8/31/10 LITTLE ORCHIDS AND BIG BUCKS

MIXED EMOTIONS
A LARGE PATCH OF LADIES TRESSES ORCHIDS
SPIRANTHES CERNUA

Tuesday, 7:30 AM. 72.5 degrees, humidity 68%. Wind W, light to moderate. The sky is mixed blue and rain clouds, and we had a light sprinkle earlier. The barometer predicts rain.
I found this colony of ladies tresses orchids (Spiranthes cernua) about 30 yards from my deer stand in orchard country the other day. There were numerous deer tracks among the 30’ diameter patch of orchids, which are growing in damp sandy soil. These little orchids are found in such spots around the Great Lakes and elsewhere in NE North America. Some species of Spiranthes are fragrant, this one is not. The orchid family is the largest plant family, comprised of around 20,000 species, most of them tropical.
Curt Johnson, whose son CG now owns the land I hunt on, reported seeing two large bucks with unusual antlers near my stand last week, also a large bear. Curt is a retired Lutheran pastor, which should ensure his veracity. Last night Joan and I took a top-down ride to cool off after the ball game and we saw a buck and a doe on Hwy J. Hope springs eternal, and it is time to sight in the rifle and do some target practice.

8/30/10 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

THE PARADE GOES PAST MAGGIES
QUEEN MARY IN HER BATHTUB
LOYAL WAIT STAFF
FOOD AND FUN TENT
IT AIN'T PEANUTS!

Monday, 7:30 AM. 75 degrees, humidity 65%, wind W, light. The sky is mostly cloudy and it looks like we might get a much needed shower, but the barometer predicts sunny skies. It may be a warm and muggy day.
Andy and Judy came for a leisurely breakfast yesterday morning and we were so leisurely that we were almost late for the 11:00 AM start of Maggies 30th anniversary parade. No matter, as the parade route down Mannypenny and up Wilson was traversed three times (if the parade isn’t very long, go around again…and again). What it lacked in numbers it easily made up in color. Bayfield’s Queen and flamboyant restaurateur, Mary Rice, rode in a bathtub atop her rhinestone Cadillac; wait staff and cooks rode on a colorful float; there were walkers and bicyclists in Flamingo costumes and old cars and a good number of dogs, including Rufus the sheepdog in aviator goggles riding in Stephanie’s MG. Afterwards there was free food, drink and music. A fine time was had by everyone, townies and incredulous tourists alike all soaking up the small town nuttiness and hospitality. Happy Anniversary Maggies, and thank you once again, Mary, for all you do.

8/29/10 NATIVE AMERICAN PLANTS IN THE GARDEN

WOODLAND PHLOX
PURPLE CONE FLOWER
JOE PYE WEED

Sunday, 8:00 AM. 68 degrees, humidity 50%, wind W, light. The sky is cloudless with some haze and the barometer predicts partly cloudy skies.
Many American garden plants are native species or their horticultural derivatives. These have found their way to European gardens as well. The trade went both ways across the ocean.
Three such native plants are: Joe Pye weed, Eupatorium maculatum, a strong perennial much used in Native American and American folk medicine (named for a Native American healer); purple coneflower, Echinaceae purpureum, an important immune system stimulant, both in herbal medicine and modern pharmacology; and tall, or woodland phlox, Phlox divaricata.
One does not have to do a prairie or wetland restoration to use native plants, they are easily incorporated into the perennial garden.
Maggies restaurant is having a big parade and free food and drink today to celebrate its 30th anniversary, and Andy and Judy are coming to breakfast and then we will watch the parade and whatever. It will doubtless be a lot of small town, hokey fun.

8/28/10 EASTERN WHITE CEDAR

ARBORVITAE HEDGE
RIPENING CONES
A BEAUTIFUL SPECIMEN WHITE CEDAR

Saturday, 7:15 AM. 67 degrees, humidity 51%, wind WSW, light. It is a cloudless morning and the barometer predicts partly cloudy skies. Yesterday evening was balmy and breezy, the sky awash in the reflected light of the moon and Venus.
Eastern white cedar, also called arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis, is a native conifer of swamps and stream banks of northeastern and Midwestern North America. Its attractive bright yellow cones are ripening now. It is very aromatic, and has many uses in Native American herbal medicine in the treatment of coughs, colds, sprains, and other ailments. It was and is much used ceremonially as a purifying incense. Its wood and fiber has many uses.
It is a beautiful tree, and can be used for hedges if kept trimmed. There are horticultural selections that do not grow as large as the species, and these are usually a better landscape choice.

8/27/10 ANOTHER PERFECT DAY

ANOTHER PERFECT DAY
HEDGE MAPLE SEEDS
HEDGE MAPLE
KAYAKERS ALONG THE WASHBURN SHORELINE
Friday, 8:00 AM. 66 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is blue with some haze over the lake. The barometer predicts rain but I think not likely. Another perfect day.
The hedge maple, Acer campestre, of Asian origin, is a small tree or large shrub that is quite decorative, with winged, greenish pink fall seeds (samaras). I think it could be invasive because it seeds so heavily, but it is not so listed.
Our guests are gone and the fishing rods put away and it is high time to catch up with the garden work.

8/26/10 PORKCHOPS FOR BREAKFAST

FISHING OFF THE WASHBURN DOCK

Thursday, 7:20 AM. 52.5 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is cloudless and the barometer predicts partly cloudy weather. A “perfect ten” day.”
Tom and I went fishing yesterday afternoon off the dock at Washburn, and on the first cast Tom hooked a big smallmouth bass. I netted it just as Barb and Joan drove up to join us. They heaped praise upon us as mighty fishermen able to provide food for the dinner table. It weighed over four pounds and was 21” long, a fishy football. Something told me this was too good to be true, so I checked the Lake Superior regulations. Sure enough, the legal minimum size for smallmouth bass is 22.” So back to the bay he went, where anxious friends about the same size rose in the clear icy waters to greet him. I have a theory, confirmed personally many times over, that almost any fish caught in the lake or its tributaries will be at least 1” short of the DNR’s regulation size. We had pork chops for dinner.

8/25/10 A BERRY GOOD DAY

A SUNNY, BLUSTERY MORNING
PICKING BLACKBERRIES
HIGHLAND VALLEY FARM
BLUEBERRY PICKING MACHINE
THE BLUEBERRY BARN

Wednesday, 7:30 AM. 57 degrees, wind W, brisk. The sky is mostly clear but the barometer predicts rain (but not likely soon).
We picked up our winter supply of frozen blueberries at Highland Valley Farm yesterday morning, and checked out their new berrypicking machine. It does not replace hand picking for retail sales, but is good for final picking of berries for juice and wine. Later Tom, Barb, Joan and I went to Andy and Judy’s camp and picked blackberries; so it was “a berry good day.”
Last evening we rode the ferry over to Madeline Island and back in the dark, the full moon unfortunately being clouded over. It was chilly but pleasant. We may do a little fishing off the dock in Washburn today.

8/24/10 WE HAVE VISITORS

WHAT KND OF A DAY?
PUFFBALL?
ROSE-A-SHARON
HIBISCUS SYRIACUS
Tuesday, 7:30 AM. 68 degrees and humid. Wind W, light. The sky is overcast and the barometer predicts rain.
Old friends Tom and Barb arrived last evening for a stay. Old folks like us easily entertain themselves so the weather will be no problem. Yesterday evening just outside of Prentice they saw a large cat with a long tail slink across the road less than a few hundred feet away. Had to be a cougar.
The mushroom that looks lke a brown puffball is growing on Tenth and Wilson and I have seen a few others around. I am not sure what it is at this point but will try to identify it.
The shrub with the hollyhock-like flowers is the old fashioned rose-a-Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus, (both in the mallow famly) also growing on Tenth and Wilson.

8/23/10 FALL ASTERS

ORCHARD COUNTRY MOONRISE
ASTER AZUREUS


ASTER ERICOIDES

1. ERIGERON STRIGOSSUS

Monday, y:30 AM. 64 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is partly cloudy and the barometer predicts the same.
The summer has gone far, far too fast, and the fall flowers are beginning to bloom in force. The azure aster, Aster azureus, is a tall, strong, beautiful aster, this one blooming along Hwy 13, just south of town. The heath aster, Aster ericoides, blooms here and there, sometimes in large clones. This one grows on 9th St. A sort-of look-alike, the daisy fleabane, Erigeron strigossus, was growing next to it. It yields a volatile oil formerly used as an astringent and diuretic. One of many plants which crossed the Atlantic the other direction in early times, it now grows wild in England.
There was a beautiful moonrise last evening, the photo taken out in orchard country

8/22/10 CASTLES, CONDOS AND DUCKS IN A ROW

SAND CASTLE
SAND CONDO?
ALL HER DUCKS IN A ROW

Sunday, 8:45 AM. 64 degrees, wind W, calm, as is the channel. The sky is blue but hazy with some lingering fog . The barometer predicts fair weather.
The beach was pristine this morning, not a human track in the sand, but lots of evidence of construction activity yesterday; castles and condos, two of which I present to you for inspection. They probably do not meet code, so they will be gone with the next storm. There’s a lesson there somewhere.
The mama merganser has all her ducklings in a row, a feathery flotilla of little fishermen.

8/21/10 A GOOD TRIP, AN INTERESTING WEED, AND TIME TO MOW THE LAWN

NEW POST CAPS... A WET MORNING
BLADDER CAMPION FLOWER
BLADDER CAMPION

Saturday , 8:00 AM. 63 degrees, wind WNW, light with gusts. The sky is overcast and there was fog earlier, but the barometer predicts partly cloudy skies. It rained another .8” while we were gone.
Our trip was uneventful except for the threat of severe thunderstorms, which we dodged. The meeting was productive and interesting. We saw a lot of turkeys between Mercer and Hurley on Hwy 51. There are signs of fall in the marshes and bogs, both red maples and tamaracks beginning to turn.
Bladder campion, Silene cucubalis, in the pink family, is a European roadside and field flower which turns up in a lot of places. It is so-called because the base of the flower is bulbous, like a bladder.
The lawn is like a hayfield and I shall mow it as soon as it dries out a bit. I have just finished installing coper caps on the posts of the north deck. They turned out very nicely.

8/19/10 DON'T GET ALL IN A LATHER

A DAMP MORNING
SOAPWORT AT THE BEACH
SAPONARIA OFFICINALIS

Thursday, 7:30 AM. 60 degrees, wind WNW, calm. The sky is very hazy and it rained yesterday and some of last night, .8”
Soapwort, also called bouncing bet, Saponaria officinalis (in the pink family, the caryophyllaceae) is an Old World native escaped from cultivation and found on roadsides and other places. It can form rather large colonies, such as this one at the beach. It is attractive enough, with white petals often tinged with pink. The roots contain saponins, from which a soapy lather can be obtained. It had a number of herbal uses in past times, but primarily for the treatment of syphilis. It is very astringent and the roots probably should not be experimented with. Otherwise it is innocuous enough and not particularly aggressive.
No post tomorrow as we will be in Stevens Point for an Urban Forestry Council meeting.

8/18/10 DESTROYING ANGEL

LOOKS LIKE RAIN
AMANITA VIRESCENS

Wednesday, 7:30 AM. 64 degrees, humidity 60%. Wind SW, light. The sky is overcast, it has rained lightly and the barometer predicts rain. There is a trace of rain in the gage.
The innocent looking mushroom is a young Amanita virescens, the “destroying angel.” Note the bulbous cup, called a vulva, at the base of the stem. When first emergent the entire mushroom is covered by a thin veil which breaks apart as the stem elongates. A remnant ring of this veil often adheres to the stem just below the cap, another identifying characteristic. This young specimen is small; but they can become quite large. Amanitas of many kinds are native to our woods and woods edges, many are deadly poisonous and none should be eaten. I do not eat wild collected mushrooms.
Tomorrow we head for UW Stevens Point to attend a quarterly Urban Forestry Council meeting.

8/17/10 WHY DID THE HERON CROSS THE ROAD, AND PIE FOR BREAKFAST

LOOKING FOR BREAKFAST
NATURE'S STEALTH BOMBER
JUDY'S BLACKBERRY PIE

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 54.5 degrees, 39% humidity. The wind is variable, NW to SW. The sky is cloudless and the barometer predicts the same.
Joan and I have been wondering for some time where the great blue heron (or perhaps more than one) that habituates the marsh on Hwy 2 outside of Ashland has gone. We have often seen one in the same spot for years. The mystery is solved; he (or they) have merely crossed the road to the lake shore. Why? Both lake shoreline and marsh have silted quite a bit, the lake shore now sprouting rushes and other emergent aquatic vegetation. Conversely, the marsh has become shallower, more shrubby and with less open water. Great blue herons have a rather specific depth, about knee deep, that they fish at, according to my observations. Their legs have evolved to to the length appropriate for the specific water depth that their primary prey inhabit. So the heron moved across the road to better conditions for breakfast.
My better conditions for breakfast include Judy’s freshly baked black raspberry pie, a small decadence I shall not deny myself (but no ice cream).

8/16/10 TURTLE HEADS AND BEAR CUBS

THE MORNING SKY
TURTLE HEAD PLANTS
TURTLE HEAD FLOWERS
Monday, 7:15 AM. 55 degrees, humidity 55%, wind SSW, light with stronger gusts. The sky is partly cloudy and the barometer predicts the same. There is .2” of rain in the gage. August feels like fall this morning.
The turtle head, or snake head, Chelone glabra (Scrophulariaceae) is native to wet areas throughout much of the NE U.S. It is not a rare plant but I don’t see much of it, these located on Bloom Road in Town of Russell.
Yesterday evening we saw two bear cubs scampering across Turner road, just north of Hwy J. They were about 50 pounds, roly-poly, and cute as can be. Mama must have been ahead of them as we did not see her. No chance for a photo.

8/15/10 ANY PORT IN A STORM

GATHERING STORM

SAFE HARBOR

Sunday, 8:00 AM. 64 degrees, humidity 55%, wind W, strong. Storm clouds have gathered and dispersed several times. The channel is choppy. The barometer predicts rain.
It was a blustering, threatening walk on the beach this morning, with no small boats in sight and most of the birds hunkering down somewhere. I was surprised to see a small sailboat moored in the first bend of the river, where it evidently found safe harbor last night. I saw nobody aboard although they may have been asleep in the bottom of the boat. More likely they waded to shore and called to have someone pick them up (everyone has a cell phone these days and it probably worked from here). It would be pretty tricky to maneuver a sailboat with a fixed keel across the sand bars at the river’s mouth so I assume this little boat has a retractable keel.
It is a very blustery, even chilly day, but a welcome relief from the uncharacteristic heat and humidity of late. I managed to get the lawn mowed yesterday, so I can take Sunday off.