Feral plants from abandoned houses.

[Beth_B]

@Sheal, well if you are ever on this side of the pond, let me know and I will show you around! Michigan is a really beautiful state, despite the mostly bad press it gets. Besides the crime and blight and automotive legacy, it's also one of the nation's top agricultural producers, tourist destinations and being surrounded by the Great Lakes a major player in all things water - I heard on the news today that one in five workers here are employed in a water-related business.

@Jewell, never heard the term food forest before, thanks for that link! Honestly, the Land Bank here is only acting in its own self-interest when it provides that very cheap land. Because then they don't have to maintain and mow it. For $25 city lots in Flint, that's a savings for them since I'm sure they have to pay their contractors a lot more than that per year to mow just a couple of times. My two $65 lots have a tangle of raspberry and blackberry bushes at the back and lilies too - I let that go wild and jungly for the birds. My neighbor down the road just rototilled a planting plot for me there so I put in several varieties of squash last night.

@mommyB, you have many good ideas! Especially the one about a metal detector, now you really have me pondering that. Hipsters and idealistic urban pioneers will save cities like Flint and Detroit - they're already on the forefront of change. Sadly, people entrenched in generations of crime, welfare and a "gimme" culture are holding back improvement but hopefully that will fade away. I never thought of rooting bushes and hardwoods - that's possible from cuttings? That opens up a bunch of new options.

 

[Sheal]

Well if you are ever on this side of the pond, let me know and I will show you around!

I'd love that, thank you, but I have a flying phobia so it's unlikely to happen. Sadly I haven't seen my son in nearly four years because he now lives in Columbus, Ohio and I won't fly.

 

[Beth_B]

I'd love that, thank you, but I have a flying phobia so it's unlikely to happen. Sadly I haven't seen my son in nearly four years because he now lives in Columbus, Ohio and I won't fly.

Well, you could swim, duh!
Just kidding of course. (Are there still ocean liner trans-Atlantic trips? I did that when I was six years old from the UK to the US. I grew up in the UK and Europe.)

 

[Sheal]

It's a long way to swim Beth! Yes there are still liners but they cost a fortune. I made enquiries a while back about this, not only to see my son but my younger daughter as well, who lives in Vancouver, Canada but it's just not feasible.

 

[Beth_B]

It's a long way to swim Beth! Yes there are still liners but they cost a fortune. I made enquiries a while back about this, not only to see my son but my younger daughter as well, who lives in Vancouver, Canada but it's just not feasible.

I was thinking of those funny Google Maps directions if you searched for directions from, say, the Isle of Man to New York city. I don't know if they still do that. The directions started off all serious: take the M-1 to ring road whatever to this street and this other highway. Then swim 1,672 miles to NYC, then take this and that streets to Interstate 95, etc.
Well I hope your kids visit you often!

 

[Pat]

The plants you rescue will be happy in their new home I am sure. When I see plants that have been left to die I take them also. The important thing here is to keep yourself safe in that area you are working in. Have fun with your new plants. And share the pictures.

 

[Rosyrain]

The state of the Detroit and Flint Michigan area is a sad one, and there are some great points spoken here of how you can't just leave your house or it will get broken into. There is a great documentary on what happened in Flint Michigan after the vehicle manufacturers pulled out of the area, it is called Roger and Me, by Michael Moore. He is a bit of a controversial film maker, but I really enjoy his work because he does not sugar coat the truth.

 

[Beth_B]

The state of the Detroit and Flint Michigan area is a sad one, and there are some great points spoken here of how you can't just leave your house or it will get broken into. There is a great documentary on what happened in Flint Michigan after the vehicle manufacturers pulled out of the area, it is called Roger and Me, by Michael Moore. He is a bit of a controversial film maker, but I really enjoy his work because he does not sugar coat the truth.

I really should watch that documentary again! It's quite old and Flint has changed a lot since then so I wonder how much, if any, is still relevant. I watched it 14 years ago when I moved here.

I can assure you that Michael Moore is not at all popular here in Michigan and certainly not in Flint, mainly because he actually was untruthful about many things in his various documentaries.
.

 

[Rosyrain]

I really should watch that documentary again! It's quite old and Flint has changed a lot since then so I wonder how much, if any, is still relevant. I watched it 14 years ago when I moved here.



I can assure you that Michael Moore is not at all popular here in Michigan and certainly not in Flint, mainly because he actually was untruthful about many things in his various documentaries.
.

I imagine that he is not at all popular around the Michigan area. It would be interesting to hear about what he was untruthful about from someone who lives in the area and is not trying to make money off of movies.

I have a good friend who just moved back to Washington after living in Michigan for a few years and she said that the state really does have some nice places, and it is not all the dive state that some people make it out to be.

 

[Beth_B]

I imagine that he is not at all popular around the Michigan area. It would be interesting to hear about what he was untruthful about from someone who lives in the area and is not trying to make money off of movies.

I have a good friend who just moved back to Washington after living in Michigan for a few years and she said that the state really does have some nice places, and it is not all the dive state that some people make it out to be.

I've lived a lot of places - your friend is right! Michigan really has a lot of natural beauty, especially if one likes four dramatically distinct seasons. The Great Lakes are gorgeous year around. I've come to believe that it's an under-recognized state.
http://www.michigan.org/

 

[IcyBC]

I live in the suburb of Detroit, and there are gorgeous big houses abandoned and ruined. It is definitely not safe at all for me to even walking down the street. When driving by on my way to Bell Isle Conservatory, I have seen many beautiful perennials still growing.

 

[Fernsdaddy]

Beth, I'm known as the old man to give your unwanted garden plants too, I know a few contractors who will let me remove as many plants I want from homes their flipping. Some of my peonies are from home that were over 100 years old as well as other plants, Hosta is one of my favorite plants to bring home along with roses. Your hosta will do great now the have a good home.

 

[Beth_B]

@IcyBC , I hear ya. It really is sad to see these gorgeous big houses just slumping into oblivion. Belle Isle is gorgeous though....it's been several years since I've been down there. Or the Eastern Market, do you ever go there? I've done Flower Day several times. (Eastern Market is an amazing year-round farmers' market in Detroit.)
http://www.easternmarket.com/

@Fernsdaddy, I'm happy to report that my droopy feral hostas are perking up just fine. I'm on another job now where the back 40 is all "Michigan Prairie" and I have permission to dig up some of the flowering plants, which I will plunk in the jungly part of my side yard which I leave wild. The guy who mows my property rolls his eyes because I'm always sticking little utility flags next to pretty things I want him to mow around. Right now phlox is going just nuts - I know many people think it's a weed but it's gorgeous and I even saw two butterflies around it today.
I'm definitely not a manicured lawn type of girl LOL. (In the background are some of the RR ties I got from that house.)

 

[IcyBC]

@IcyBC , I hear ya. It really is sad to see these gorgeous big houses just slumping into oblivion. Belle Isle is gorgeous though....it's been several years since I've been down there. Or the Eastern Market, do you ever go there? I've done Flower Day several times. (Eastern Market is an amazing year-round farmers' market in Detroit.)
http://www.easternmarket.com/

I have been at Eastern Market a few times many moons ago! It has been a while since I last went there! The atmosphere isn't the same and after a few incidents there, I don't feel comfortable going, plus parking is a huge problem for me.