JoJo -- Inspiration from the river trail

This morning, Spot and a friend and I went for a long walk on a local river trail and saw a lot of restoration projects in progress. It gave me a few ideas for stream bank. There was salmonberry, elderberry, vine maple, dogwood, and many other things that I don't recognize yet.

High level notables:

- Most people I've told that I want some salmonberry make a face and tell me that it's not a very attractive plant. I disagree. There were several thickets of them along the trail. I thought they were pretty growing together. Also, they have edible berries, are good for streambank retention, they provide food and shelter for birds and food for bees. I plan to adopt some.

- I got a sense of how the elderberry is likely to grow in in my yard. The elderberry appeared in my yard two years ago out nowhere -- presumably a product of bird leavings. They remind me a little of mangroves with the multiple stems as trunk. Those things grow really fast! A week ago I saw a baby elderberry growing below the parent elderberry, and now there are two babies that are 4-5 times the size they were last week!



- I got an idea for how to fill out part of the stream bank from seeing an elderberry and a vine maple growing together. I think I'll plant a vine maple near the elderberry. That will create an understory of elderberry, serviceberry, and vine maple. Bird amusement park? I guess we'll see.