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Looking to spruce up your garden or your yard? Two area communities have plant sales this weekend!

Cedar's Perennial Plant Sale is Saturday, May 25 from 9 AM - 3 PM. Hundreds of perennial and wildflower plants are ready for planting in your garden. Beautify your home with plants that attract butterflies and birds. Prices start at $2.00 with over 500 plants and 50 varieties. This is their major fundraiser of the year to support 265 days per year of free, educational, healthy and intergenerational fun.

The Annual Plant Sale on the Village Green in Leland is on tap for Memorial Day Weekend as well! Now is your chance to purchase native ferns, trillium, and more along with a selection of native trees and shrubs provided by locally owned Four Season Nursery, who will be on hand to answer questions about going native.

Sale runs Friday, May 24th and Saturday May 25th; hours 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. All proceeds help maintain the Village Green and assist with other Conservancy projects. The Wildflower Rescue Committee continually seeks new sites on which to dig. If you are building a home, driveway, addition, or know of someone who is, please contact the WRC so they may have a chance to remove these precious wildflowers before the excavators arrive! Contact Patty Shea: 256-9249 or Joanie Woods: 256-7154.

Photo credit: 20090429_0107_copy(Blood Root) by jsorbieus

photo: Dream On by Kenneth-Snyder

EMPIRE, MI - The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (National Lakeshore) will be offering a series of monthly astronomy programs this year. Join Park Rangers and the  the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) for a guided exploration of our night sky and one daytime event. The next Star Party is May 11 with a viewing of the closest star - the sun. Each special event takes place at a different location throughout the National Lakeshore to take advantage of strategic viewing opportunities. Come for star gazing, meteor showers, sun viewing, and storytelling. Kids of all ages can participate in the Night Sky Junior Ranger program.

Visitors enjoying park skies at a Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Star Party. Photos courtesy of the National Park Service

Starry night skies and natural darkness are important components of the special places the National Park Service protects. National parks hold some of the last remaining harbors of darkness and provide an excellent opportunity to experience this endangered resource. So visit the National Lakeshore and enjoy park skies by attending the following Star Parties:

May 11 (12:00-2:00 p.m.), Visitor Center Parking Lot in Empire
This is a daytime Star Party to view our closest star - the sun. View the sun using a solar telescope and solar shades. See solar activity, including flares and prominences.

June 8 (9:00-11:00 p.m.), Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive #3 Overlook
View Saturn, the Milky Way, and various constellations. Meet at the Dune Overlook #3, Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. Please park at Picnic Mountain; the next right after the #2 stop.

July 13 (9:00-11:00 p.m.), Platte River Point
View the moon, Saturn, and various constellations.

August 10 (9:00-11:00 p.m.), Thoreson Farm in Port Oneida
The Port Oneida Fair celebration continues into the night. View Saturn and the Perseid meteors.

September 7 (9:00-11:00 p.m.), Dune Climb Parking Lot
View the summer Milky Way and many Deep Sky Objects.

October 21 (8:00-10:00 p.m.), Dune Climb Parking Lot
Celebrate the 43rd anniversary of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with a starry event.

For all astronomy events, bring a flashlight for the walk back to your car and bug spray, if needed. Park Rangers and GTAS staff will be wearing red glow bracelets at the events.

The monthly Star Parties will be cancelled during inclement weather. The decision is usually made three hours in advance. Please call Park Rangers at 231-326-5135, ext. 331, for a voicemail message with the decision.

All programs are free. Participants need only purchase the Park Entrance Pass or have an Annual Pass displayed in their vehicle to join in the fun.

For more about the National Lakeshore, please go to www.nps.gov/slbe or their Facebook and Twitter.

via Michigan in Pictures...

Comet Pan-Starrs ... 3-17-13, photo by Ken Scott

EarthSky.org is a fantastic site for all things astronomical, and their post detailing everything you need to know about Comet PANSTARRS has great info on the first of 2013 major comets. The comet was discovered by the PANSTARRS telescope in Hawaii and they explain that:

Comet PANSTARRS is still visible through binoculars in the Northern Hemisphere, if you know right where to look. Note where the sun sets in the west. Some 60 to 75 minutes after sundown, seek for the comet about two to three binocular fields to the right, or upper right, of the sunset point on the horizon. Comet PANSTARRS now sets at nightfall or very early evening at mid-northern latitudes. From here on out, the comet will dim a bit day by day, while the waxing moon will brighten daily. So it’s hard to say how much longer Comet PANSTARRS will be readily visible through binoculars. Each day, Comet PANSTARRS goes a few degrees northward (to the right) on the sky’s dome, toward the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen.

...No matter how bright it gets in March, the comet will surely fade as April arrives, as it moves away from the sun and back out into the depths of space. But it will be located far to the north on the sky’s dome and will be circumpolar for northerly latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. That means it might be visible somewhere in the northern sky throughout the night for northern observers. What’s more, the comet will be near in the sky to another beautiful and fuzzy object in our night sky, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the nearest large spiral galaxy to our Milky Way. If the comet truly is bright then, and if it still has a substantial tail, it’ll be an awesome photo opportunity!

Read on for more and also check out the michpics post on Comet ISON which has the possibility of  being so bright that you can see it in the daytime!

Ken shot this last weekend. You can see it on black, check out the sunset he captured before this and see more great work in his Night Sky slideshow. If you're looking to purchase this or other shots, definitely head over to KenScottPhotography.com!

More nighttime photography on Michigan in Pictures.

MyNorth highlights the Leelanau Outdoor Center's 1st Annual Snowshoe Stampede. It takes place this Saturday (February 2nd) at 10:30 at the Leelanau Outdoor Center on Port Oneida.

There's a 5K Race and 1 Mile Snowflake Race for kids 12 and under, food & entertainment at the Lodge and proceeds go to Tuition Assistance for schools to attend the LOC, a great resource for outdoor education for area schools.

Early registration is $15 and includes lunch, Day of race registration is available at $20. Snowshoe rental is available as well: $12 for adults, $8 for kids.

Today's Michigan in Pictures notes that according to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Northern Lights are likely all week!

Ken took these photos of the Aurora Borealis from Empire Bluffs on July 15, 2012 and stitched them together. Check out an amazing time-lapse from Ken of that night's action below!

Fall color is here as this photo by Ken Scott Photography from last weekend shows. The color this weekend will be amazing, and whether it's a day trip or the whole weekend - now is the perfect time!

Ken has more shots of the great fall color in his slideshow, and we're featuring his photo on our Facebook. Also, don't miss the great ones on the Leelanau County Facebook and in the Leelanau (dot com) pool!

Photo: Color Tour ... 10-8-12 by Ken Scott

Kehl Lake ... sunset 9-26-12 by Ken Scott

The TC Ticker reports that Sunday night in Salt Lake City, northern Michigan took center stage as Glen Chown and Brian Price, executive directors of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC) and The Leelanau Conservancy were jointly awarded the top award from the Land Trust Alliance, the first time a pair of organizations have shared the award:

“We’re innovators in the way we work with land preservation … and both organizations recognize that the economy is tied to the natural assets of the region,” Price says.

And ultimately, their collaboration – particularly with farmland – comes down to one simple truth: “If you protect farmland, you continue opportunities to invest in long-term agriculture,” says Chown.

He explains it this way: Say you’re the owner of a dried cherry plant. Won’t you feel a lot better about a $10 million investment that will require 10,000 acres of cherry trees if you know that fruit acreage is protected?

Also, consider this: Across the GTRLC and Leelanau Conservancy’s coverage area, agriculture contributes as much as $97.7 million annually to the local economy in the form of agricultural products sold. It employs more than 2,000 farm proprietors with net farm earnings of $6.6 million and more than 3,000 workers with a total payroll of $12.8 million.

Congratulations to both on the preservation of over 40,000 acres in northern Michigan!

Park Rangers of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will be guiding a different “Saturdays at the Lakeshore” program every Saturday in October. All programs are free and open to the public, no more than a mile and a half round trip, and all take place in the National Lakeshore.

October 6 (1:00-3:00 p.m.) - Picture Perfect Fall Foliage: Join a Park Ranger at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire for a quick refresher on photo basics, tips, and tricks . Discover how to get the most from your camera on one of the park's colorful trails so you will be ready to capture fall's peak display.

October 13 (7:30-9:30 p.m.) - Historic Beach Patrol: Join Park Rangers at the Maritime Museum for shipwreck stories and a re-enactment of a surfman’s night patrol.

October 13 (1:00-3:00 p.m.) - Aliens Among Us: Meet at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire to discover which aliens invaded and which ones came in peace, and how to recognize the difference and launch your own counterattack in the park and in your own backyard.

October 14 (3:00-4:30 p.m.) - Halloween Creature Feature FUN: Join a Park Ranger at the D. H. Day Log Cabin for a FUN afternoon of games, activities, and exploration to discover why animals like bats, spiders, snakes, and owls are not really all that frightening.

October 20 (1:00-3:00 p.m.) - Cemetery Story Stroll: Meet at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire to learn about the history and mystery of the gravestones while strolling through one of the National Lakeshore’s historic cemeteries.

October 20 (7:30-9:30 p.m.) - Historic Beach Patrol: Join Park Rangers at the Maritime Museum for shipwreck stories and a re-enactment of a surfman’s night patrol.

October 21 (8:00-10:00 p.m.) - Anniversary Star Party: Join Park Rangers and the GTAS at the #3 Overlook on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive to celebrate the 42nd Anniversary of Sleeping Bear Dunes becoming a National Lakeshore. They will be setting their sights on the first quarter moon, Mars, and Saturn.

October 27 (1:00-3:00 p.m.) - A Ghost Town’s Fruity History: Meet at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire. Glen Haven may have been built with wood, but it was this ghost town’s fruity history that influenced today’s cherry capital.

photo credits:
fall ... it's coming! by Ken Scott and Confidence by donk68

John McCormick aka Michigan Nut Photography is a regular contributor to Leelanau.com. The Lansing State Journal asked him for his five favorite Michigan color touring destinations, and on a great list list that included Porcupine Mountains, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the Cadillac area, Tahquamenon Falls, he gave a shout out to the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

See another view right here and more in his Sleeping Bear slideshow!

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore page on the DH Day Farm explains:

The D. H. Day farm, comprised of 400 acres, was also known as "Oswegatchi" after the New York community where his father was born and the Oswegatchi River where D. H. Day played as a boy.

Day grew hay and corn to feed his 400 hogs and prize herd of 200 Holsteins. The farm is just south of Glen Haven and has a large white barn and several out-buildings that stand as a landmark of the agricultural heritage of this area. The buildings were built in the 1880s and 1890s.

SBD Tours got a great shot of a bobcat out for a stroll at Otter Creek (Esch Rd) in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. These cats are pretty reclusive so it's really rare to catch a shot like this!

The very excellent University of Michigan Museum of Zoology’s Animal Diversity Web hasinformation & photos about bobcat (Lynx rufus). You can find a lot more in the Wikipedia entry for Bobcat, which says that these cats are phenomenal climbers that are crepuscular (most active at twilight and dawn) and found all over North America. As to their size:

The adult male Bobcat is 28 to 47 inches long, averaging 36 inches; this includes a stubby 4 to 7 inch (10–18 cm) tail, which has a “bobbed” appearance and gives the species its name. An adult stands about 14 or 15 inches (36–38 cm) at the shoulders. Adult males usually range from 16 to 30 pounds (7–14 kg); females average about 20 pounds (9 kg). The Bobcat is muscular, and its hind legs are longer than its front legs, giving it a bobbing gait. At birth it weighs 0.6 to 0.75 pounds (280–340 g) and is about 10 inches (25 cm) in length. By its first year it will reach about 10 pounds (4.5 kg)