SWAMP ROSE

SWAMP ROSES ALONG SALMO TRAIL...

...FRAGRANT SINGLE-PETAL FLOWER...

...SMALL THORNS

Thursday, 5:30 PM.  89 degrees F at the ferry dock,  85 on the back porch. Wind WNW, calm with occasional light to moderate gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity down dramatically, to 49%.  The barometer is at 29.79" and rising  The forecast calls for another hot day tomorrow, then cooler with a chance of a thunderstorm on Sunday.
   We had a terrific thunderstorm at 4:00 AM this morning which caused area wide electrical and internet outages, which were just reconciled, thus the late post.  There was a great deal of wind damage, with lots of trees down everywhere, but Bayfield itself did not suffer a great deal of wind damage, but it was one of the best sound and light shows that I have ever witnessed.

   Our trip to Northwoods Nursery in Rhinlander was good, and we accomplished our business of picking out large conifers  for a fall planting job, but I lost the camera inside the car and couldn't find it until we got home in the evening, so I missed some good photo opportunities, including little turkey chicks no bigger that a robin scampoering after their mother as she crossed Hwy. 51 south of Hurdley.

   Buddy and I took a walk along the new Salmo trail on Tuesday afternoon and found swamp roses, Rosa palustris,  blooming heavily enough to perfume the air. The single pink flowers are pretty but not overly prolific.  The bushes, mostly about four feet tall, are rather sparsely armed with small thorns.  They are growing on the banks of of the trail through the marsh, and in the marsh proper, which has very high water at present.  I claim little expertise with wild roses but am pretty sure of these because of the habitat they are in.  The swamp wild rose has a large geographic territory in Wisconsin and throughout eastern North America.