TWO NICE SURPRISES

ICE OUT!

ERICA CARNEA

Sunday, 8:45 AM.  40 degrees F, up considerably from earlier. Wind NNW, light but with stronger gusts at times.  The sky is sparkling clear except for a band of clouds on the eastern horizon.  The humidity is down to 70% and the barometer is much higher at 30.08".

   I think there is enough open water in the Channel this morning to say that the ice is out.  There is still plenty of it blown up on and off the shores of Madeline Island but for all intents and purposes the channel is now open. This compares to April 10 for 2008, April 14, 2009, February 20, 2012,and April 16, 2013, years that I have pretty definite records for.
    I don't know if the commercial fishing boats have been able to get anywhere else in the Apostles or beyond; the last I heard they still weren't able to really get out to the fishing grounds to catch whitefish and trout.

   An interesting aside: the heavy ice caused the local fisheries to miss out on an annual business  opportunity that is looked forward to every year; the sale of whitefish to the Chicago market  for the Jewish passover. It is reputedly the most sought after species for making gefilte fish.  Hopefully next year.

   As we rounded the corner on 9th and Washington yesterday morning we were greeted by a rather amazing sight; a gorgeous heath plant, Erica carnea, growing in the roadside ditch that a few days ago was covered by ice and snow.  Of course it was planted there as part of Martha's garden (use search engine).  Martha, its time to come back home.

   Heaths are in the family Ericaceae, along with cranberries, blueberries, azaleas and Rhododendrons, among other acid loving plants.  Heaths are mostly European, Middle Eastern and South African plants, and in their native habitats are often part of large associations of plants collectively called heaths, or moors. Plants known as heaths are separated into spring blooming heaths, represented by Erica carnea, and summer heaths (also called heathers), a separate genus and species, Calluna vulgaris. There are horticultural varieties of each type. The South African species and varieties are really florist and greenhouse plants.  This is a very sketchy discussion of heaths and heathers and there are tons of additional information on the web.
   Heaths and other ericaceous plants grow mostly in habitats deficient in nitrogen, such as acid sands, pine and oak woodlands, and acid bogs. They can survive in these habitats because they grow in association with nitrogen fixing bacteria, and they often have needle-like scale leaves that conserve water and nutrients.  In any case, this particular  plant survives and thrives in the most challenging of circumstances.

  Two nice surprises in one day isn't bad.