6/14/11 WILD COLUMBINE, VIRGINIA BLUEBELLS, AVENS AND A DEADLY TURKEY

WILD COLUMBINE

VIRGINIA BLUEBELLS

AVENS

...FLOWERS

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  65.5 degrees, wind SW, light. The channel is smooth as glass. The sky is clear, the barometer high and the humidity lower, certainly a “perfect ten” day.
    Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica, are native to rich woods in the northeast, the eastern seaboard and upper Midwest.  It is an excellent plant for naturalizing, as is the wild columbine, Aquilegia canadensis, native around the Great Lakes, the northeast and into the southern Appalachians.
    Avens, Geum triflorum, are native to calcareous soils, rock outcroppings and prairies around the Great Lakes, the upper Midwest and further west. 
    News item: an unfortunate motorcyclist in Vilas county is northern Wisconsin was killed when he lost control of his bike upon hitting a wild turkey; a road hazard I had never considered.