John's off to a roaring start this week with big news (for phenologists)! Bindweed is blooming in the Grand Rapids area (six days later than average), and our phavorite phenologist is pheeling just phantastic about it. John suspects that most people will see the 2-3 inch wide white or pink trumpet-shaped flowers and think, "oh, morning glory," but Momma Nature's just playing one of her tricks! Morning glory doesn't grow in Northern Minnesota unless someone plants it. Looking at the plant more closely, you'll see arrowhead-shaped leaves: morning glories have heart-shaped leaves. It always pays to get a good look before jumping to conclusions!
The low bindweed is an interesting plant, having small, oval-shaped leaves and growing a mere six inches tall but retaining those big flowers (almost half the size of the plant itself). It grows in sandy, dry soils and (oddly) doesn't bind other weeds; it's one of the few non-vining species! In contrast, the hedge bindweedwraps, twists, and climbs over other plants, grows everywhere except in sandy soils, and has arrowhead-shaped leaves. Black-bindweed is also blooming and frequently grows in yards. It has a red stem and tiny white flowers the size of pinheads. Like the hedge bindweed, it is a vining plant. John says, "If it can find it, it will climb it!"
Also prominent these days are the red elderberries, with big clusters of temptingly vibrant red berries. Red elderberries are food for song sparrows, robins, and white-throated sparrows; they get eaten, move fast through the digestive tract, and hit the ground on the other end with a bit of bonus nitrogen to get them started. I'll just write the rest of this bit verbatim:
"The same thing would happen if you ate the seeds. They would run right through you, and you would have to go and... uh... plant those seeds somewhere. If you were out in the woods, you might just plant them willy-nilly the way the birds do. Yeah. It's, uh, not an edible berry, the red elderberry. It's got some chemistry in it that'll rush the whole thing through your system in a hurry. And unless you're prepared for that, I'd stay away from them and let the birds have them."
Good to know, John, good to know!
Moving on from that crappy topic, let's talk about juneberries! They are nearly ripe but not quite there yet; the ones in sunny areas are showing some red but haven't ripened completely. Juneberries ripen asynchronously, with only a few ripe berries on a shrub at a time. This means the birds can get to them pretty quickly while we humans are waiting around to gather enough for a good pie. John recommends covering the bush with netting if you're determined to get those berries! He notes that some years are so productive that the birds can't eat them all, in which case you might be able to gather plenty without having to use netting. John's not taking the chance, though!
The winterberry, or northern holly, is flowering later than it usually does. John monitors two plants: one in the shade and one in a sunny spot along a trail. The sunny one flowered about three weeks ago and has already set fruit; in contrast, the one in the sade is just now flowering. Both plants flowered later than average (yes, he tracks the individual plants' flowering dates year by year!). Black-eyed Susans are following the trend, blooming six days later than in a typical year (they flowered on the 4th of July, while the average is June 28th).
Other plants are catching up to the 'normal' schedule; basswoods are covered in flower buds and on the cusp of bloom. The average is July 8th, so they're on track for their usual schedule! John says, "You may have basswoods blooming in your neighborhood. If that's the case, write it down and see how it compares next year! By golly, pretty soon you'll be an actual phenologist, which is not too bad a deal, you know?" (I imagine that becoming an Actual Phenologist includes some sort of mystical knighting ceremony where a winged, glowing, angelic John Latimer-adjacent being descends from the clouds to bequeath a calendar, a spotting scope, and a rite-in-the-rain notebook. I'll give y'all the deets if I ever attain Actual Phenologist status.)
John and his dog took a walk to a black cherry tree last week (there aren't many in Northern Minnesota- John, with uncharacteristic sapthirstiness, estimates there are enough to make a table, some chairs, and maybe a sideboard). He was able to find some fruits on the tree, so he's looking forward to some cherries this year. He hopes to grow another one since this tree has proven its success in Northern Minnesota.
While John was admiring the black cherry, his dog flushed a grouse! Another followed it, then another, and then three more. The last five were juveniles about the size of a pigeon but capable of flight (lucky for them!). The birds landed in trees and shrubs all around John, which he enjoyed!
You may remember last week's somewhat gloomy episode involving the dead cygnet (baby swan) that John found at the end of his driveway. He suspected a bird of prey had killed it and dropped it by accident; he left it there because "once it's dead, it might as well be food for somebody.". This week, there's good news! The swans were out on the lake yesterday, and the adults had three cygnets swimming alongside them. John has seen as many as seven cygnets in a year, but three isn't a bad number (he's not sure how many they started with). He wishes the swans and the remaining cygnets all the best (and so do we!).
The hazels are showing their fruit, though it'll be another six weeks until those fruits become ripe. When they do, competition is fierce. John says, "everybody wants some of those rich nuts!". To John, it looks like an average crop; he monitors two American hazels and one beaked hazel, and none show signs of a bounty year.
John found some harebells this week, which have blue, bell-shaped flowers. Two plants in Northern Minnesota have flowers like this: the common bellflower and the harebell. The bellflower will have flowers on one side of the stalk and tall, big leaves; the harebell has very skinny leaves, like blades of grass. He also found irises blooming and some of his favorite flowers, the maiden pinks; they bloom in sandy, dry soils, have five petals, and are "shockingly pink" in color.
Finally, John instructs us to "turn off your radio, enjoy the morning, and pick up some wildflowers! Check out the hazel in your yard, or look at the basswood and see if it's flowering yet."
That does it for this week! Remember that you can send in your reports, anecdotes, and observations! We would love to hear from you (or your children/grandchildren). Contact me (smitchell@kaxe.org) or John (jlatimer@kaxe.org), or text 'phenology' to 218-326-1234.
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