As we move past the summer solstice, John is thinking of the cold days of April. Since then, the natural world hasn’t just caught up to seasonal averages but is now speeding past them: John’s observed events up to ten days earlier than typical.
Please note as schools let out for the summer, we become more and more hungry for reports for our Phenology Talkbacks segment. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with your observations, nature tales and insights! Get in touch with me (smitchell@kaxe.org), John Latimer (jlatimer@kaxe.org), or text "phenology" to 218-326-1234.
Water-loving plants
One of the things he noticed this week was an inch-wide, deep purple flower: the marsh cinquefoil. As the name suggests, it’s found primarily in swamps, marshes, and other wet areas. However, despite its cinquefoil name, it commonly has six to eight petals tightly packed together.
The tufted loosestrife is another wetland flower blooming right now. This plant has fuzzy-looking yellow flowers sprouting from each junction of a leaf with the stem. The upper parts of these ‘joints’ are called axils, and they’re where you should look if you’re on the hunt for the tufted loosestrife flowers.
A little further into the wetland, especially on lakes with mucky bottoms, you may find an interesting plant called the common bladderwort. It has an odd-looking and complex yellow flower with what looks like red veins running across the center. The bladderwort gets its name from small ‘bladders’ that control buoyancy. When needed, the plant will fill the bladder with air to help it float, or with water to help it sink.
Small hairs on the outside of the bladders also react to touch, opening quickly and suctioning in whatever microscopic organism made the mistake of touching the trigger hairs. It then secretes enzymes to break down and digest its prey. However, not all of the microorganisms that are captured are devoured: the bladderwort also forms symbiotic relationships with several other microorganisms which help it lure and digest its prey. In turn, the bladderwort offers shelter and a stable microhabitat.
While admiring the bladderworts, you may also stumble across the fragrant white water lily. They began to bloom over the last week, and are always worth a moment or two of appreciation!
Upland plants
Back on land, the Joe-Pye weeds have developd flower buds but have not yet bloomed. The leaves of this plant are green tinged with purple or burgundy along the edge (or margin) of the leaf. The leaves emerge in whorls, with 4-5 leaves coming out of the same height on the stem.
On high ground, you will find spreading dogbane, which is 4 feet tall at this point in the season. It has deep green leaves, bright red stems, and white flowers with pink streaks. This plant is quite common and is a helpful plant to note for phenology purposes: it is one of the first plants to turn yellow in the fall, changing color in mid-August. Right now, it is also the preferred nectar plant for butterflies and moths!
Speaking of our fluttering friends, John spotted monarchs, tiger swallowtails, and Northern pearly-eye butterflies this week, all visiting the spreading dogbane at some point. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to preserve any patches of spreading dogbane you might have nearby- they're a butterfly magnet!
Yarrow has begun to bloom, showing large white discs of flowers above sage-green, fern-like leaves. Cow parsnip also shows a disc of white flowers, but it is 5-9 feet tall and its flower disc is the size of a dinner plate: much larger than the yarrow! In addition, the cow parsnip has maple-shaped leaves, not the fern-like leaves of the yarrow.
Tall buttercup is also in flower: look for its bright, shiny-yellow flowers. The flowers are covered with a clear layer of cells, giving the petals an epoxy-like shine and acting as a protective layer. This also makes the petals more reflective, casting a yellow hue on nearby surfaces.
Plant progression:
- Fruiting:
- Shrubs: Hazels, nannyberry, black chokeberry, chokecherry, pin cherry
- Trees: Balsam poplar
- Done flowering:
- Forbs: Jack-in-the-pulpit
- Peak flowering:
- Forbs: Raspberry, blackberry, smooth rose
- Begun to flower:
- Forbs: Red clover, cow parsnip, Canada anemone, thimbleberry, bush honeysuckle, black bindweed, hairy vetch, showy lady-slipper
- Not yet flowering:
- Forbs: Woodbine
Critter watch
While scanning his beloved plants, John noticed many spittle bugs on the stems. These insects are nothing to be afraid of, so long as they aren’t in large numbers. The ‘spittle’ is produced by the larva, which drinks the plant juices and produce bubbles by wiggling their hind end rapidly. (How’s that for a party trick?) The resulting ‘spittle’ hides them from predators and keeps them from drying out in the summer sun.
While out on an excursion this week, John met a Green-winged Teal. The teal swam much closer to John than is usual, so he suspects that he had wandered close to her nest (especially since he had his dog Mila with him, and ducks generally avoid Mila’s company!).
He saw a Wood Duck with 10 chicks. If you're a boater, it’s a good time of year to take a leisurely pace and keep your wake down so the little ones can flourish!
John’s friend Dallas has seen Trumpeter Swan cygnets, but John has yet to see any on Crooked Lake. He has seen the father swan, and is hoping the mother is on the nest or is caring for the babies in the shallows.
We can look forward to seeing the cygnets and more as we move into the middle of summer! Keep your eyes out, your ears open, and take some time to enjoy it.
That does it for this week! For more phenology, subscribe to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.
Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
