Colors tinge the edges of leaves, the ground is teeming with grasshoppers, and every flower rushes to produce its seed.
It must be autumn at last.
Welcome, Spring. We’re so happy you’re here.
A Mid-October Mood
Come along on a walk with us this evening…
Late-Summer Love
It’s been hot and humid in the Great Lakes State.
We’re canning peaches, plums, and apricots and seeing the first apples harvested.
Birds, bees, and butterflies are at their busiest, storing away food and fat reserves for the coming cold.
It’s the time of yellow flowers.
And purple.
It’s the time of frogs.
And this year it also happens to be the time of floods.
The pond at Fenner Nature Center looks to be a foot higher than the last time I was there, and on our trip there Friday, the boy and I spied little schools of minnows swimming across the deck.
Frogs have taken to floating lazily at the surface rather than sitting on their customary rocks, which are now submerged.
In a few months the teasel will be brown and far less forgiving to the touch. Leaves that are currently melting will be crispy and skipping along the ground.
Already the international students are moving in at Michigan State University (and disregarding stop signs in the Meijer parking lot while I walk across with my seven-year-old). The rest of the college students will be back by next week. You know how people in the South blitz their grocery stores when the forecast is predicting an inch of snow? I kind of feel like I should be prepping before the U-Hauls start arriving in town.
As always, by this time I’m largely done with summer. But we have a couple very busy months coming up, so I’m trying to relish what’s left of it.
Wildflower Wednesday: Common Blue Violet
Common Name: Common Blue Violet
Scientific Name: Viola sororia
Habitat & Range: woodlands and gardens statewide
Bloom Time: spring
About: If you have ever tried to rid your garden or lawn of violets, you know it is no easy task to dislodge these strong-rooted plants that spread by both underground runners and seeds. If you don’t get all–and I mean all–of that root, you will see them again very soon. At least they are native and make for a cheery presentation in spring. Their flowers can range from white to deep purple, and there is also a yellow variety that is not quite so low to the ground and less common in yards. The flowers can be candied and used as edible decorations on cakes and cupcakes, and even the leaves can be eaten in salads or as cooked greens. So if you can’t get rid of them and you don’t use dangerous fertilizers or pesticides on them, go ahead and eat them! I’ve made peace with the ones in the garden by the gas and electric boxes. But I still pull up about a hundred of them every year from other parts of the yard.
Reference: Wildflowers of Michigan by Stan Tekiela; Adventure Publications, 2000
Wildflower Wednesday: Golden Alexanders
Common Name: Golden Alexanders
Scientific Name: Zizia aurea
Habitat & Range: wet ditches, field, and woods
Bloom Time: spring
About: I bought a couple of these native perennials at a native plant sale in 2009 and they have found a happy home in my shady garden. In fact, they are spreading. The problem is, they’re really only attractive (in the sense of not looking like a weed) when they’re in bloom, which isn’t for very long in the spring. But if you have a woodland garden, they are quite nice as it’s hard to get many flowers in such a setting. They are part of the carrot family and sometimes confused with Wild Parsnip. They are also related to Water Hemlock. In the past they were used to heal wounds and relieve fevers and syphilis, though I couldn’t speak to their effectiveness.
Reference: Wildflowers of Michigan by Stan Tekiela; Adventure Publications, 2000
Wildflower Wednesday: White Sweet Clover
Common Name: White Sweet Clover
Scientific Name: Melilotus alba
Habitat & Range: sunny fields, shorelines, and roadsides
Bloom Time: spring, summer, and fall
About: If you ever walk along the shore of a lake in Michigan, it’s likely you’ve smelled an evocative mixture of sand and water and plant life that creates a permanent memory. It’s also likely that part of this smell cocktail will be White Sweet Clover, a member of the pea family. It’s a non-native plant once grown as a hay crop but, of course, it has escaped and can now be found everywhere. Just like the White Clover, it’s an important nectar source and nearly impossible to eradicate as the seeds can lie dormant for years and can germinate as far as seven inches down into the ground. But hey, at least it smells nice. It also comes in yellow.
Reference: Wildflowers of Michigan by Stan Tekiela; Adventure Publications, 2000
Wildflower Wednesday: Spring Beauty
Common Name: Spring Beauty
Scientific Name: Claytonia virginica
Habitat & Range: wet, shady, deciduous woods
Bloom Time: spring
About: Yes, we’re hurtling toward winter up here in Michigan, but that doesn’t mean we can’t think about spring. A delicate woodland flower that blooms in April or May, the Spring Beauty is found in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. Its tubers are eaten like potatoes, but please don’t dig these up as their numbers are being reduced by over-gathering. Foraging is a fun thing to do (if you know what you’re doing and don’t eat anything poisonous) but people who foraged for these plants in the past (because they actually needed to) usually did so with knowledge of how to keep their sources producing. A lot of foraging hobbyists may go into the woods these days with only knowledge of what can be eaten rather than knowledge of how it should be eaten and preserved for the future. That said, if you’re lost in the woods for days on end next spring and you find some of these, I’m sure it’s okay to eat the tubers to keep from starving to death.
Reference: Wildflowers of Michigan by Stan Tekiela; Adventure Publications, 2000
Wildflower Wednesday: Canada Goldenrod
Common Name: Canada Goldenrod
Scientific Name: Solidago canadensis
Habitat & Range: dry, open fields and prairies
Bloom Time: summer and fall
About: Did you know there are many kinds of Goldenrod? This one is probably the one you see most, but it has many relatives throughout Michigan (over 20) and the rest of the continent (over 100!). A member of the aster family, Goldenrod blooms in August and September and its fluffy white seeds can hang on up into November.
Lots of insects are attracted to Goldenrod, including these guys who are busy procreating:
And Goldenrod seem to be a favorite plant for insects who create galls–those bulbous growths in which the insect then lives and sometimes “farms” its food. Here are three in a row on a Goldenrod stem on Mackinac Island:
Reference: Wildflowers of Michigan by Stan Tekiela; Adventure Publications, 2000
Wildflower Wednesday: False Solomon’s Seal
Common Name: False Solomon’s Seal
Scientific Name: Smilacina racemosa
Habitat & Range: deciduous woods
Bloom Time: spring and summer
About: We’ve been out in the fields for months, but there are plenty of wildflowers to be found in the woods. Most tend to bloom in spring when there is more sunlight getting through to the forest floor, but in the summertime you can spot lots of them by their leaves and berries. False Solomon’s Seal is an easy one to identify. Long, bending stems look a bit like palm branches with simple, alternating leaves that are even attractive when they’re dying:
If your local nursery stocks woodland plants like Trillium and Hepatica and Jack-in-the-Pulpit, odds are they will have this too. That’s where I got mine. Solomon’s Seal is also sold in attractive variegated varieties and can brighten up a shady, tree-filled backyard.
Reference: Wildflowers of Michigan by Stan Tekiela; Adventure Publications, 2000
Erin Bartels 
You must be logged in to post a comment.