THE LUPINE SEASON IS OVER, BUT NOTHING IS EVER A DEAD END

LUPINES ARE DONE BLOOMING...

...WHITE DAISIES HAVE REPLACED THEM...

...ALONG WITH COREOPSIS...

...AND ORANGE HAWKWEED

Thursday, 8:00 AM.  61 degrees F at the ferry dock, 58 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm, the sky overcast with occasional rain, and leaving a trace thereof.  The humidity is 92%, the barometer more or less steady, now at 29.91".  It looks like it will be a quiet, damp morning but the holiday weekend should be sunny with moderate temperatures.

   The cool, rainy spring has given us a full month of Lupine bloom, but the glorious display is now ending, to be replaced in fields and along roadsides with wildflowers and weeds that are every bit as colorful.  I have already mentioned sweet Cicely, but the common white daisy, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, a European import in the Aster Family, now cheers the fields. It is joined by the native yellow Coreopsis lanceolata,  also in the Aster Family.   The common name of Coreopsis is tictickseed, which relates to the seed, that is a familiar "stick tight," clinging to clothing and long haired hunting dogs. Coreopsis  is translated from the classical Greek, and means "bug-like"; the species name is from the Latin, and describes the leaves.
  Lupinus is from the Latin for wolf, the genus so named because it was once thought that it "wolfed" the nutrients of the soil and made it poor for crops.  In actuality the plants fix nitrogen and enrich the soil, but since they grow abundantly on poor, sandy soil they were thought to be the cause, rather than the effect.
   Orange hawkweed, Hieracium aurantiacum, in the Aster Family as well, grows among the daisies and other plants, its orange flowers a pleasing contrast.  The genus name refers to the Latin for hawk, and the species name is Latin for orange-red.  It is more prevalent northward in Wisconsin than in the south.
   An etymological aside: in the 18th Century, when Linaeus and others were establishing the binomial system of classification of living things, many classical Greek words were adopted into the then modern Latin, which was then thought would become the universal language of science.  It did attain that goal in many respects. 

COW PARSNIP: PRETTY, BUT TREAT WITH CAUTION

COW PARSNIP HERB MAY BE AS MUCH AS 8' TALL...

...WITH PINNATELY COMPOUND LEAVES, LEAFLETS DEEPLY LOBED...

...WHITE FLOWERS IN HUGE COMPOUND UMBELS

Wednesday, 7:45 AM.  64 degrees F at the ferry dock, 62 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm, with occasional whispered gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 69%.  The barometer is dropping, now at 30.17".  We may have thunderstorms by tonight, but this morning is beautiful.

   More about the plants along the new Salmo trail through the Pike's Creek marsh: cow parsnip is a very tall, strong herb common throughout most of North America, growing in roadside ditches, marshes and other wet places.  Heraecleum maximum (which has some botanical synonyms) is a member of the Parsley Family, the Umbelliferae.  Everything about the plant is outsize.  It is an herb that can grow to eight feet tall; it has huge compound leaves, and very large white compound flowers growing in flat panicles, or umbels.  I would characterize it as grossly attractive.  It might be confused with the even larger, more-gross, non-native and invasive hog parsnip (which has no redeeming qualities at all) so be sure of its identification before attempting to eradicate the latter.  

   Cow parsnip had some American Indian food and medicinal uses, but it also has the same skin irritant characteristics as many members of the Parsnip Family, and the sap can cause chemical burns to the skin, especially in sunshine, as can hog parsnip as well.

   Like all wild members of the confusing Parsley Family, treat this plant and its lookalikes with  extreme caution.

EARLY WILD ROSE

ROSA BLANDA SHRUB, 5' TALL, THORNLESS...

...FLOWER

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  58 degrees F at the ferry dock, 56 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm.  The sky is clear, the humidity 80%.  The barometer is falling, now at 30.25", predicting thunderstorms Wednesday night and Thursday morning.  The holiday weekend should be pleasant and sunny.

   Yesterday's post described the new Salmo (the original name of lumber baron Pike's mansion nearby) trail through the Pike's Creek marsh.  There were some interesting plants along the trail, which I didn't mention.  Among them were some very pretty wild roses, that I have identified as Rosa blanda, which is known by several common names, among them early wild rose, meadow rose, and prairie rose.  

   It is native to southeastern Canada, the Great Lakes states, and south and west into the prairie states.  Its flowers are mostly single, with five petals that are light to dark pink.  The flowers have little scent.  The leaves are pinnately compound, the leaflets toothed.  The plant is virtually thornless. which is a good identification characteristic. The shrubs along the trail are about 5' tall.

   Rosa blanda grows in full sun to part shade, and prefers sandy soil and a moist location. The red rose hips add winter interest.  Although it is not as floriferous as cultivated roses it is quite pretty, and is a good plant for native landscapes.

SALMO TRAIL

A COOPERATIVE VENTURE,..

...BRIDGES OVER PIKE'S CREEK...

...BOARD WALKS...

...GRAVEL TRAILS...

...THROUGH SWAMP AND FOREST...

...DESTINATION: A SECLUDED LITTLE BEACH

Monday, 7:45 AM.  61 degrees at the ferry dock, 59 on the back porch.  Wind WNW, breezy.  The sky was overcast but is clearing fast.  The humidity is 81%, the barometer rising rapidly, now at 29.98".  There are chances of a thunderstorm on Thursday but the rest of the week looks nice,  It is a fine morning.

   I have a City of Bayfield Tree Board meeting this morning.  We will have a short business meeting and then go out and do training pruning on the newly planted trees.

   Yesterday before supper Buddy and I checked out the just completed Salmo Trail, which has a small parking lot on the east side of Hwy. 13, across from the Pikes Creek fish hatchery.  It is perhaps a quarter-mile long and leads through a large marsh, across Pike's Creek and to a small, secluded sand beach on Lake Superior.  

   It has a series of  bridges and board walks, interspersed with gravel walks, that go through the wetlands that Pike's Creek loses itself in on its way to the lake.  It is a very pleasant little trail, and will be great for nature study and birding, particularly for waterfowl and marsh birds. 

   It was funded by several governmental entities, including the Town of Bayfield, and with private donations and volunteer work. 

   Buddy and I enjoyed it, and we look forward to walking it with granddaughter Allison on her next visit. Bayfield has a number of good walking trails around the city, and this adds to the mix nicely

HARDY AZALEAS AND RHODODENDRONS

HYBRID AZALEA SHRUB 'GOLDEN LIGHTS'...

...FLOWER BRACT

PJM RHODODENDRON, JUNEBERRY AND FORSYTHIA

Sunday, 8:15 AM.  72 degrees F at the ferry dock, 65 on the back porch.  Wind SW, light with stronger gusts.  The sky is clear except for a band of wispy white clouds blowing in on the SW wind.  The humidity has dropped to 61% after a stormy evening that left almost a half inch of rain in the gauge.  The barometer is steady for now, at 29.81".  It looks like a somewhat unsettled week ahead weather wise.

   There are a number of cold hardy species, varieties and hybrids of rhododendrons and azaleas.  Both rhododendrons and azaleas are members of the genus Rhododendron, the main difference is that the former are are evergreen, retaining their leaves in the winter, and the latter are deciduous.  Wisconsin has only one native species of Rhododendron, and that a very rare relict of glaciation that grows in small, isolated populations north of Madison in the Dells of the Wisconsin River. and on the cliffs of the Kickapoo River.  R. lapponicum, the Lapland rhododendron, is a disjunct, far out of its native range a thousand miles north.

   The University of Minnesota has introduced cold hardy azalea hybrids, the Northern Lights series, that can withstand northern Wisconsin winters, but as do all Rhododendrons they require an acid soil and some care in location and planting. Being near the insulating waters of Lake Superior is of course helpful.  A few other species and hybrids are also hardy, including PJM, a selection of the Korean rhododendron. There are also some hardy introductions from Canada and Finland.
   I have a protected location where I am growing some of the Northern Lights hybrids and other Rhododendrons. Both 'Golden Lights' and 'Rosy Lights' have established well and bloomed every spring, but this year 'Rosy Lights' had not a flower, whereas 'Golden Lights' has been very floriferous.  I am mystified, but that is half the fun of the game.  I will try fertilizing with an acid based fertilizer.

   For more information on hardy Rhododendron, see Azaleas and Rhododendrons for Minnesota, by Michael Zins, University of Minnesota Extension.

  

AMERICAN VETCH

AMERICAN VETCH GROWING AMONG  ROADSIDE GRASSES...

...PURPLE FLOWER SPIKES...

...COMPOUND LEAVES

Saturday, 8:30 AM.  70 degrees F at the ferry dock, 69 on the back porch.  Wind WSW, calm with light gusts. The sky is mostly cloudy and hazy, the humidity 84%.  The barometer is taking a dive, now at 29.80". It will be a moderately hot, humid and hazy day with rain predicted for later this evening.  I am pleased that I got most of my outdoor painting done yesterday and that it has had a chance to dry.
   American vetch, Vicea americana, in the Pea Family, the Leguminosae, is an unassuming little herb that would easily go unnoticed in the roadside grasses except for its spikes of purple flowers that, unusual for their color, draw one's eye to it.  It is a trailing or climbing herb that has typical, but diminutive, pea flowers attached to an upright flower spike, and many leaflets to a pinnately compound leaflet.  It has terminal tendrils for climbing.
   American vetch is common throughout much of North America and is useful as an under story plant  in reforestation projects.

DEWBERRIES

DEWBERRY, WITH BOTH FLOWERING AND VEGETATIVE CANES...

DEWBERRY FLOWERING CANES...

....DEWBERRIES (Goog;e photo)...

FIVE-PETALED FLOWERS...

Friday, 7:45 AM.  61 degrees F at the ferry dock, 58 on the back porch.  Wind SW, calm with light gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 87%.  The barometer has headed down, now at 30.03".  Thunderstorms are predicted for tomorrow evening and later; I am trying to get some staining done on the deck and porch but we keep getting high humidity or rain.

   Dewberries are essentially low or creeping blackberries or brambles. like other blackberries, they have first year canes bearing leaves only, called primocanes; and second year canes bearing flowers, called floricanes.  The brambles (blackberries) are in the genus Rubus, in the Rose Family.  They are are a confusing lot, and only an expert taxonomist can love them.  Add to that the daunting fact that they are quite thorny and mostly they will be, at best,  lumped together in groups by most observers, including myself.

   The dewberries are species of Rubus (ancient Latin for blackberries) that are prostrate or trailing, with three or five leaflets to a leaf and a black, edible berry that does not separate from its stalk.  The bushes are perhaps two feet tall at best.  The dewberry pictured is found in abundance on the Sioux River beach, and I will identify it as R. flagellaris or R. hispida.  As either species name implies, they are armed with thorns.
   Dewberries are an important wildlife food and were much used by indigenous people.  They play an important role in stabilizing the beach sand and are good for eating and for preserves, and a tea can be made from the leaves.

  

SWEET CICELY

A WILD AND WINDY VISIT TO THE BEACH

SWEET CICELY JUST STARTED BLOOMING...

DEEPLY LOBED, OPPOSITE LEAVES ALONG THE FLOWER STALK ...

...AWESOME AMONG THE LAST LUPINES

Thursday, 7:30 AM.  54 degrees F at the ferry dock, 52 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm.  The sky has a high overcast, after a surprise shower last night that left a quarter inch of rain in the gauge.  Humidity 89%, barometer 29.99" and steady.  It looks like more rain and warm weather for Saturday then clearing;  I have exterior painting to do and am looking for some sunny and dry weather,

   Buddy and I went to the beach yesterday around dinner time and fortunately got blown back to the truck before we could freeze to death.  The wind was truly brutal, the waves attacking the beach with vengeance, and the temperature more like October than June; so much for Global Warming in Bayfield!

   My favorite wildflower, sweet Cicely, Osmorhiza chilensis, in the Parsley Family, the Umbelliferae, has just come into bloom.  There are a number of species of Osmorhiza with the same common name and general properties, but I am pretty sure of its scientific name because it is very specific to Bayfield County near Lake Superior.  In any case this species, as are others in the genus, is very sweet scented.  The plant parts have a licorice flavor, and decoctions of it were used in native American medicine for many ailments.
   Note: extreme caution should be used with all members of the parsley family, as they can be confusing, and some are deadly poisonous.
   O. chilensis is found on the Bayfield peninsula, the far western US and coastal regions of South America.

HIGHBUSH CRANBERRY

HIGHBUSH CRANBERRY,,,

...COMPOUND FLOWERS...

...FRUIT (Google photo)

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 59 degrees F at the ferry dock, 56 on the back porch.  Wind ENE, light with slightly stronger gusts. The sky is partly cloudy with some haze, the humidity 68%.  The barometer is more or less steady, currently at 29.93".  The weather should be cool and pleasant until the possibility of thunderstorms sometime Saturday.  

   Highbush cranberry, Viburnum americanum, in the Honeysuckle Family, the Caprifoliaceae, is not a cranberry at all, which are in the Heath Family, the Ericaceae.  Its common name comes from the similarity of its fruits to the true cranberry.  Highbush cranberries are almost through blooming now, and will soon set fruit, which will persist into late fall and some through the winter, when it will be an important late winter wildlife food.
   The berries are edible  and very nutritious, but are extremely acidic and can hardly be eaten raw, although they make fine jams and jellies.  The whole plant, which is a large shrub at maturity, is very decorative, with large, flat, compound white flowers followed by bright red fruit and excellent fall foliage colors of orange and red.

   Highbush cranberry prefers a moist location but will grow on drier sites when planted.  It is somewhat shade tolerant, its natural habitat being the margins of wet woods and swamps.  Its geographical range is across Canada and the northern US.  It is closely related to the Eurasian V. opulus, and is often considered a variety of that species.  Both are important food sources of indigenous cultures throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
   Highbush cranberry is a very useful landscape plant, especially for native or naturalistic plantings, and my designs often include them for their decorative and wildlife qualities.

WEARING A LIE

o

THE OLD MAN WEARS HIS URBAN FORESTRY HAT...

,,,UNFORTUNATELY, HE IS WEARING A LIE

 LOVE "THE DONALD" OR HATE HIM, THESE HATS ARE AMERICAN MADE, BY LATINO WORKERS, IN LOS ANGELES, USA

Tuesday, 7:30 AM.  63 degrees F at the ferry dock, 58 on the back porch.  Wind variable, calm with occasional moderate gusts.  The sky is mostly sunny, with a few scattered, puffy white clouds.  The humidity has risen to 69% and the barometer is falling, now at 29.91".  We might get some rain by tomorrow night, but today should be pleasant and comfortable.
   I recently received a cap from Arbor Day Foundation that I should probably have given to a school kid, but I needed a cap..so there!
   Anyway, I thought it really neat that it is made by a company called "Cap America."  Rightly or wrongly, I assumed with that by name and ambition it was an American company.  Alas, looking at the label I saw that it was made in China.  To say that I was put off by that fact is to put it mildly.
   Now, I have nothing against the Chinese people, and I appreciate them coming to America as tourists and spending some of the money they make from selling us ball caps and such, but we have to have jobs for our own folks to do that don't require a PHD degree (including jobs for unemployed PHDs).  And try as I may, I find it hard to believe that Americans of any degree or status can't be competitive behind a sewing machine; I know my mother would have been.  And I can't for the life of me see why an honest entrepreneur with a good business plan couldn't compete with the Chinese Peoples Army or whomever makes Chinese ball caps, if the playing field were even remotely level.
   So here I am, as my mother would have said, "wearing a lie," and damned unhappy about it.
   Enter Donald Trump and his campaign ball caps proclaiming his motto, "Make America Great Again."  They are made by an American company in Los Angeles, and primarily by Latino workers, who have been making time and a half overtime keeping up with demand for the company's products.
   I may or may not vote for "The Donald," but I am going to buy one of the ball caps made by  the Cali-Fame company, of Los Angeles, USA.

WHITE PINES ARE SHEDDING POLLEN

WHITE PINE MALE (POLLEN) CONE...

...HUGE DRIFTS OF POLLEN BLOWING EVERYWHERE

Monday, 8:15 AM.  68 degrees F at the ferry dock, 64 on the back porch.  Wind W, light to moderate with quite strong gusts.  The sky is clear with some haze, the humidity down to 61%, a great relief from the oppressiveness of yesterday.  The barometer is rising or steady, now at 29,92".  The week holds some chances of rain, but should be mostly warm, and drier.  This morning is gorgeous.

   Yesterday was extremely windy, with gusts up to 40 mph (my guess).  Boat traffic was nonexistent, and thunder rolled all evening, although there was little rain accompanying it.  It was just the kind of wind and weather to blow the pollen out of the ripe male (pollen) cones of the white pines (Pinus strobus), and whenever the wind blew with authority the golden pollen emanated from the pine trees in huge, dusty clouds.

   Looking down the street the view ahead could be clouded, as though in a mist.  Sitting on the back porch was akin to being in a desert sand storm, except the pollen was finer than any sand.  It settled on everything, and caused a lot of sneezing.  Buddy is coughing a lot and seems to be allergic to something, and pine pollen might be the culprit.

   Pine pollen evidently has many health benefits, and is used in Chinese traditional medicine, also as a food.   I have never eaten any but may give it a try and see whether I like it or not.

   The white pines shed their pollen in pretty much the same manner every year, but it is always amazing to see.  The male cones are located on the lower branches, so that the pollen rises on the wind gusts to fertilize the female cones at the top of the trees, from whence the ripe seeds can be easily disseminated by birds, squirrels and wind.  

   Nature covers all the bases, and leaves little  to chance.

TWO PEAS

SUNBURST HONEYLOCUST TREE

BLACK LOCUST TREE

BLACK LOCUST FLOWERS

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  67 degrees F at the ferry dock and on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with occasional light to moderate gusts.  The sky was clear but is clouding up and is very hazy. The humidity is still 95%, and the barometer is taking a dive, now at 30.07".  It looks like we may get showers again later or this evening, but clearing into the week.

   Two trees in the Pea Family, the Leguminoseae, are evident now; one, the sunburst honey locust, 

Glleditsia triacanthos inermis 'Sunburst', is noted for its golden spring leaf color; the other, Robinia pseudoacacia, is noted for its panicles of beautiful creamy,  scented flowers and its thorny and invasive nature.

   The sunburst locust is thornless (inermis), flowerless and fruitless (being a male tree) and has little to offer except one season of interest. Most honeylocust trees have wicked, three pronged thorns (triacanthos). The black locust is a terribly invasive tree that is a nasty invader of farm fields.  It is, however, quite beautiful when established, and if one can tolerate its thorns and invasiveness is nice to have around. At this season all of Wisconsin will have it in bloom on hillsides and in hedgerows.  Both trees have pinnately compound leaves, and it is thought by some that the biblical reference to the Israelites eating locusts in the desert referred actually to eating honeylocust tree seed pods, which have a thick, sweet interior.

   They are two peas, but are not in the same pod.

THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE GETS HIS DUE

TH WISCONSIN URBAN FORESTRY COUNCIL MEETS AT THE BAYFIELD PAVILION

THE OLD MAN GETS A PLAQUE...

...BEAUTIFULLY DONE

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  63 degrees F at the ferry dock and on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm.  The sky is clear with some haze, the humidity still 91%.  The barometer has started to fall some, now at 30.18".  We may get a thunderstorm today or tomorrow and it will be warmer.

   The Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council, which is advisory to the Governor and the Department of Natural Resources on urban forestry matters, met for the first time in Bayfield yesterday.  It gave me an opportunity to take  them on a tour of our city street tree program, as well as to see some Bayfield agri-businesses (Hauser's Orchards and Highland Valley blueberry farm).  It was a lot of effort on my part but it was an opportunity to give back something to a group that has been a large part of my life for the last eight years.  I had another year left on the Council before mandatory retirement (three terms) but felt it was time for someone with more energy and current forestry and management knowledge to take my place.

   My role in life has usually been as Devil's Advocate and general pain in the butt, and that is the role that I have played on the Council.  Evidently it has been appreciated, or at least tolerated, since they presented me with a beautiful walnut plaque.  Either that or they wanted to be absolutely sure I wouldn't change my mind.

   Even the Devil's Advocate sometimes gets his due.

  

SMOKING A HAVANA AND DRINKING BATHTUB GIN

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD WOULD BE RIGHT AT HOME IN BAYFIELD

A MODEL T FORD RUNABOUT AMONG THE ROLLS-ROYCES

RIGHT OUT OF THE GREAT GATSBY

Friday (posted Thursday night).

   Today, Friday,  the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council is holding its quarterly meeting in Bayfield, and I am the official host.  We will have our regular business meeting and then tour the City's tree projects, and then on to Houser's Orchard and Flower Farm and Highland Valley Berry Farm.  It will be a busy day, and my last meeting, as I think it time for someone with fresher ideas and more ambition to take my place (after eight years on the Council),

   Yesterday Bayfield was visited by a veritable fleet of pre-WWI automobiles, mostly huge touring phaetons, Rolls-Royces and such.  Of course there were a few diminutive Ford Model T's in the mix, the mass-produced everyman's auto that would change the world.

   Jay Gatsby would have been right at home behind the wheel of several of the old behemoths, smoking a Havana and drinking bathtub gin.

BUTTERCUPS AND ANEMONES ARE BLOOMING

BUTTERCUP FLOWERS...

BUTTERCUP LEAF

CANADA ANEMONE FLOWER...

WITH TYPICAL "CROWFOOT" LEAVES

Thursday, 8:00 AM.  53 degrees F at the ferry dock, 49 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm, the sky clear.  Humidity is 89% and the barometer steady at 30.02".  Today and tomorrow should be beautiful, but the weekend has a chance of thunderstorms.  The ferry boats will be getting new mufflers, as folks have been complaining that they have gotten too loud.  Can't say I have noticed.
   Buttercups and crowfoots are mostly herbs in the Crowfoot Family, the Ranunculaceae.  The flowers are usually yellow, thus the buttercup common name.  Buttercups and crowfoots have leaves that are deeply and sharply lobed, looking somewhat like a crow's foot.  They are mostly plants of damp waste places, fields and roadsides.  Many are common weeds or roadside plants of world-wide distribution.
   The common buttercup shown, Ranunculus acris, is blooming now and is very attractive along our roadsides. The five-petaled, shinning, waxy flowers are prominent on long stalks that raise them high above the basal leaves.  The genus name refers to the Latin word for frog, and relates to the fact that many crowfoot plants are water species. The species name refers to the acrid juice of the crushed plant.
   The genus Anemone is also in the crowfoot family.  Anemomes often have prominent flowers, and A. canadensis is a quite beautiful North American wildflower native to damp and shady locations such as stream banks and lake shores.  It spreads by stolens and often forms large colonies.  These are growing along Pike's Creek where it crosses Hwy. 13, just south of Bayfield.
   Plants in the Ranunculaceae are often used in herbal medicine, and many are quite poisonous.  One should be careful when handling the crowfoots, as some can cause dermatological reactions, and it is best not to put the plant parts in one's mouth, as acrid juices can be an irritant.  The Anemones in particular  should be handled or used with caution.