PICKING STRAWBERRIES AIN'T FOR SISSIES

STRAWBERRY GLEANERS

WHY THEY'RE CALLED STRAWBERRIES

6.5 POUNDS OF STRAWBERRIES

Wednesday, 8:30 AM.  66 degrees F, wind N, light with some gusts.  The sky is partly cloudy with some weak sunshine.  We got a trace of rain last night and things are damp, the humidity is 86%.  The  barometer is down from yesterday, at 29.97".  It looks like there will be intermittent showers today. I have been trimming badly overgrown shrubbery in between raindrops and berry picking, and am making some progress.
   We had a bear in nearby Fountain Garden Park yesterday around dinner time, and last evening Buddy had a fit , running from open door to open door, barking and growling.  We got up and closed the doors.

   We returned to Rocky Acres Berry Farm yesterday morning, this time to pick strawberries.  The raspberries were a huge success, fun to pick and eat, and wonderful as raspberry shortcake with freshly whipped cream.  We even had enough left to freeze a few pints.  So, we anticipated doing the same with strawberries, and were not disappointed.  And, yes, strawberries do get their name from being grown on straw, which keeps the low-growing berries out of the dust and mud.

   The strawberry crop is almost done now, and we picked rows that had been picked before.  We were pretty much being "gleaners," much like the biblical poor folks who followed the harvesters and picked up what was left in the fields.  Even at that, we picked 6.5 pounds of berries in about 45 minutes.  The berries were small but extremely sweet, and we were satisfied with our labors, and the price of $2.50 per pound.  Now it's up to Joan to bake another shortcake.

 Strawberries are a lot harder to pick than raspberries.  You have to bend over at the waist, or proceed down the rows on hands and knees (a group of young folks from the Rez were doing just that).  No hands and knees for me at least, as once horizontal I have a hard time getting back to vertical.  The long rows seemed endless.

   When picking raspberries the stress is on the lower back, as one works hunched over.   When stooping over to pick strawberries the stress is on the calves of the legs, and if one is not used to it you can cramp up and not be able to walk.  PICKING STRAWBERRIES AIN'T FOR SISSIES!

"PICK YOUR OWN" RASPBERRIES

LESLIE AND ALLISON AT ROCKY ACRES

TODAY'S PICKIN'S

BUYING BERRIES ON THE HONOR SYSTEM

ALLISON AND THREE POUNDS OF RASPBERRIES

Tuesday,  8:00 AM.  62 degrees F, wind N, light.  The sky cloud cover has two distinct layers this morning; a high overcast, and lower black storm clouds.  The humidity is 82%, and the barometer is slightly up, at 30.11".  I won't be at all surprised if we get some showers.

   Yesterday we went picking raspberries at Rocky Acres Berry Farm on Hw. J in Bayfield's orchard country, which is just west of town up on the bluffs.  Rocky Acres is a family business which grows strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.  It was a beautiful morning and we picked three pounds of succulent ripe berries in less than an hour.  Anyone who thinks picked berries,  cherries and other small fruits are too expensive should try picking their own.  Stoop field labor is very, very hard work, the kind that is truly "back breaking."

   This year's Bayfield fruit crop will probably be a record breaker, if there are indeed such records to compare.  I was informed that on a good day over a hundred and fifty pounds of raspberries will be harvested at Rocky Acres.  Pick your own raspberries are $2.50 per pound today, picked berries $4.00.  They probably should have weighed us before and after we picked berries, and charged us $2.50 per pound for the difference. 

AN ARTIST'S GARDEN, CHICORY, AND "WOLVES 2, DOGS 0"

GATE TO AN ARTIST'S GARDEN

CHICORY

A JAPANESE MAPLE GROWS IN WASHBURN

Monday,  8:30 AM.  60 degrees F, wind N, light.  The sky is clear, and the humidity is down, at 82%.  The barometric pressure is up, at 30.08".  It is a beautiful day to go raspberry picking.

   On Saturday we went on a self-guided garden tour of Washburn, our neighboring town, and one of the best gardens was that of local artist Jan Lee, that has some nice artistic touches, including the sensitive use of color and form.  She has an unusual entrance gate to her backyard garden which is pictured above.  She has matched the light blue color of the gate perfectly with the blue flowers of chicory, Chicorea intybus, which is usually considered a roadside weed.  I imagine she went out of her way to dig the plants up along the road somewhere, as I know they are not easily found in nurseries. 

   The dried, ground roots of chicory, which is in the sunflower, or Composite family, have long been used as an additive or even substitute for coffee, especially in France and in the American South.  In some areas you can buy ground coffee with chicory, and I have tried it but I find the taste a little harsh.

   We also found the above Japanese maple tree in an estate garden right on the lakeshore.  It is not really hardy in the Bayfield region unless  growing  right on the water, where it is insulated from extreme cold.
   The dog training season for bear hunting is over.  I don't know what the bears thought of it but the dogs didn't fare too well, as the Daily Press reported last week that two hounds that had gotten into wolf "rondezvus" areas were killed.  I'll have to be careful where I take Buddy looking for grouse before the season opens. 

WASHBURN BROWNSTONE DAYS, AND THE ALMANAC REACHES A MILESTONE

STREET CLOSED FOR BROWNSTONE DAYS

LESLIE AND ALLISON LOOKING FOR FUN

1937 CHEVY PICKUP

1958 OLDS HARDTOP

1937 FORD V8

'60'S R&R BAND

AN ARTISTS' GARDEN

Sunday,  8:40 AM.  54 degrees F, wind N, light with occasional stronger gusts.  The sky is overcast, and although the sun has made a few futile attempts at breaking through it looks like it will be another dark morning.  Some more rain fell last night and Buddy smells like a wet fish again after his run in the woods, but it sure doesn't dampen his spirits, as he and Allison play continuously.  The humidity is 94% and the barometer is steady at 29.87"

  Yesterday it rained on-and-off-again all day long but  we  managed to duck between the raindrops and go  to  the neighboring town of Washburn for their annual "Brownstone Days" celebration.  Hwy. 13 was closed off for several blocks, and there were food and art vendors and rides, but the main attraction probably was the classic and collector's car show, which had everything from hot rods to mammoth old Detroit production autos and everything in between, as well as a pretty good live Rock and Roll band playing all the '50's and 60's songs.  They even got most of the lyrics right.

   We had lunch at the Time Out restaurant, which is one of our favorite small-town eateries, and then took the self-guided festival garden tour.  Washburn has some nice gardens, mostly of the front yard flower variety, including that of local artist Jan Wise, pictured above.  

   We are all off to church this morning, while waiting for things to dry out and warm up after several days of cold rain. 

   The cherry crop is still being picked, the strawberries are pretty well over, and the raspberries are just beginning.  All have been bumper crops of outstanding quality.  Blueberries will be ripening within the next two weeks, and the early apples  sometime after that.  Apple Hill Orchard has picked 8,000 pounds of cherries so far, and the crop is only half in.
   The Almanac has reached a milestone of sorts, and has logged over 100,000 page views.  Unfortunately, I don't really know what that means or what significance it may have, if any.  But there it is.

GLOBAL WARMING AND BLACK HELICOPTERS

COMMON TANSY

ACHILLEA 'MOONSHINE'

WELCOME FIRE AT THE END OF JULY

Saturday, 7:30 AM.  50 degrees F, wind N, light with moderate gusts.  The sky is overcast and it rained during the night.  The humidity is 89% and the barometer stands at 29.91".  Our trip to Duluth yesterday was heavy rain and fog both ways.  Certainly the whole region got at least an inch or more of rain yesterday and the temperature never got above the mid-fifties.  Record low temperatures, dropping into the forties, are being predicted for northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.  We built a welcome fire in the fireplace yesterday evening to dry out and warm up after the family came back from dinner.  Much more of this Global Warming and we may all freeze to death.
   The garden Achillea millifolium 'Moonshine' and the common tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, are easily confused at first glance.  Both have heavily dissected leaves and bright yellow flower heads, and grow to about the same height.  But the former seldom escapes the garden on its own, and the latter is mainly a roadside plant (which should be kept out of the garden as it will take over).  Both have somewhat similar foliage, but the Tansy leaves smell rather medicinal when crushed, and the Achillea leaves have a strong rosin odor.  The individual flowers of the Tansy flower heads look like gold buttons, and in fact "buttons" is its common name in England.  The individual flowers in the flower heads of the Achillea are minute and closely crowded together.
   I see where the US Department of Justice is investigating an Arizona high school that had a "Redneck" dress-up day based on the popular TV reality show Duck Dynasty.  I guess it was fun for the kids until the feds swooped in. I sure hope they didn't scare the hell out of them by arriving in their  black helicopters with assault weapons at the ready.  Of course this action is justified; we can't have a tenth grade kid walking the school halls  looking like a rebel, can we?  Or thinking rebellious thoughts, for that matter.
  I guess the next step will be to never allow anyone to use the "R" word (redneck) again,  or the awful "D" word (duck) upon pain of their being castigated for it thirty years later.
   Imagine going into a Chinese restaurant some day in the not-to-distant future and ordering Peking pressed "D."  And the waiter says, "Solly, no more press druck.  To much brack hericopter."

A BAYFIELD LANDSCAPE PROJECT

FULL FRONT OF RESIDENCE, BEFORE...

...AFTER

NORTH FRONT OF RESIDENCE, BEFORE...

...AFTER

SOUTH FRONT OF RESIDENCE, BEFORE...

...AFTER

Friday,  8:30 AM.  60 degrees on the porch, 58 degrees at the lakefront  Wind N, light with some stronger gusts.  The sky has a high gray overcast with lower black clouds.  The barometer stands at 29.87" and the humidity is 94%.  We got a trace of rain last night and it looks like we will get drain today as Joan and I go to Duluth for a doctor appointment that I have.  Leslie, Allison and Buddy are on their own today.
   The front of the residence of the landscape project I have been working on is finished.  The owners wanted a design that would be compatible with the architecture of the house, solve some severe drainage problems due to the location of the house at the base of a long grade, would offer four season color and interest,  and would be of  moderate maintenance.
   The drainage problems were solved by creating a faux dry stream bed across the entire front of the house.  Fleible drainage pipe and impervious landscape cloth were laid at the bottom of an excavated ditch, and crushed one and one-half inch gravel laid over that. The stone is gray, rather than crushed white limestone so the color contrasts are not too great.   The "stream" is lined with beach stones and boulders with some boulders placed on the gravel here and there to make it look natural.  Finish grading was  also done on all sides of the house, grass seed sown and mulched with straw.
   The plants were all propagated and grown in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, by Northwoods Nursery, which will ensure hardiness.

PLANT MATERIALS LIST

Donald Wyman Lilac (2)                                               

Common Lilac (2)                                                     

Techny Arborvitae (2)                                            

Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea (1)                              

Tickled Pink Hydrangea (1)                                               

Unique Hydrangea (1)                                             

Therese Bugnet Rose (3)                                         

Showy Mt. Ash (1)                                                    

Russian Cypress (16)

Goldstar Potentilla (3)                                               

Purple Pavement Rose (8)                                      

Autumn Magic Aronia (1)                                        

Rumba Weigela (3)                                                  

Mohican Viburnum (1)                                            

Summer Wine Ninebark (1)                                                

Nannyberry Vibuburnum (1)                                

Autumn Brilliance Service Berry (1)                                     

  

   If I were to loosely categorize the landscape style, I would call it English Cottage, or perhaps Cotswold. The next step in the project will be restoration of portions of the native woodlot that were impacted by construction.

   I see that the wife of pervert and NYC mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, who has vowed to "stand by her man," has good economic reason to do so, since they are both friends and associates of the Clintons and she has profited greatly by being granted "special government employee status." I wonder how you get one of those?
   Washington DC makes me positively ill.

NOT ONE CUSS WORD, AND NO HEROES, EITHER

LOOKS LIKE RAIN LATER ON TODAY

Thursday, 8:00 AM.  64 degrees F, wind N, light.  the sky is mostly cloudy with mixed white and dark clouds, the sun peeking through now and then.  The humidity is 87% and the barometer is down at 29.90".  We will probably get some rain sometime today.
   We picked up Leslie and Allison in Duluth late yesterday afternoon.  They both had a long, long day of travel and they are sleeping in this morning.
   Buddy and I had a little adventure this morning.  As we were traversing the edge of the woods on Ninth St. we heard a small dog barking and yipping.  Thinking it was Jane and Sherman's beagle Rocky following us I whistled and waited for it to come out of the woods so I could take it back home.  As I whistled and the dogs barked I heard a faint voice call, "Help...I'm stuck in the woods."  Now you wouldn't think that much of a concern in the City of Bayfield, but this woods is a tangle of downed logs and brush and traverses a pretty goodly ravine.  Buddy and I eventually found Barb, a retired Bayfeld schoolteacher, and her little dog Mojo, who had run away from her and gotten his leash caught in the brush.  By the time we got back out to the road it was a tossup as to who was helping whom.  But outside of some muddy feet and a few scratches all ended well.  Barb is a true credit to her profession and her gender, as I heard her say not one cuss word.
   I have a lot of yard work catchup to do today... plant a few things, mow the lawn and attack the weeds.  I have spent most of the last week and more installing a landscape I designed for a large residence on the lake shore.  As my mother used to say, "The shoemaker's children never have any shoes," and my own  garden is out of control.
   No shoes, and no heroes, either: where have all the heroes gone?  There are few to none among the present politicians, or at least the bums and hustlers so overshadow them we can't see them;  pervert Anthony Weiner is one case in point.  Great choice for mayor of New York City, between a pervert and a swindler. There are few current high ranking military officers we can point to (thanks to the Chicago-Obama  Administration ).  Most sports figures eventually become mired in scandal, or outright thuggery (Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers being brought up on drug charges hits too close to home), and the Silver Screen and the music industry offer little but misogynists and drug addicts.
   We have to look to the common people to find our heroes these days, I guess: those raising decent families despite all the current odds;  the returning soldier and wounded warrior; the honest and diligent employee and businessman; our first responders, the selfless volunteer.  There are still heroes among us, but they are too often overshadowed and demeaned by the appalling amount of bums our society continues to spawn.
 

A HISTORICAL ANOMALY; AND, DON'T BREAK YOUR BACK!

COMMON MILKWEED

FENCE POST PULLER...

...DON'T BREAK YOUR BACK!

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  61 degrees F, wind N, light.  The sky is pretty much overcast with black clouds.  The sun tried to peek through earlier but gave up.  The humidity is 82% and the barometer is up some from yesterday, at 30.07".  The day is a tossup, and we have to put some finishing touches on the landscape project and then get to Duluth to pick up daughter-in-law Leslie and grandchild Allison who will be visiting from Texas for a while.

   The common milkweed, Asclepias syriacus, has been blooming for about a week.  The genus is named after the Greek patron of medicine, as many plants in the genus are medicinal.  The species name is a historical anomaly, the Swedish botanist Linne (Linnaeus),  mistakenly thinking the specimen sent him to name came from the Middle East rather than North America.  It is, as most everyone knows, the obligate host for the Monarch Butterfly caterpillar.

   Fence posts are the standard stake support for young trees, and they have to be removed after a few years.  They are invariably very difficult to pull without some mechanical advantage.  I finally got smart and bought this simple little lever device, which works like a charm.  Don't break your back!

COMMON ELDERBERRY, AMERICAN CHESTNUT AND THREE BEAR CUBS

COMMON ELDERBERY

AMERICAN CHESTNUT, BLOSSOM SPIKES AND LEAVES

Tuesday, noon.  61 degrees F, wind N, light with moderate gusts.  The sky is blue, the humidity 66%, the barometer is up at 30.00".  It is a perfect summer day, and we are finishing the landscape project.

   The common elderberry, Sambucus canadensis, seldom grows this far north unless it is planted.  This one is in a yard on S 5th St.  The panicle of small white flowers, which have a rather peculiar musty fragrance, will bear fruits which are blue-black when ripe.

   The now very rare American chestnut, Castanea dentata, is seldom seen.  This young tree just came into flower.  It is on the SW corner of Tenth St. and Wilson Ave.  For more information on American chestnut trees use the blog search engine.

   Dennis McCann, who lives on Chequamegon Road and regularly uses the Brownstone Trail to walk to town, reported that he encountered three bear cubs on the trail yesterday.  One climbed a tree, one scampered off and one stood its ground.  Dennis didn't see mama, so he beat a hasty tactical retreat.

CHURCH AND BASEBALL

A SUMMER SUNDAY AT CHRIST CHURCH

THE USINGERS SAUSAGES RACED TWICE TODAY

Monday, 8:00 AM.  62 degrees F,  wind N, light.  The sky has a high overcast, the humidity is 90% and the barometric pressure is 29.66".  It looks like we will get some rain today.

   Sunday was a quiet day of rest, devoted to church and baseball, and quite welcome after a rather hectic week working on the landscape project, several days in very oppressive heat and humidity.
   While we were cooking supper yesterday with the kitchen window open we both thought we heard Buddy playing with one of his squeak toys outside, but there he was, right under our feet.  Turns out the "squeaking" was a fledgeling downy woodpecker clinging to the trunk of the mountain ash tree right out the window. 

   Christ Church, Episcopal, is having a pretty successful summer, with tourists attending the services along with our handful of parishioners.  We are far too small a congregation to have a parish priest these days, but we are getting along quite well seasonally by offering the parsonage to visiting priests from the diocese who wish to vacation in Bayfield in exchange for a Sunday service.  It is a very practical business plan, which keeps the historic Carpenter Gothic church in use, and provides us with a mission; serving visiting Episcopalians and others who may simply appreciate the beauty of the church and the traditional service.  The rotation of clergy also gives us an expanded perspective on Christianity and the Episcopal doctrine.  And if we don't like the delivery all we have to do is wait for the next Sunday.

   Not wishing to do anything but hang out at home we watched the Milwaukee Brewers baseball game, which was a pitchers' duel (sounds boring, but wasn't, due to great defensive play by both teams).  The game went thirteen innings before it was won by Milwaukee, one to nothing.  The winning hit was by rookie Brian Gimbl, and was his first major league home run.

   The game went on so long that the world famous Usingers Sausage Racers raced twice.
    We have a Tree Board meeting this morning and will be out trimming young street trees if the rain holds off.

   

BEAR PRACTICE, THE ARTS FESTIVAL AND THE GOOD SHIP "SUNDEW"

TRUCK FULL OF BAYING HOUNDS

COAST GUARD SHIP "SUNDEW" VISITS ART FESTIVAL

Sunday,  9:30 AM.  60 degrees F, wind W, calm to light. The sky is cloudless. The humidity is down and the barometer is up.  It is actually chilly this morning!

   When we went out for fish fry Friday evening to The Village Inn in Cornucopia we were greeted at the entrance by this pickup truck full of baying bear hounds.  Maybe the bears were in the bar, having a beer.  This is the practice season for bear hunting, and hunters are running their dogs in the woods, getting them used to the idea of trailing bears.  Come to think of it, it gets the bears in practice as well.

   The annual Bayfield  Festival of the Arts is this weekend, and Memorial Park and the waterfront are very busy.  The 180' Coast Guard Cutter Sundew was at the City Dock giving tours yesterday, and attracted a lot of attention.  She was decommissioned in 2004 after 60 years of service on the Great Lakes.  It was then donated to the City of Duluth as a tourist attraction  In 2009 it was purchased by a group of private individuals, restored, and is now sailed by its former seamen and other volunteers.  This is its second visit to Bayfield.

   We got most of the remaining plants planted on the landscape project yesterday morning.  As soon as the builder completes some work and moves scaffolding and some trash we can finish it completely and I can show you some before and after photos.  

  

JULYBERRIES

AMELANCHIER FRUIT...

...PURPLE WHEN RIPE...

...EACH BERRY  HAS SEVERAL TINY SEEDS

Friday,  7:45 AM.  76 degrees F, wind N and light at ground level, but atmospheric clouds are being pushed by a strong WNW wind.  lf an hour ago the sky was mostly overcast, and within ten minutes lit cleared completely.  the sky is mostly clear at present.  the humidity is 85%, and we got .4" of rain last night when a front came through.  The barometer is more or less steady at 29.61".  Today's weather is a tossup, but I need it to be cooler and not rain to get the landscape job I am working on done.

   I have written often about the Juneberry as a fine small ornamental street tree, as well as its place in the native landscape as an early spring-blooming forest understory and woods-edge  plant.  The Amelanchier genus, in the rose family, is native to temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.  There are at least two dozen species in North America, and very many natural hybrids.  The genus is closely allied with apple and mountain ash.  There are several species that are very valuable in landscaping and horticulture, including A. laevis and canadensis.  There are also selections which are shrubby and are grown for their fruit.  The common names for the Amelanchier are Juneberry, serviceberry, and  shadbllow, or shadbush.  In French Canada it is known as Poirer or Petit Poirer.  

   Juneberry fruit is quite pleasant to the taste when fully ripe,  even if rather bland.  It is often used in jams and jellies.  the berries are very small, and do not ripen all at once, making harvesting difficult.  Unless the plants are netted the birds will usually get to the fruit first.  I have even seen chipmunks scampering along the branches gathering the berries.  The few seeds  are very tiny and can be eaten right along with the  berry.  This is another rather pleasant fruit that is, to me, not really worth the effort to pick.
   The Juneberries are several weeks late this year, due to our cool, wet spring.  Perhaps they should be called Julyberries.

TWO COMMON ROADSIDE FLOWERS, AND "THE GREAT DIVIDER"

YARROW

DAISY

Saturday,  7:30 AM.  62 degrees F, wind N, light with stronger gusts.  The sky is cloudless, with little haze.  The barometer stands at 29.97" and the humidity has fallen to 66%.  This is the finest day in weeks, especially following on the heels of the miserable weather of the middle of last week.  The landscape project plants were finally delivered in late afternoon yesterday and the majority of them are in the ground but there is still work to do this morning.  It will be a really nice job when finally completed.

   Two of the most common roadside and field flowers are white.  Yarrow, Achillea millefolium,and the common daisy, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, are both in the sunflower family, the daisy bearing the commonly recognized daisy flower, while the yarrow, also known as millfoil, has very small flowers growing in a dense head.  Both are naturalized from Europe, although there also are native species of Achillea as well. There are countless horticultural varieties of both plants. Yarrow has long been used as a blood clotting agent, and both the genus and species names allude to this property;  Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan war, is said to have used it to treat his soldiers wounds, and  the species name millitaris refers to  his troops.  The next time you cut yourself while working in the garden, use some yarrow leaves to staunch the bleeding.  It works.

   The "'Great Divider," President Obama, evidently feels obligated to continually stir the toxic racial stew that the Zimmerman case has been cooked into by the media and the race-baiters.  He just can't seem to leave it alone.  He said yesterday that "Travon Martin could have been me thirty-five years ago," and that the most valued aspects of America  are "peace, security, and order."

   No, Mr. President, those are not the the values this country was founded on.  America was founded on individual freedom; and the right to self-defense being the most basic of all human  freedoms,   George Zimmerman was found not guilty by a jury of his peers.. If our country had been founded on peace, security and order we would still be British subjects.

ST. JOHN'S WORFT, THE CHINESE TREE LILAC AND THE DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES

ST. JOHN'S WORT

CHINESE TREE LILAC

Thursday,  8:00 AM.  70 degrees F, wind N, calm to very light.  the sky is partly cloudy with some towering white cumulous clouds.  there is fog and haze over Madeline Island.  The barometer is steady or  trending down at 29.96"and the humidity is very high at 95% after last night's rain shower, which was spotty but probably averaged about 1/2" around town.  

   St. John's wort is blooming now along the roadsides and in the fields.  There are too many similar species in the genus Hypericum for me to key out, but suffice it to say that this is a colorful group of herbaceous plants that can be found almost anywhere in the summer. St. John's wort (wort is simply an old English word for plant) has long been used in herbal medicine as a calmative, or sedative, and is still so used today.  I have no personal experience regarding its use to pass on.

   I wrote about the Japanese tree lilac, Syringia reticulata, in a recent blog.  I believe the above is the closely related Chinese tree lilac, S pekinensis.  It is a very impressive plant but is less tree-like than the Japanese species, and would be too wide and shrubby for street tree use.  Its flower panicles are larger and more yellowish in color than S. reticulata.

   The landscape job is going well but is still several days from being finished.  Fortunately, the weather seems to be cooling off some.  It has been a hot job, but a convertible ride after dinner yesterday evening cooled us off nicely.  It may be too wet to work on the landscape job this morning, however.
   I think the US Department of Justice should change its name to the Department of Fisheries, since fishing expeditions seem to be their new business.  They are now seeking evidence to indict George Zimmerman for hate crimes by requesting incriminating evidence from hundreds of millions of Americans  through emails.  I think they are casting the nets of justice a bit wide, and like that famous "fisherman" Captain Ahab, I think this great white whale Holder is trying to harpoon with may well drag  him down to Davey Jones Locker.

RED ELDERBERRY AND WEEDS

RED-BERRIED ELDERBERRY

INVASIVE PLANT ELIMINATORS...

...NO WEED PULLING 

Wednesday,  8:00 AM.  74 degrees on the porch, two degrees cooler on the lakefront.  the sky is cloudless but there is cconsiderable haze.  the wind is N, light.  the barometer is trending down slightly, at 30.17".  The humidity is 85%. It will be another hot, muggy day, Lake Superior or not.

   The red-berried elderberry in the back yard, Sambucus pubens, is bearing fruit.  This  species, which replaces the common elderberry, Sambucus canadensis, in the north, has beautiful scarlet berries, but does not seem to bear heavily enough to make a real landscape impact, although it does bloom pretty nicely. The berries do not stay on the plant long, eaten by birds as they ripen.  The berries have a rather nice, crisp, nutty flavor, but they are small and hardly worth the effort to pick them.

   We encountered this "invasive species and unwanted plant" truck, evidently a private company, in Washburn yesterday. Funny, but we used to call such plants weeds.
   We concluded from the tanks and hoses on the back of the truck that they were spraying a lot of toxic herbicide around the area.  I suspect they  have a government contract, perhaps to make Wisconsin safe from tansy, or something.  I wonder if the game is worth the candle, as they say.

   We are working on a pretty big landscape project so have little time for anything else this week.

DAISY FLEABANE AND JAPANESE TREE LILACS

DAISY FLEABANE FLOWERS...

...DAISY FLEABANE PLANT

JAPANESE TREE LILAC, ON MANYPENNY BETWEEN 4TH  AND 5TH STS.

...DITTO, CORNER OF 2ND AND MANYPENNY

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 69 degrees F on the porch, several  degrees cooler at the lakefront.  The N wind is very light to calm, and will shift to W and SW during the day.  The sky is clear with the usual haze over the lake.  The barometer is trending down at 30.23".  and the humidity is falling, now at 88%.

   The daisy fleabane, Erigeron annuus, in the sunflower (also called aster) family is a common annual plant along roadsides and in meadows and prairies.  The ray towers are white or pink to blue, the center disk  flowers golden yellow.  the genus has as many as two hundred species.  This particular plant reappears every year along the roadside so it  is probably an escaped garden perennial.

   The Japanese tree lilac, Syringia reticulate, in the olive family (Oleaceae) is a small tree lilac that blooms later than the common lilac and is very useful as an ornamental street tree, growing to a maximum of thirty feet or so.  Its blooms are large and beautiful but lack the appealing scent of the common lilac.   It is hardy to zone three, and is usually quite trouble free, so it has become very popular.  The hazard of courseis that if it becomes over-used it is bound to develop problems, such as borer, mildew and scale insects which are common to other members of the genus.  We have used it a lot along Bayfield streets, mostly the variety 'Ivory Silk.'

  See the City of Bayfield web site (above) forestry page for more information on our city trees.