in Michigan, but is native here. And it gets beautiful yellow flowers! It shrivels up in winter but is entirely hardy at least as far north as Saskatoon, Canada! Hens and chicks are another example of succulents. They also eventually flower and require little water or fertilizing. But there are a lot more water-smart plants than just succulents. For example, as a general rule, any perennials with gray-green foliage and/or fuzzy leaves (such as lamb's ears, rose campion, Russian sage, lavender, and artemesia—but whoo-ee that one spreads!) don't require a lot of water. Many native plants (especially prairie plants such as bee balm, black-eyed Susan, prairie dock, blue vervain, and little and big bluestem grasses) have very long root systems and can wait for rain as their only source of water. Native plants grew in Michigan before European settlers came, so they are adapted to survive without tending. In part two of this topic, I'll list more xeriscape plants for Michigan, as well as cover other water-smart gardening techniques! In the meantime, check out these links: • All about xeriscaping (from Denver Water) • Michigan native plant list (Note that not all native plants are water-smart; if something naturally grows near water (such as swamp milkweed and Joe Pye weed) it's going to want water in your landscape, too!) Print This Page | Send To A Friend | Permalink (Learn More) Share: Reddit | Digg | del.icio.us | Google | Yahoo | Facebook | What is this?

Granholm to sign lake protection law at Saugatuck's Oval Beach Posted by Ken Kolker | The Grand Rapids Press July 08, 2008 10:23AM Categories: Breaking News SAUGATUCK -- Proving that water transcends politics, Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Wednesday will sign new Great Lakes protection legislation on a beach in the hometown of Republican Sen. Patricia Birkholz. Birkholz, who played a key role in the legislation, will appear with Granholm at the signing at Saugatuck's Oval Beach, along with state Rep. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, who pushed the compact in the House. The signing was scheduled at 10:15 a.m. Birkholz said she requested the Oval Beach signing.

NOW CLEAN UP THE WATER. Boy, somebody has some explain' to do about the high cancer rates and miscarriages around Great Lakes cities. Holdin' back reports on citizens. What the hell?

Peninsula Harbour, ON 2: Jackfish Bay, ON 3: Nipigon Bay, ON 4: Thunder Bay, ON 5: St. Louis River and Bay, WI 6: Torch Lake, MI 7: Deer Lake,MI 8: St. Mary's River, MI 9: Manistique River, MI 10: Menominee River, WI 11: Lower Green Bay and Fox River, WI 12: Sheboygan River, WI 13: Milwaukee Estuary, WI 14: Waukegan Harbor, IL 15: Grand Calumet River, IN 16: Kalamazoo River, MI 17: Muskegon Lake, MI 18: White Lake, MI 19: Saginaw River and Bay, MI 20: St. Clair River, MI 21: Clinton River, MI Know something about one of these areas? Help report their history and progress. A good model to follow is this report on the Rouge River. 22: Detroit River and Black Lagoon, MI '23: Rouge River, MI' 24: River Raisin, MI 25: Maumee River, OH 26: Wheatley Harbour, ON 27: Black River, OH 28: Cuyahoga River, OH 29: Ashtabula River, OH 30: Presque Isle Bay, PA 31: Buffalo River, NY 32: Niagara River, NY 33: Eighteen Mile Creek, NY 34: Hamilton Harbour, ON 35: Toronto Region, ON 36: Collingwood Harbour, ON (delisted) 37: Severn Sound, ON (delisted) 38: Port Hope, ON 39: Rochester Embayment, NY 40: Bay of Quinte, ON 41: Oswego River/Harbor, NY (delisted) 42&43: St. Lawrence River, NY