BOX ELDER: IT'S TIME TO GIVE IT A BREAK!

VIEW FROM THE BACK PORCH

BOX ELDER TREE ON CORNER OF THIRD STREET AND MANYPENNY AVE....

...ORANGE-BRONZE FALL LEAF COLOR...

...DITTO...

...BOX ELDER COMPOUND LEAF

 Tuesday, 9:00 AM.  45 degrees F, wind E, gusty.  The sky is overcast, the humidity 86%, and the barometer is falling, now at 30.17".  It is a cold, dull day.
   Box elder, Acer negundo, also known as ash-leaved maple, is not much seen or even recognized by most people anymore.  It is a small to medium sized maple tree, native to much of eastern and Mid western North America.  It is one of a very few maple species with compound leaves, rather than simple, lobed leaves. The common name "box elder" refers to its white wood which is reminiscent of that of the English boxwood tree, and to the similarity of its compound leaves to those of the elderberry bush.  Over the years it has gotten a rather bad rap as a trash tree and a host for the pesky but harmless box elder bug, but it is sturdy, adaptable and fast growing.  Like the sugar maple, Acer saccharum, it's sap is sweet and can be boiled down to make syrup and sugar.
   The box elder certainly is no prince charming among trees, but it is very useful, not bad looking, and has a rather unusual and pretty fall leaf color.
   It's time to give it a break!

THE HONEY LOCUST TREE

FALL COLOR ON THE SIOUX RIVER ABOVE THE BIG ROCK

HONEY LOCUST FALL COLOR

Monday, 8:30 AM.  44 degrees F, wind NNE, with some strong gusts.  It is still raining, after we received a half an inch last night.  The humidity is 93% and the barometer has turned upwards, now at 30.19".  The weather guys can't make up their minds about the forecast for Applefest, alternately predicting sun and now rain.  If they can't make a prediction a week out I am at a loss as to how they can predict the weather twenty years from now.  But rain or shine, Applefest will be fun, so do come.

   Magnificent fall color is evident everywhere now, along the river banks as well as the roadsides, but the majority of the woodlands are still green.

   The thornless honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos var.  inermis, in the legume family (Leguminosae), 

has been used, perhaps overused, as a street and landscape tree ever since the onslaught of Dutch elm disease a generation ago. Native to rich forests of the central and southern Midwest,  it has very small compound leaflets and therefore is easier to clean up after in the fall.  Although it grows to be quite large, it  yields a more dappled and lighter shade than other trees so has its uses, but can be a misshapen and not particularly pleasing tree if not pruned properly.  It does have a bright golden fall leaf color that can make a nice statement, and since it is a legume and fixes nitrogen it is also a good tree for sandy and poor soil conditions.
   The species itself is far too thorny for any practical ornamental use (the species name refers to the vicious three-progned thorns, the variety name to the lack thereof). There have been many patented trees produced by nurseries over the years from the thornless variety, some of which, such as 'Moraine' are superior for street tree and landscape use.  The "honey" of the common name refers to the sweet, gummy, edible substance surrounding the seeds inside the large, long pods that this leguminous tree produces.   It has been theorized that the "locusts" that the King James translation of the Bible refers to the Israelites eating in their migrations in the desert were the edible seed pods of the Middle eastern locust trees that grow there.  Many modern varieties do not produce seed pods.

MICHAELMAS DAISIES, AND BUDDY AND I GET IN THE MIDDLE OF A BEAR HUNT

NEW ENGLAND ASTER, AKA MICHAELMAS DAISY...

...CLOSEUP

 LOGGING ROAD IN THE MOQUA BARRENS

BEAR HUNTER'S TRUCK

Sunday, 9:00 AM.  61 degrees F, wind SW, calm with occasional gusts.  The sky is clear with haze over the lake.  The humidity is 90% and the barometer is still trending slowly downward.  It looks pretty much like we will have a repeat of yesterday's fair and warm weather.

   The New England Asters, Aster novae-anglia, seem late to me this year, but according to legend they have burst into bloom exactly on time, today.  In England this aster is known as Michaelmas daisy, because it traditionally blossoms on Michaelmas, the feast of St. Michael and All Angels.  Historically, Michaelmas is an important feast day in both Catholic and Anglican (thus also Episcopal) tradition. In early Christianity, St. Michael the Archangel was revered as God's appointed protector of His earthly creations, and honored as the angel who defeated Satan in his war with God.   September 29th is also important in Germanic husbandry traditions. In any case, our garden's New England Asters are blooming right on time.

   The weather was so beautiful yesterday we decided to go down the boondocks backroads, ostensibly looking for grouse but mainly looking at the glorious fall colors.  Far out on Buterfield Road (really a fire lane) in the Moqua Barrens I decided to take Buddy down a woodland trail.  It was really too warm to run the dog or myself very hard, but we decided to give it a go.  About ten minutes into our quest I heard a vehicle roaring toward us down the narrow trail.  It skidded to a stop while I was still reigning in the dog and I was a little upset.  It turned out it was a young guy with a truck full of bear dogs, some in  crates, some hanging out windows, while one clung to the roof.  Everyone seemed to be having such a good time I couldn't be angry.  

   They (dogs and boy) were trying to get ahead of the bear the hounds were trailing, so off they roared.  Buddy and I went on a bit further, but pretty sure any grouse that might have been along the trail were deep in the oak woods by now.  Shortly, we heard the baying of hounds on the trail of the bear. They would be a long way behind the bear, so I got to thinking the bear might burst its cover at any time.  As the baying of the hounds got louder and louder I also got to thinking it might not be a good idea for myself or more particularly Buddy  to be in the middle of all this commotion, so we started back to the truck at a pretty good pace.  When the hounds were parallel with us and probably a hundred yards or so from us in the woods I called Buddy to heal.  He did so and stayed there.  I think he was a little scared.  I fumbled around in my pants pocket for the two rifled  slugs I always carry with me (probably illegal, so don't tell anyone) and replaced the birdshot shells in the shotgun with them, just in case we got into trouble.

  By the time we got back to Joan and our own truck, bear dog trucks were flying down the sandy Buterfield Road trying to find the bear.  When we got back to paved Star Route all of the half dozen trucks, with I don't know how many dogs, were charging back the way we had all just come from. 

   My guess is that the bear turned in a big circle and was leading the dogs right back to where they had first found it.  That was going to be one tired and thirsty pack of hounds, but it all looked like a whole lot of fun, maybe even for the bear, if he managed to loose the hounds.  It did manage to raise my pulse rate a bit as well.

FALL COLOR WILL BE AT ITS PEAK FOR NEXT WEEKEND'S APPLEFEST

RED OAKS ARE COLORING UP...

...ALSO SUGAR MAPLES

Saturday, 8:30 AM.  63 degrees F at the ferry dock, 58 on the back porch. Wind WSW, mostly calm with occasional light to moderate gusts.  The waters of the channel are calm.  The sky is clear, with haze over the lake.  The humidity is a more comfortable 78% and the barometer is trending down, now at 30.16".  It will be another gorgeous fall day.
   The hummingbirds are all gone now, and the feeders washed and put away.  They leave on or about the 15th of September and the males come back pretty much on the 15th of May.
   Fall color in our region is at its peak when sugar maples, and finally red oaks are in full color, and that time is approaching fast.  My prediction is that peak color this fall will coincide with Bayfield's  Applefest next weekend.  The weather prediction for next weekend keeps shifting, so keep your fingers crossed for a dry and sunny Applefest.
   Come visit if you can, the "everything apples" food and all the hoopla is great fun and the Sunday parade is spectacular.
   Bayfield Applefest: October 3rd,  4th and 5th.

HUNTING FOR SOME GOOD LUCK

BRONZE FALL LEAF COLOR OF OHIO BUCKEYE

RIPENING BUCKEYE FRUITS

Friday, 8:15 AM.  57 degrees F at the ferry dock, 53 on the back porch.  Wind SW, calm with very light occasional gusts.  The sky is clearing to partly cloudy, from foggy and misty.  The humidity is 94% and the barometer is still steady, at 30.22".  The morning dawned soft and damp, the sun glowing like a dimmed bulb through the filmy atmosphere.  The channel waters were dead calm.  The grass is still wet, the eaves still dripping; things are beginning to dry out a bit, but I will have to postpone mowing the lawn until much later.

   Yesterday I noticed that the Ohio buckeye, Aesculus glabra, on Manypenny Ave.between 4th and 5th Streets, had turned its  bronzy fall leaf color.  As I was inspecting the buckeye fruits still hanging on the tree, a truck stopped and a construction worker got out and walked up to me.

   "Are they ripe yet?"  "I need one to put in my pocket for a good luck charm when I'm deer hunting, I lost the one I had."

   I assured him he could take some and let them ripen until they split open and revealed the "buck eye" inside.  He continued, saying it was a tradition in his family to carry a buckeye in one's pocket for good luck while deer hunting, and besides that his grandmother always carried one somewhere on her person, claiming that it alleviated her arthritis.

  Wow! A two-for-one good luck charm!  I think I'll put one in each pants pocket.  That ought to ensure bagging an eight point buck as well as being able to climb down from the tree stand.

A SECOND CUP OF JOE

THE LATTE' SALUTE

Thursday,  8:45 Am.  59 degrees F, wind W, calm at present.  The sky is mostly overcast, the humidity 88% and the barometer steady, at 30.22".  Hard to say how the day is shaping up, weather wise.

   "Man, this this saluting stuff is silly!" "I could  just use my pen and my phone and get rid of it, but I really like it when they salute me!"
   "Somebody get me a  second cup of Joe."

NATURE HAS LITTLE PATIENCE WITH USELESS THINGS

BAYFFIELD HILLSIDE

COUNTRY ROAD

A

WHITE PINE WITH GOLDEN NEEDLES...

....THREE YEARS OLD

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  55 degrees F, wind W, calm with occasional very light gusts.  The sky is partly cloudy, the humidity is 88% and the barometer is steady, at 30.2".

   Fall colors and beautiful weather  encourage a person to just immerse oneself in the glories of nature.  It is time for walks on the beach, hiking down a woods trail with gun and dog, or driving with the top down.  Fall is an ephemeral season in the Bayfield region and can change to rain and cold weather, even ice and snow, in a trice, so now is the time to enjoy the Northland, one fine day at a time.

   This is also the time of year that the pine trees shed their old needles, I think in most northern species needles that are three years old.    As the tree grows the inner leaves find less and less sun, and become superfluous and are shed.  Nature has little patience with useless things.

FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL BERRIES

FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL BERRIES,,,

...VERY SWEET AND EDIBLE

Tuesday, 9:00 AM.  55 degrees F, wind SW, calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 82% and the barometer is holding pretty steady, currently at 30,2".  We are having absolutely fantastic fall weather.
   Buddy and I have been out a couple of times looking for grouse, we flushed one on Sunday but didn't get a shot in the heavy cover.  We are no threat what-so-ever to the grouse population and our hunts are mostly just good exercise.

   The false solomon's seal, Smilacina racemosa, in the Lily family,  often forms a beautiful understory mat in and on the edges of our mixed coniferous/deciduous woodlands.  This plant is a far northern species native to Canada, New England and the upper Midwest.  Its prominent racemes of white flowers are followed by yellow-orange spotted  berries about the size of a pea,  that eventually ripen to a mottled red.  The berries are not poisonous, and  upon my own inspection, are quite sweet, with a flavor reminiscent of strawberries and raspberries.  Each  berry has a single, comparatively large stone, but otherwise they are easy to pick and eat. I imagine they would make an excellent jam or jelly, and are usually quite plentiful. False Solomon's seal has had a variety of Native American medicinal uses in the past, particularly for female problems, and were gathered for food.

   My usual caution prevails here; do not eat any wild fruit, nuts or other plant parts unless you are sure of their identification and edibility.

DON'T PUT THIS ON YOUR DINNER PLATE

EMERGING AMANITA MUSHROOM...

...THE CAP BEGINNING TO UNFOLD...

...FULLY DEVELOPED MUSHROOM...

...ALMOST THE SIZE OF A DINNER PLATE

Monday, 8:00 AM.  53 degrees F at the ferry dock, 49 on the back porch.  Wind WNW, mostly calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 87%.  The barometer stands at 30.18".  We will have several days of really nice fall weather.
   With all the rain we have had, there should be a lot of fall mushrooms.  The one pictured is an Amanita,  perhaps flavoconia or flavorescens, the correct species  only distinguished by microscopic characteristics.  It is quite probably poisonous, as are most species of Amanaita. Mushrooms often occur in more or less the same location year after year, since the mycelium (the vegetative body) of the fungus remains in place below ground.  Fully mature,  this mushroom is the size of a dinner plate; but don't dine on it, as that might be your last supper.
   Use the blog search engine for more posts about mushrooms.

THE PERFECT METAPHOR FOR A BAYFIELD FALL

APPLE TREE TREE CLOAKED WITH VIRGINIA CREEPER VINES...

...RIPE APPLES AND CRIMSON VIRGINIA  CREEPER LEAVES; A PERFECT METAPHOR FOR FALL

Sunday,  8;30 AM.  50 degrees F, wind E, calm with very light occasional gusts  The sky is mostly cloudy, the humidity 88%.  Occasional showers left about an eighth of an inch of rain in the gage overnight.  The barometer is still rising, now at 29.99", presaging some nice weather to come.
   Fall has suddenly arrived, and an old apple tree on the corner of Eighth Street and Manypenny Ave. is full of red, ripe apples...and cloaked in scarlet Virginia creeper leaves.  It is the perfect metaphor for a Bayfield fall.

HYDRANGEAS AND AMERICAN CHESTNUTS

P G HYDRANGEAS, FINALLY IN BLOOM 

RIPENING AMERICAN CHESTNUTS

Saturday, 8:15 AM.  66 degrees F, wind blustery but changeable, mostly from the west.  The sky is  filled with low black clouds which are moving fast.  The humidity is 87% and the barometer has started trending up, currently at 29.61".
   Hydrangeas of all kinds are finally blooming beautifully now, the P G Hydrangeas in the back yard being at least two weeks late.
   The American chestnut tree, Castanea dentata,  on the corner of Tenth and Manypenny has a good number of developing chestnuts.  A few have already fallen to the ground, where the husks will split open and the ripe nuts will germinate.  The radicle, the seedling rootlet, will emerge from the nut and grow into the ground.  Like many other nut trees, the native chestnut establishes its seedlings in the fall, and now is the time to pot them up for later transplanting.   Once they are  rooted it is very difficult to successfully transplant chestnut seedlings.

OVERNIGHT, THE FALL COLORS ARE INTENSIFYING

A WHITE ASH COLORING UP

SUMACS ARE CHANGING

FERNS ARE YELLOWING

AND A RED MAPLE PREDICTS RAIN

Friday, 8:15 AM.  57 degrees F at the ferry dock, 50 on the back porch.  The wind is SSW with occasional moderate gusts.  The sky is mostly overcast and the humidity is 89%.  The barometer is falling rapidly, the red maple tree leaves turning over in response (remember the old lake sailor's warning, "When the hills turn gray, head for port."We will likely get some thunderstorms today.
   The colors are changing almost overnight.  White ash leaves are turning purple, woods ferns are yellowing and the sumac are turning, first orange streaked with crimson and finally blood red.  We noticed the sumac turning all over the state on our recent trip.
   We have been busy the last several day with Joan's cataract surgery, which at this point seems to be progressing perfectly.  The patch comes off this morning and hopefully her vision in one eye will be clear, and then the other can be done in a few weeks,   Cataract surgery is a modern wonder.  When I was a child elderly people usually went slowly blind.  Humans are truly base creatures, killing each other over little or nothing and making each other miserable, while being totally unthankful for all the advancements of science and medicine that are transforming their worthless lives.  

FALL COLOR IS A BIT LATE THIS YEAR

RED MAPLES AND PAPER BIRCH

GRAY DOGWOOD (CORNUS RACEMOSA)

...CLOSER LOOK

AN OCCASIONAL SUGAR MAPLE

Thursday...posted late Wednesday evening.
   Signs of fall are still not very obvious around the state, even in far northern Bayfield.  A flaming swamp red maple, a subtle yellowing of leaves on birch and aspen, and an occasional orange or yellow sugar maple are hints of fall color among the ubiquitous green of the Wisconsin landscape.
   Fall color is a bit late this year, only streaks and smudges of color here and there for the most part, but as the night time temperatures plunge consistently toward freezing the color will suddenly appear, and it will be glorious.

A GAGGLE OF GEESE IS A MARCHING BAND, BUT A FLOCK OF CRANES IS A SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

AMERICAN EGRET

FLOCK OF BLUE-WINGED TEAL

SANDHILL CRANES...

....FEEDING AND DANCING IN A FIELD OF CUT CORN

...CRANES IN FLIGHT

THREE OLD DOGS AND TWO DEAD GEESE

Thursday, 8:30 AM.  49 degrees F in Bayfield. Wind NNE, calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity is 85% and the barometer is still rising, now at 30.27".  It will be a cool but sunny day, leading to some thunderstorms tomorrow.

   Old friend Bill and I had a short but successful goose hunt yesterday morning, each bagging a goose. Bill's Chesapeake retriever, who is getting along in doggy years too, retrieved flawlessly.  I was really pleased that I shot a goose right off, as I had bought a new 12 gage shotgun because I wasn't doing well on geese with my 20 gage double.  The Remington 870 pump action and #2 steel shot killed it dead.  We had only a few hours to hunt, as Joan and I had to get back to Bayfield.  We hadn't seen any geese at all before we entered Bill's marsh, and thought we might get skunked.  But geese there were, and had we been able to stay longer we probably would have each shot our limit of two birds apiece.  

   There's always an "if only" story to tell about each hunt, and mine is as follows:  As we were packing up to leave, Bill waded out in the water to bring in the decoys.  He told me to stay in the blind in case more geese happened to fly over.  As I watched, I thought he needed help getting back up onto the bank, so I went to help him out, leaving my gun behind.  Of course, as we two old guys were stomping around in the mud, a pair of geese came in, set their wings, and drifted over us as nice as could be about twenty feet above us before flaring up and away.  The best, easiest shot of the day, which would have filled our limit.  Oh, well!

   Along with a fair amount of geese, we saw a lot of other wildlife on our several hour outing; deer, turkeys, blue-winged teal, wood ducks, mallards, rails, hawks, marsh wrens, American egrets, and many, many sandhill cranes, so interesting to watch dance in the fields, and so distinctive in their flight patterns and trumpeting calls.  

   A gaggle of geese is a marching band, but a flock of cranes is a symphony orchestra. 

   

LIKE A THREE RING CIRCUS

PLAY BALL!

THE FAMOUS KLEMENT'S RACING SAUSAGES

MILLER STADIUM

Monday, 9:00 AM.  Milwaukee.  52 degrees F, wind calm.  Sky overcast with some intermittent light rain. The humidity is 66% and the barometer stands at 30.14".  It should be good weather for goose hunting.
   We cheered the Brewers on to a 9 to 2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.  It was a good game with a lot of fine plays by both teams, which played errorless baseball.  Hopefully the win will keep the Brewers in the playoff race.  The Brewers stadium, named for  Miller,  the famous Milwaukee beer brewer, is very user friendly, easy to get in and out of and around in.  The moveable roof opens and closes with the dictates of the weather, but has enough natural light and air circulation to grow real grass, which makes for a much better playing surface than artificial turf.
   There were a lot of families with children at the game, making it a fun atmosphere, with everyone  cheering and getting into the action.  All in all the ballgame was like a three ring circus, something always going on, if not baseball then racing sausages or something else.   Whatever action one missed on the field was immediately displayed as a replay on the huge screen above center field.

TOURING JOHNSON WHOLESALE NURSERY

WHOLESALE NURSERY IN BUSINESS FOR 50 YEARS

MIKE YANNEY, HEAD PROPAGATOR, STANDING AMONG ROWS OF SEEDLING OAKS

ORIGINAL FARM HOUSE, NOW WHOLESALE OFFICE

ORIGINAL BARNS STILL IN USE

BEAUTIFULLY MAINTAINED FIELDS OF NURSERY STOCK...

...PROPERLY GROWN, PRUNED, DUG AND SHIPPED 

Sunday, 10:00 AM.  60 degrees F in Milwaukee.  The sky is clear and there is a light to moderate breeze. The humidity is 66%.  It will be a fine afternoon  for the baseball game between the Milwaukee Brewers and  the Cincinnati Reds.
   Having grown up in, or perhaps more properly,  around the nursery business, I have  a  great affinity for it.  And over the years I have done a lot of business, and continue to do so, with wholesale nurseries.
   Folks not directly involved with growing, buying and selling trees and other plants are unlikely to know much about the nursery business, which is really an industry with many different facets. Most people buy their trees, shrubs and other plants at garden centers or big box outlets.  Years ago there were small nurseries that grew trees and shrubs and sold them locally at retail, but they are few and far between nowadays.
   The wholesale nurseries now provide the vast majority of plants directly to retail outlets and landscapers  and do not themselves sell retail, and unless your are in the business one is not likely to ever tour or really get to know what the wholesale nursery does or how it operates.
   Johnson's Nursery, located in Jackson, Wisconsin, just north of Milwaukee is a large plant propagator  and grower, with three hundred acres in production.  They grow a lot of common trees and shrubs for the retail trade, but also find, propagate and grow choice native plants and hard to find ornamental plants.  They hybridize, or find natural hybrids and selections of native plants in order to  grow those that will be best to use for landscaping.  There is a vast difference in individual plants within a natural population, and of course some will grow better in cultivation than others, and it is the task of the professional plant propagator to find and produce these more suitable plants.
   Most lay persons think a tree or shrub is just planted as a seedling in nursery rows and grows there until it is dug and sold.  Actually the process is far more complicated than that, and depending on the species or variety of trees or other plants to be grown may involve multiple transplantations, root pruning, propagation by cuttings or grafting (of different kinds), treatment with growth hormones, and on and on.  As trees, in particular, mature in the nursery they must be continually pruned to produce healthy, beautiful, salable nursery stock.
   The nursery business business involves a great amount of capital investment in land, equipment and  facilities.  And, it is risky because tastes and markets are always in flux,  often resulting in lots of trees and shrubs that took years to grow being unprofitable because of unforeseeable changes in the market place.  It is not a business for the faint of heart.
   It is a business in which one must be well educated in business principles and in the biological sciences, but just as important is training in the trade itself, and these business are often passed on in the family.  The heart of the trade is often traceable to knowledge and tradition passed down from father to son, or master to apprentice, often from Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century European customs, like most any other highly skilled trades.  Cloning and genetic modification of species is mostly the stuff of science and science fiction, and has had little impact on the broader nursery trade..
   Our Urban Forestry Council group enjoyed an interesting and insightful day at Johnson Nursery, and it brought back many memories, some pleasant and some not so pleasant,  of my introduction to the "green industry,"more than sixty years ago. Perhaps the greatest change has come in the digging and handling of heavy trees, which used to involve laborious hand labor and is now done more easily and efficiently with heavy equipment.