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*.

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

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.

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
  

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.

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.

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.