The Virginia creeper vines can be stunning some years, and this is one of them. At least in this location. These are just growing naturally, although there are a lot of pocket gardens along the Manistee Riverwalk. They are nicely contrasted with cottonwood leaves.
They don't seem to get the gorgeous blue berries every year, either. The berries aren't really poisonous, but like a lot of plants they are high in oxalates, so very many will irritate your digestive system.
This was an attempt to get a bit artsy. I tried a few other things too. Maybe you'll see one of them. The other was a complete flop. But I keep trying! I love the strong lines of the trees and shadows. I think these are also cottonwoods. I forgot to look closely enough.
I used this picture yesterday for its natural beauty. Today I cropped it to show the beach grass,
Ammophila breviligulata, sometimes called marram grass (a pallindrome!). Its talent is that it stabilizes shifting beach sand by sending out long runners.
Finally for today, there were a couple of gardens planted puposely with native plants. I can't tell the kind of aster, but the goldenrod is
Solidago speciosa, showy goldenrod. There are also milkweeds, black-eyed susans, and other things. It's nice to see a special effort to showcase natives.
I worked on a database and punctuated the day with weeding in the rock garden. MAYBE tomorrow will be a rock garden report.
