Saturday, May 31, 2008

Swamp Buttercup in pond garden

Swamp Buttercup is a common, hardy wildflower that will grow in seasonal wetlands, can thrive in the running waters of small streams, and does quite well in pond gardens. The flowers attract all manners of pollinators, from bees and skipper butterflies to flies and beetles, while their seeds are eaten by a variety of animals; from squirrels and rabbits to Wild Turkeys*.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Shooting Star, a perrenial favorite of many native gardeners, but a relatively new addition to our pond garden.

Chilly for late May. Highs in the 60's with lows in the 40's. Sprinkles this morning with the possibility of more thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.

The recent wet's been good for the garden. The first Columbine burst over the weekend, and has since exploded along the edge of the pond garden in bursts of red and yellow. Shooting Star's just started to bloom around the center of the garden. May divide it in the fall and start to cluster it right around the pond shore. Eggs in the Bluebird house are still unhatched, though I see the happy couple tendiing them constantly.

Garden Report:

What's Emerging:

  • Brown-eyed Susan
  • Butterfly Weed
  • Early Meadowrue
  • False Dragonhead
  • False Indigo
  • Fiddlehead Fern
  • Harebell
  • Monkeyflower
  • Purple Coneflower
  • Showy Goldenrod
  • Swamp Milkweed
  • False Solomon's Seal
  • Starflower
  • Tall Boneset
  • Virgin's Bower
  • Wild Bergamot
  • Wild Grape
  • Woodland Goldenrod
  • Woodland Sunflower

What's in Bloom:

  • Aborted Buttercup
  • Columbine
  • Hooked Violet
  • Jacob's Ladder
  • Mohican Viburnum
  • Rue Anemone
  • Shooting Star
  • Swamp Buttercup
  • Wild Geranium
  • Yellow Violet

Wildlife Spotted:

  • American Toad
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Blue Jay
  • Chorus Frog
  • Crow, Common
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Goldfinch
  • Grackle, Common
  • Gray Catbird
  • Grey Squirrel
  • Mallard Duck
  • Mourning Dove
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Nuthatch
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Purple Finch
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Robin, American
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Spring Peeper
  • Tree Swallow
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Virginia Opossum
  • Wild Turkey
  • Wood Duck
  • Wood Frog
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Blueberry Flowers seen in Linwood Community Park and School Forest

We took a walk Saturday evening (somewhat out of order here) in Linwood School Forest. Fat cumulus clouds of mosquitos drifting across the wetlands(a feast for the vocal Tree Frogs, American Toads, and Chorus Frogs), but the hills were less infested.

Sweet White Violets seen in Linwood Community Park and School Forest

Stands of blueberry and clusters of tiny Sweet White Violets seen from the boardwalk that crosses the bog near the middle of the park. St. Solomon's Seal blooming sporadically in the wetlands, while Wild Geraniums, interspersed by the occasional Columbine, Canada Anemone, Rue Anemone, or Wild Sasparilla could be seen in the hills. Flowers in this forest do not occur in the large clusters you'd see in William O'Brian or even Pine Point Park in Stillwater, but these forests are much more densely packed, and there's not nearly as much sun let in by the intrusion of hiking trails or bike paths.

Monday, May 26, 2008


Pasque Flower seedhead

First flower of the year goes out of bloom in the pond garden; the Purple Pasque Flower has officially gone to seed.

Wild weather yesterday in the North Metro. Hugo saw deadly tornadoes and Forest Lake, less than ten minutes down the I35 corridor, saw torrential hail. All we got was a noncommital burst of dime-sized hail and a few hours of Dish TV fuzz. Temps in the mid-upper sixties today with overcast skies and a cool breeze; supposed to be dipping into the thirties tonight with the possibility of frost!


Landscape at William O'Brian State Park

We took a trip to William O'Brian State Park today with the dog. William O'Brian was the first places I really realized just how fluid life is. In their wake, the glaciers leave left a litter of boulders. Over years, water erodes a strean just wide enough for pine needles, oak leaves, dead bugs, or bird doo to dam it. Moss latches on to this organic detritus, preventing erosion and making way for small plants and trees, which eventually grow and cover the lifeless rock; a small-scale analogy for our planet.


Stream running through William O'Brian State Park

Interesting hike, though the combination of a skittish dog and overcast skies made it somewhat less conducive for photography. Tree swallows are everywhere now; performing their acrobatics over the wetlands and ponds, sitting on the wires near the restored prairie or atop their houses by the visitor's center. You can tell Spring is fading; not a Marsh Marigold to be found (though their foliage (as seen above) is still quite prevalent in areas of moving water), and the calls of the peepers have already died out.

Wildlife Spotted at William O'Brian:
  • American Toad
  • Chorus Frog
  • Painted Turtle
  • Robin
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • Tree Swallow



Columbine growing in William O'Brian State Park

Wildflowers in Bloom at William O'Brian:
  • Columbine
  • Declining Trillium
  • Hooked Violet
  • Large-flowered Bellwort
  • Marsh Marigold
  • Meadowrue
  • Pussytoes
  • Rue Anemone
  • Wild Blue Phlox
  • Wild Geranium
  • Wild Strawberry
  • Yellow Violet

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Jacob's Ladder flowers

Once nominated for inclusion to the federal endangered species list*, Western Jacob's Ladder can be found growing in wetlands and damp forests beside orchids and tamarack. They're particularly easy to identify given their fern-like leaves, and slender stalks crowned with blue-to-purple blooms, and prominent stamens. Despite the fact that they're a native to this state, little is known of them, including why they are relatively rare given the amount of viable acreage. Couldn't find any real data on any interactions with wildlife, though I have seen bees tending them.

I found Jacob's Ladder particularly easy to grow though it really did not produce any blooms until the second year. They like regular water, but will not do well in standing water, and I've found that bordering it with taller plants (I've got Wild Bergamot and Showy Goldenrod) encourage its growth.

Tree Frogs are now at full chorus, with highs in the 70's and overnight temps in the mid-50's.

Friday, May 23, 2008

A bit of a divergence from native gardening to organic vegetable gardening, but with the rising cost of groceries and living in general, I've decided to throw some vegetables (largely perrenials) into what was formerly a patch of creeping charlie and see what I can do. The pair of tomato plants in my garden got some new neighbors;
  • 2XDill
  • 1XHorehound
  • 3 varieties of pepper (6Xeach)
    • Carribean Red
    • Tabasco
    • Thai
  • 1XRasberry
  • 4XStrawberry
  • 2XWatermelon

Mixed around three shovel's-worth of peat moss, sand and compost into the soil, and mulched with straw and some of last year's partially decomposed leaves, and laid down some edgers to hopefully keep the creeping charlie from the wooded lot behind us at bay.

This is a rather brave endeavor in a 50 sf garden as I haven't grown vegetables since about the seventh grade. The watermelons, strawberries, and raspberries are great for snacking and juicing, and the horehound makes for good tea and candy, and the peppers for good salsa or a bit of zest in pasta sauce. Tomatos are ubiquitous to a largely vegetarian family; good in sauces, juices, and salads alike. The dill can be ground up and used in pasta salad or given to my aunt for pickling.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Mohican Viburnum leaves and flower buds

Mohican Viburnum is a hardy native shrub that provides a welcome burst of color in the mid-spring and leathery, dark-green foliage that remain on the shrub's compact boughs well into summer. Some of the sources I've read say this foliage turns in autumn, but I have not seen this on the two I have. They are easy to grow, though they do like a bit of mulch to keep the moisture in, and are supposed to reach about 6' in ideal conditions. There are native gardeners out there who use them as hedges.

Mohican Viburnum provide flat-topped clusters of white flowers in mid-spring and red-orange berries in summer. I've seen bees and other pollinators tend the blossoms, but have never seen anything take the berries, so am not entirely sure of its wildlife value (couldn't find anything on Google or any of my field guides either).

Mohican Virburnum shrub

Tree frogs joined the chorus in the ponds and swamps yesterday; their occasional chatter-like chirp joining the piping of the Spring Peeper, the trill of the American Toad, and the strumming of the Chorus Frog.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

One of the Orioles building its nest in my spruce tree

Swamp Milkweed has to be one of the most popular native plants in our garden.

  • Its flowers are not only a very colorful addition to any garden, but a favorite of bees and butterflies.
  • Its milky sap is the food source of the Monarch caterpillar (and provides the insect its natural defense by way of an alkaline poison). Milkweed are vital to Monarchs, as it's the only species of host plant their larva can survive on.
  • Its leaves make the perfect perches and cover for tiny tree frogs.
  • Birds will clutch the stems while hunting for insects, or to drink from lakes and streams.

And finally, I just learned this morning that:

  • Its dried stalks provide downy nesting material for birds, including the Baltimore Oriole currently making house in my spruce tree.

I actually had a few minutes to sit down and enjoy the garden yesterday afternoon, and as Robins, Orioles, Sparrows, and Hummingbirds went about their business, I realized that the amount of wildlife you can see in under an acre of land is just amazing. It's not like we were experts or even had a solid plan when we set out to build this garden. Neither of us have degrees in naturalism or botany, and it's not like we had the money to hire professionals. We'd just done a little research, talked to Wayne, and observed what plants grew well in local parks.

Storms rumbled through yesterday (1" of rain in the gauge), putting the air down into the 60's. Air was so cold overnight (most of this week have highs in the mid-60's) that the water actually steamed as it churned down the waterfall. Looked amazing in the beams of the new solar spotlights we installed. Will try to get some video of it tonight.

Emerging Native Plants:

  • Brown-eyed Susan
  • False Dragonhead
  • False Indigo
  • Fiddlehead Fern
  • Harebell
  • Meadowrue
  • Marsh Marigold
  • Prairie Smoke
  • Purple Coneflower
  • Showy Goldenrod
  • St. Solomon's Seal
  • Starflower
  • Tall Boneset
  • Virgin's Bower
  • Wild Bergamot
  • Wild Grape
  • Woodland Goldenrod
  • Woodland Sunflower

Wildflowers in Bloom:

  • Aborted Buttercup
  • Bloodroot
  • Canadian Anemone
  • Jacob's Ladder
  • Rue Anemone
  • Purple Pasque Flower
  • Wild Geraniuim

Wildlife Spotted:

  • American Toad
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Blue Jay
  • Chorus Frog
  • Crow, Common
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Goldfinch
  • Grackle, Common
  • Grey Squirrel
  • Loon
  • Mallard Duck
  • Mourning Dove
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Nuthatch
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Purple Finch
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Robin, American
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Spring Peeper
  • Tree Swallow
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Virginia Opossum
  • Wild Turkey
  • Wood Duck
  • Wood Frog
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler

Monday, May 19, 2008

First Hummingbird of the season spotted!
A budding Columbine flower

Columbine are dropping their buds. These widespread, bell-shaped perrenials, native and a favorite of hummingbirds and bees, are notable for their five "spurs" which begat both its latin (comparison to an eagle's talons) or common (comparison to a flock of doves) name. These spurs spread in the summer, exposing the flower's petticoat-like petals and long stamen in a very colorful display. They're an excellent, native plant for any garden, and will give you blooms from mid spring through early fall.

Columbine are extraordinarilly easy to cultivate given even the slightest bit of pre-planning. Though, being woodland flowers, they prefer damp, cool soil and a good deal of shade, with a good deal of mulch they'll thrive in anything short of full sun. Throw in a little peat moss and weekly watering during the hot season and they'll pay you back with interest, spreading across open soil in thick, verdant clumps of dark green leaves and red flowers.

Began work on the first of the "rocks" I will be using to cover up the pond filter, the remainder of my exposed pond tarp, and possibly the underwater pumps and plumbing. I created the first rock by layering hypertufa over a frame mesh. The 2 parts peat moss gave it a very porous texture, much more realistic to rock than standard cement would have been. Also cut a small 5X8 portion of land out of a chunk of my back lawn that had mostly been overrun by creeping charlie. Mixed a bag of organic garden soil and a shovel load of peat moss into the soil and am in the act of bordering it with some inexpensive edgers. Am hoping I'll have peppers, tomatoes, and watermelons by fall. Would love to be able to cultivate my own seeds.

Been seeing a lot of the Bluebird couple lately, and the Orioles have been draining my grape jelly feeder twice a day.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Bluebird Eggs

Prairie Smoke

Counted five Eastern Bluebird eggs in the house this afternoon; that's three more than Wednesday's count. Plants are coming up in droves in the native garden; Prairie Smoke are about to pop, and Peepers can be heard sporadically throughout the day.

Mostly sunny today with a few bursts of rain and high wind in the late afternoon. Temps in the low 70's dipping down into the low 60's in the early evening.

Friday, May 16, 2008

A strange moth-like insect I spotted on side of house. Entomology is so complex I'm not even going to take a guess as to what it was.

First Baltimore Oriole of the season spotted in the garden as temps pitch into the high 70s. Hooked Violet in bloom. Toads heard trilling once again.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Eastern Bluebird Eggs

A pair of Eastern Bluebird eggs in one bluebird house, and a pair of Tree Swallows scouting out the other. Put the first non-natives out today; a pair of dwarf cypress in pond pots, along with some fuschia and herbs in small pots placed among the granite cobbles, and put the Oriole and Hummingbird feeders in the garden. Began work on mesh for the fake rocks I intend to cover the pond liner and use as planters. Sunny today, temps in the upper 60s.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Cherry Blossoms

Rue Anemone in bloom.

Some photos from the garden. Everything seems to be emergig now; everything except the various families of milkweed that spring up like lightning over the summer and produce such abundant blooms. Leadplant, Bergamot, and all manner of Goldenrod are emerging in the garden, and the lance-like leaves of the Blue-flag Iris are begining to emerge from the pond.

Roller coaster weather this weekend. Emerged from the 40's with rain (flurries in the Brainerd Lakes region) to the 60's in the last few days. I've only heard the hardy Spring Peepers keeping up the chorus the last few nights.

Wildlife Spotted Recently:

  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Blue Jay
  • Chorus Frog
  • Crow, Common
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Goldfinch
  • Grackle, Common
  • Grey Squirrel
  • Loon
  • Mallard Duck
  • Mourning Dove
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Nuthatch
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Purple Finch
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Robin, American
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Spring Peeper
  • Tree Swallow
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Virginia Opossum
  • Wild Turkey
  • Wood Duck
  • Wood Frog
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler

    Wildflowers in Bloom:
  • Rue Anemone
  • Purple Pasque Flower

    Emerging Native Plants:
  • Blue-flag Iris
  • Columbine
  • Elm-leafed Goldenrod
  • Fiddlehead Ferns
  • Leadplant
  • Prairie Smoke
  • Showy Goldenrod
  • Wild Bergamot

  • Wednesday, May 07, 2008

    The trill of the American Toad joined the chorus of Wood Frogs, Spring Peepers, and Chorus Frogs in this evening.

    Tuesday, May 06, 2008

    Rue Anemone

    Bloodroot

    Our Rue Anemone and Bloodroot are just about ready to pop. Rue Anemone are beautiful, native woodland sunflowers always remind me of my childhood home in Stillwater, where they grew in thick stands along the oak-shrouded hills of Long Lake. I rescued those in my garden from my parent's yard, just prior to my father mowing them down.

    Rue Anemone so easy to seed that I assumed that these hardy annuals were actually perrenials until Wayne from Kinninatives set me straight on the subject. Native Americans were said to use the mildly poisonous roots in tea to settle the stomach.

    Bloodroot, meanwhile, always remind me of my early spring trips to William O'Brien State park, with its seasonal wetlands, noisy Peepers, and clumps of Bloodroot, Rue Anemone, and Marsh Marigold.

    Sunday, May 04, 2008


    Same Pasque Flower from May 1.

    Beautiful weekend; put the fish back in the pond, and took the canoe out for her maiden voyage; a short jaunt around Pet Lake. It worked quite well though it's less stable than the rowboats I'm used to, and the dog will have to learn to stay seated (or at least towards the center of the boat) if we aren't going to get swamped. Chickadees and Red-winged blackbirds could be heard from the reeds and oak trees as we glided along the lake.

    Saw a pair of Turkey Vultures wheeling over Linwood Township Saturday, and Tree Swallows performing their insectovorous acrobatics over the farmer's fields that border the Sunrise trail north of Stacy.

    Photo along the Sunrise Trail north of Stacy, MN

    Did quite a bit of work on adding a feeder pond to one of the waterfalls. In theory, it collects the slow but persistent leak I seem to have gotten around the mouth of the watefall no matter how much hydraullic cement I applied, and passes it down a short streamlet back into the pond. The feeder pond has a small solar-powered pump to keep the water moving and the mosquitos out. Added a few planters with transplanted Swamp Buttercups to the feeder pond. As the water is slow-moving, protected, and easy to access, it should be perfect habitat for frogs.

    Heavy rains towards the end of the week, and even a bit of hail. I'd have measurements, but the freak snowstorm put a small hairline crack in my gauge. Will have to break out the caulk.

    Spring Peepers are strident all day long. Sunny pretty much all weekend with winds, often strong, moving in towards evening; temps holding in the 60's with lows in the humble 40's.

    Wildlife Spotted Recently:
    • Black-capped Chickadee

    • Blue Jay

    • Chorus Frog

    • Crow, Common

    • Eastern Bluebird

    • Goldfinch

    • Grackle, Common

    • Grey Squirrel

    • Loon

    • Mallard Duck

    • Mourning Dove

    • Northern Cardinal

    • Nuthatch

    • Pileated Woodpecker

    • Purple Finch

    • Red-bellied Woodpecker

    • Red-shouldered Hawk

    • Red-winged Blackbird

    • Robin, American

    • Sandhill Crane

    • Spring Peeper

    • Tree Swallow

    • Turkey Vulture

    • Virginia Opossum

    • Wild Turkey

    • Wood Duck

    • Wood Frog

    • Yellow-rumped Warbler


    Wildflowers in Bloom:
    • Purple Pasque Flower


    Emerging Native Plants:
    • Columbine

    • Elm-leafed Goldenrod

    • Leadplant

    • Prairie Smoke

    • Showy Goldenrod

    • Wild Bergamot

    Thursday, May 01, 2008

    First wildflowers of the season blooming!

    The Purple Pasque Flower, a Minnesota prairie native, are extremely cold-tolerant, often emerging from the ground before the last of the snows reside (as was the case this year). Most Pasque Flowers grow and go to seed before other flowers or grasses move in for competition. If their large, early white-to-purple blooms and prominent yellow pistils don't give them away, their look for the fine white hairs covering their stems and leaves.

    Spotted the blooms (shortly to be shown above) yesterday afternoon.

    Sunny this morning, highs in the 60's, then cooling off in the afternoon as a fine drizzle moved in.