A Monarch Butterfly scouting out our Swamp Milkweed

The clouds mosquitoes have attracted predators; Dragonflies and Damselflies that attend the garden whenever the sun's out and the skies are clear. When they're not darting through clouds of mosquitoes or gnats like a whale shark through plankton, they're either sunning themselves on our rocks or retaining wall, or hawking; crouching like aerobatic leopards on the dried husks of last year's Bergamot and Goldenrod.

A cool and damp end to spring; currently 65 and extremely windy with a severe thunderstorm watch over most of Minnesota. The Columbine are taking to seed, and the Rue Anemone are just about to peter out for the year, while Prairie Ninebark is just about to pop. False Solomon's Seal just petered out, though they will be recorded in this week's phenology report.

Garden Report:

Wildlife Spotted:

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

Emerging Wildflowers:

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

Wildflowers in Bloom:

• Aborted Buttercup
• Canada Anemone
• Columbine
• False Solomon's Seal
• Hooked Violet
• Jacob's Ladder
• Prairie Smoke
• Rue Anemone
• Shooting Star
• Swamp Buttercup
• Wild Geranium
• Yellow Violet