WEIGELA SHRUBS ARE BLOOMING

HYBRID WEIGELA IN BLOOM...

...BRACE OF FLOWERS (Google photo)

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  53 degrees F at the ferry dock, 54 on the back porch.  Wind ENE, calm with light gusts.  The sky is overcast, the humidity 97% after thunderstorms left an inch of rain last night.  The barometer is rising, now at 29.74", predicting warmer and drier weather ahead.

   The genus Weigela, in the Caprifoliaceae family, has a number of species, most native to northeast Asia, including Korea and Japan.  It is named after the German scientist who introduced several of the species to Europe in the mid-1800's.

   The plants represented in horticulture today are mainly named hybrids, of which there are many.  They uaualy have red or rose colored flowers, and often reddish leaves.  They can be an attractive plant in some locations and make a good flowering hedge, but I seldom use them in my designs because they have only one season of interest, that is, when they are in flower, neither fall color nor fruit being of much esthetic value.

CHOKECHERRY

CHOKECHERRY; SHRUB OR SMALL TREE

RACEME OF CHOKECHERRY FLOWERS

CHOKECHERRY FRUIT (Google photo)

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  51 degrees F on both thermometers.  Wind NE, calm with moderate gusts.  The sky is overcast, the humidity 92%.  The barometer is falling, now at 29.98".  Rain is predicted for tomorrow, with warmer temperatures for the weekend.

   Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana, in the Rose Family, is native to most of Canada south of the tundra, and to most of the northern half of the Lower 48 of the United States.  It is very prevalent after forest fires and its fruit is an important wild life food.  The cherries are very astringent but are good for jams and jellies.  It is an important species in Canada, where there have been many selections made for edibility and for use as a street and park tree (I find the Canadian cultivars too disease prone when there are other options).  There are some very pretty red-leaved cultivars and the fall color of the species is very good.

   Chokecherry is closely related to the forest tree black cherry, Prunus serotina, and except for the size difference is difficujlt for the layman to tell apart, except that the black cherry fruit is palatable 

   The chokecherries have been blooming at over a week and are now nearly done.

BUNCHBERRY BLOOMING

BUNCHBERRY FLOWER

MAT OF BUNCHBERRY IN BLOOM

BUNCHBERRY FRUIT (Google photo)

Monday, 8:00 AM.  55 degrees F at the ferry dock and on the back porch.  Wind ENE, calm with light gusts.   The sky is cloudy with a high overcast, the humidity 95% after a quarter of an inch of rain last night.  The barometer stands at 30.01"and is falling, predicting more rain for Wednesday

  Bunchberry, AKA dwarf cornel, Cornus canadensis, in the Dogwood Family, is a circumpolar plant of damp coniferous forests. It is a woody sub-shrub that grows less than a foot tall and spreads by stolens into large mats.
   In the right habitat it makes a fine ground cover.  Its white flowers are much like the flowering dogwood of the South, but smaller, and  the edible red berries are very similar. Fall leaf color is purple to red.  Cornus species berries are edible; and one, Cornus mas, cornelean cherry, an Asiatic shrub, has berries very good for jams and jellies.
   There is a very large colony of bunchberry growing along a side road off of Highway K. in Bayfield County.  This would be a good plant for more  nurseries to grow.

BAYFIELD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT OPEN HOUSE

WILDFIRE RIG

WHAT LITTLE BOY DOESN'T WANT TO BE A FIREMAN?

ONE OF TWO RESCUE VEHICLES

THREE BIG PUMPERS

 Sunday, 8:30 AM  56 degrees F at the ferry dock, 54 on the back porch.  Wind ENE, light to moderate with stronger gusts.  The sky is partly cloudy, the humidity down to 61%.  The barometer is at 30.22" and falling, predicting showers for tomorrow and an unsettled week ahead, but it is a nice morning following a very nice evening that featured the first top-down ride of the summer.
   The fire hall had a public open house yesterday from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM and we stopped in.  A cookout lunch was served and all the equipment was on display.  Bayfield is part of a fire protection consortium of twelve northern Wisconsin communities.  Emergency medical services also cooperate.
   The City of Bayfield relies on volunteer firefighters and EMTs. as do most small Wisconsin towns and cities.   We have lived in big cities with professional full time fire and emergency personnel and in communities with volunteers.  The volunteers have been every bit as good as the full time staff.  Not only do they work with minimal compensation, in most small communities they raise their own money for equipment, through raffles and other fund raisers.  The fire company with its hall is a significant part of the social life of a small town.
   New York City could not, I am sure, function with volunteer firefighters and EMTs and I don't know where the balance point lies, but most of America relies on volunteers for fire and emergency services, and we salute them for the work they do and the risks they take.

WHY I NO LONGER PLANT PAGODA DOGWOOD

PAGODADOGWOOD IN BLOOM (Google photo)

PAGODA DOGWOOD KILLED BY GOLDEN CANKER

Saturday, 8:15 AM.  75 degrees F at the ferry dock, 69 on the back porch.  Wind ENE, light with slightly stronger gusts.  The humidity is 62% and the barometer rising, now at 29.95".  It will be warm and sunny today but turning much cooler and with chances of rain for the week ahead.  It looks like this afternoon will be fine for a top-down ride in the old Saab convertible.  We are having some work done on the house, and I have construction debris to take to the dump this morning.

   Pagoda dogwood, Cornus alternifolia, in the Dogwood Family, is a woods and woods edge shrub or small tree native to Eastern North America.  Its common name describes its rather Oriental appearance, which is unusual and very beautiful.  It has excellent blooming, fruiting and fall color characteristic as well, so has always been high on my wish list of both native and non-native plants.

   Unfortunately, this species (alternifolia describes the alternate leaf and branching structure, which is rare in the genus Cornus) is highly subject to a pervasive, often fatal fungal disease, Golden Canker, Cryptodiaporthe corni. The genus name refers to the hidden nature of the disease spores, the species name to the genus Cornus.  This disease is probably endemic in the species.  A study by the University of Minnesota found over 62% of plants investigated carried the disease.  If it is not always fatal it certainly is disfiguring, and visually affected plants require constant pruning, along with sterilization of tools after each cut, to control the disease .
   Both the plant species and the disease are native to North America.  Just because a plant or animal is native does not mean it is disease or maintenance free.
   And, in this case, I have given up planting or recommending pagoda dogwood.
 

THIMBLEBERRY

THIMBLEBERRY SHRUB...

...MAPLE-LIKE LEAF...

...LARGE, SCENTED FLOWER...

...EDIBLE BERRY (UW Green Bay Herbarium photo))

Friday, 7:45 AM.  58 degrees F at the ferry dock and on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm.  The sky is partly cloudy with some overcast and haze.  The humidity is 92% and the barometer is falling, now at 29.58".  Tomorrow is predicted to be warmer and sunny, with unsettled weather for the following week.

   Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus, in the Rose Family, is closely related to the raspberries and blackberries.  The species has an odd geographical distribution: around the Great Lakes and in  the western United States, Alaska and Canada and south to northern South America.  

   Thimbleberry is so called since when the ripe composit fruit is pulled from the stem it is hollow, resembling a sewing thimble.  The shrub is large, spreads by stolons and grows in part shade to full sun in woods and on woods edges and along roads and railways.  The leaves are lobed and look like sugar maple leaves.  The stems have no spines or prickles, unusual for a Rubus species.

   The species name translates from the Latin as "small flowered," but the flowers are relatively large.  I suspect this misnomer relates to the fact that the shrubs are few flowered. The flowers are pleasantly lemon-scented. The fruit is edible and makes good jams and jellies but is soft and does not pack and ship well commercially.  Some folks do not like the taste of the fruit, but I think it fine. 

   Thimbleberry is a valuable plant for native landscape restoration and can be obtained from specialty nurseries.

'FORT MCNAIR' RED HORSECHESTNUT

'FORT MCNAIR' RED HORSECHESTNUT...

...SPECTACULAR IN FLOWER

Thursday, 7:45 AM.  55 degrees F at the ferry dock, 53 on the back porch. Wind ENE, calm with light gusts.  The sky has some clouds and overcast but is clearing.  The humidity is 79% and the barometer has begun to fall, currently at 29.95".  The week ahead looks to be unsettled with cool temperatures (except for Saturday) and chances of rain.  It is a very pleasant morning overall.

   A few years back I planted some rather spectacular flowering trees that are a hybrid between the southern native red buckeye, Aesculus pavia, and the European horsechestnut, A. hippocastanaeum. They were called hybrid buckeyes when I purchased them but they are also currently being called hybrid red horsechestnut.  Given the parentage, I guess either could be correct. They are planted on either side of Sixth St. (Hwy. 13) entering Bayfield from the south.

    The official name of this hybrid as currently sold is Aesculus X carnea 'Fort McNair.'  The X denotes that it is a hybrid.  It is important to order and purchase hybrids by their exact name to be sure it is the right plant.  The Fort McNair bears nuts that are said to be viable, and to produce an offspring much like the parent plant, which is unusual for a hybrid of any kind; I have not seen our trees bear nuts.  There is another hybrid, 'Brioti,' which is also quite beautiful but does not bear fruit.  There are one or two on private property in Bayfield. Hybrid plants must generally be reproduced by making the original cross and obtaining seeds from that union, or by asexual propagation, which is one reason they are usually expensive.

    We have lost two of the original trees we planted, but the remaining trees seem to be doing well, and have made it through two successive very rough winters.  I have been unable to replace them because young Fort McNair trees have not done well in northern nurseries the last several years and have been very scarce.  All this makes one wonder whether it is worth the trouble to grow these trees.  

   It may not be practical to grow unusual and beautiful trees, but a special tree such as the Fort McNair is a great signature tree for a community or a park, or as a spectacular entrance statement.  One could say the same thing about a rare and difficult to find native tree such as an American Chestnut. In any case, it is interesting to engage in such efforts as long as they don't become too expensive or time consuming.

   Originally I had envisioned an alle' of Fort McNairs along the Hwy. 13 entrance to Bayfield, and that may never be achieved in its entirety, but the trees that have survived the winters and the snowplowing thus far always are beautiful and unusual in spring and draw a lot of attention.