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A blooming idea: Wildflower project transforms marshy area at Antoine

(Terri Castalez Daily News photos) From left at the new rain garden at Lake Antoine Park are Dickinson Conservation District Manager Amber Butterfield and Development Coordinator Andrew Finkel, along with Lake Antoine Park Partners Treasurer Ann Hruska and her grandsons who volunteered for the project, Levi, Jonah and Sam Caruso.

IRON MOUNTAIN — An unusable swale at Lake Antoine Park is now a colorful rain garden.

Dickinson Conservation District and Lake Antoine Park Partners teamed up to transform a low-lying, beachfront section into an attraction with ecological benefits.

The project was made possible through a grant from the Wildflower Association of Michigan, said Dickinson Conservation District Manager Amber Butterfield. She learned about the opportunity through the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“I thought it would be really cool in our area, so I reached out to Ann (Hruska) with the LAPP and asked if it would be something that could work at Lake Antoine,” she said. “And it took off from there.”

LAPP Treasurer Hruska was excited about the possibilities of a rain garden, as the park has several areas where aquatic loving native wildflowers would thrive.

Shown is the swale at the beachfront at Lake Antoine Park before preparation of a rain garden.

The rain garden features 836 native wetland-adapted plants including iris, asters, sedges, bulrush, and swamp milk week.

The plants were provided by Designs By Nature — Upper Peninsula Native Plants, LLC of Marquette.

Site preparation began in early June, with planting taking place in July. “We had several rain delays,” noted Dickinson Conservation District Development Coordinator Andrew Finkel.

Hruska explained that the water level was over their ankles the first week of planting. “It’s almost lower than the lake level in that specific area,” she added. “It is often times a pond and a mosquito breeding ground.”

The deep-rooting plants will absorb the excess water, as well as provide wildlife food and habitat.

Dickinson Conservation District Manager Amber Butterfield and Development Coordinator Andrew Finkel install the rain garden sign at Lake Antoine Park.

“The plants will also do their job in filtering the pollutants from the runoff water from the road that could end up in the lake,” said Finkel. “It overall will improve our water quality.”

The pollinating wildflowers were laid out strategically, placing the most wet-tolerant in the center.

They recently finished the project by adding mulch along with interpretive signs designed by Lindsey Peterson of the conservation district. The QR code on the sign will link to the website so people can learn about the rain garden itself and nonpoint source pollution.

Finkel comes out every other day to make sure the plants are not drying out, said Butterfield. “We haven’t had that issue so far,” she added.

Butterfield said the plants need to be monitored for the first year and after that they should adapt to the environment. “It’s going to be beautiful when it fills in,” she said.

“The plants are doing the work,” added Finkel.

The project area ended up larger than originally planned. “The area was so wet that they needed to get to a margin where people could stand without sinking,” Hruska said.

LAPP has received positive feedback from park patrons on the addition. “They really enjoy having that extra feature to look at while they walk along the beach front and watch them grow,” said Hruska. “They are pretty enthused.”

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