Autumn White Vervain

White Vervain in Autumn. I thought it pretty in summer, but think these autumn-dried sprigs even more spectacular.

Thursday Thirteen 342: An (Un)guided Walk

Sunday, Jul 13, 2014

Pisces Daily Horoscope
You shouldn't try to go it alone today — things are too complicated for that. Teamwork is easier to make work than usual, even if your people are recalcitrant or tied up with internal conflict.

This is kind of funny, considering the guided walk that wasn't. I don't know about recalcitrant or internal conflict, but teamwork was certainly the word of the day Sunday afternoon, when I decided to go on the guided walk at Grady Tract/UW Arboretum. I like to go on these occasionally to refresh my memory and learn about new-to-me plants.

I was fifteen minutes early, with others arriving soon after. By ten past the hour, a naturalist had yet to show, which is unusual as they're usually one of the first to arrive. By quarter after, someone suggested we go on our own, seeing as it was a small group. One couple had never been, another couple had not been there in three years except to ski, and the rest of us have been on the guided walks many times before. Naturally, the one weekend when a naturalist fails to show, all of us who own the UW Prairie Plants book . . . leave our books at home. In fact, I had been looking up something in mine just prior to walking up there. Figures, right?

So, about twenty minutes after the walk was to begin, our small group set off through the woods — stopping maybe once, as opposed to the half dozen times we would have stopped with a guide. We pointed out what we saw as we walked, such as the glacial kettle hole and the narrow trail crossing it choked by poison ivy (being a natural species, they do not eradicate poison ivy).

Our destinations were Grady Knoll and Greene Prairie. Three weeks ago, the knoll was blanketed in pink goat's-rue. The predominate color now is purple, as both lead plant and wild bergamot are in full bloom — and there is a plethora of both. There is also the occasional orange of butterfly-weed, the silver of sage, and the yellow of black-eyed susans and a few late-blooming puccoons. There was another yellow flower on the verge of blooming, the name of which none of us could remember. I kept wanting to say foxglove, as I know it also grows on Grady Knoll in summer, but that did not seem right. The name was on the tip of my tongue all afternoon. Naturally, it came to me as soon as I got home — primrose. Sigh.

My camera battery started indicating low battery on my walk up there, and while I was hoping it would make it through the day, it held out until we reached Greene Prairie. Which prompted my return Monday after work, to photograph what I'd missed the day before, before it disappeared. There is a saying here that if you return every two weeks, you'll see something different. Similarly, what is blooming today may not be there tomorrow, or a week later.

Two weeks ago the prairie was awash in white, as tall beard-tongue and indigo were in bloom. There is still some indigo, but beard-tongue has almost completely died out. Now, wild bergamot and lead-plant are as prolific here as up on the knoll, with gay-feathers also on the verge of blooming. There is also a riot of yellow coreopsis and St. John's Wort. We also saw mountain mint, blue vervain, rattle snake master, prairie dock, a few compass plants (they have not done as well this year — apparently they like dryer conditions than we have seen), culver's root, spreading dogbane, goldenrod and many other familiar plants.

As we wandered through Greene Prairie, we made quite a find — a rare prairie white fringed orchid. Take that, naturalist who failed to show up! We backtracked a bit to see if there were others, but did not see any. Doesn't mean they aren't there, just that they are not visible from the trail. One member of our group whipped out his phone, took a photo of it and emailed it to a couple of Arboretum naturalists he knew. These orchids are an endangered species, so they will want to document it.

Returning to the main entrance, we discovered a young mulberry tree in among the Evjue Pines that I don't recall seeing before. Not far past it, I found a small patch of Deadly Nightshade. Although the book says it grows throughout the Arboretum, this was the first time I've actually seen it inside the Arb, though I have seen plenty along the nearby bike path. And yes, it really is poisonous.

Here are a few of the many flowering plants seen on our self-guided walk, or on my return visit Monday afternoon.




Dotted Horsemint — I actually saw this Monday evening,
when I took a different route to the Knoll.




Bouncing Bet — seen by the Dotted Horsemint




Lead-Plant




Black-Eyed Susan




Heal-All




Common Yarrow is distinuishable by its feathery green leaves




Blue Vervain




Primrose, photographed Monday — had they been in bloom on Sunday,
I might have come up with the name as soon as we saw them.



Prairie White Fringe Orchid — a Wisconsin Endangered and
Federally Threatened Species



Common St. John's-Wort



A pair of Sandhill Cranes has taken up residence on Greene Prairie



Rain-kissed Phlox — taken on Monday's return trip, after a brief rain shower



Mountain Mint

LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Random Photo: So many petals

Seems like something new comes into bloom every week along the bike path. As you can see, there is a lot of purple right now.

Pale purple coneflower --a Wisconsin threatened species

I love the curled petal on this one

Closeup of Blue Vervain

Prairie clover in their colorful dresses

I have no idea what this is, as I cannot find it in my plant book --
I'm seeing a lot of it in one section of the bike trail, though. 

Thistles are just starting to bloom

Wild Bergamot (or bee balm, to some of you)

Black-eyed Susans

Wordless Wednesday 146: Dunn's Marsh

A selection of photos taken from a recent walk through Dawley Conservancy and Dunn's Marsh, accessible by road as well as several state and local bike trails. Click on any photo for a larger view.

Blue Vervain and Cattails

Bridge at the intersection of several bike trails

Looking out over Dunn's Marsh from the Cannonball Bike Path.
The Capitol City State Trail runs along the opposite shore.

A doe along the Cannonball. We stood looking at each other a good five
minutes, before a toddler a quarter mile behind me let out a loud screech
that sent the doe crashing through the underbrush.

Can you see the ducks behind the reeds?

It's hard to get a good view of the pond this time of year.

One of several inlets around the pond.

Groundhog -- I've seen a lot of them this year!

Swamp Milkweed usually flowers mid-June to Mid-August in wet habitats,
and is attractive to monarchs and other species of butterflies.



Meadowsweet along the Cannonball Path. This is a
fragrant member of the rose family that grows in marshy areas.



For more photos, see the following posts from last week:

In Search of Sunflowers

Skywatch Friday 71


LINKING TO:

Wordless Wednesday

Create With Joy

Random Photo

Walking along Wingra Creek, 8 July 2015 . . .

Blue Vervain

Water lily

Rattlesnake Master

Thursday Thirteen 260: Random

1. Fall officially arrived on Saturday, bringing a cold front in with it that dropped the overnight temp here down to 32. Yes, we had our first freeze warning of the year.

2. Needless to say, I have already put away the shorts and hauled out the turtlenecks.

3. I was glad I had dug out my warm scarf and gloves when I ran errands Saturday morning. Not only was it cold, but windy. Just wish I'd grabbed the warmer coat as well.

4. I was happy to get home again, where I could curl up with a new book and a warm afghan for a few hours.

5. Temperatures in the 30s and 40s have made for a cold apartment over the past week and a half. I arrived home Wednesday evening to a welcoming sensation: they had turned the heat on during the day. It's nice to be toasty warm without wearing three layers.

6. The cooling temps mean summer flowers are dying off and autumn flora blooming. I'm seeing fewer prairie thistles, black-eyed and brown-eyed susans, and wild chicory on my walks and more asters, mums, and vervain.

7. The leaves are already changing color, though they are not expected to be as vibrant this year due to the drought.

8. 2012 is officially the hottest year on record, with 75 to 80 percent of the US suffering drought conditions—some areas worse than others.

9. The corn and soybean crops were hit hard this year. Some farmers harvested cornstalks in July, operating under the attitude that even if there were no ears of corn on them, it was still fodder for cattle. Some fruit orchards were also hard hit, first by the hot March, then frost in April, followed by months of drought.

10. One nearby apple orchard said they were expecting a 75 percent loss this year after the above normal temps of March, but the bit of rain we had at end of July was just enough to reduce their loss to 40-50 percent. Of course, that's still about a $100,000 loss. 

11. Pumpkins also fared better than expected, and I've seen a few in yards and on front porches this week. Can't wait to see more fall and Halloween decorations in the coming month!

12. Fall, of course, means football season. If the NFL doesn't settle the contract dispute with the refs soon, it will be a long and even uglier season than it already has been. I think Paige did an admirable job "tackling" this topic last week.

13. If you haven't heard about the debacle in Seattle Monday night, you likely live under a rock. Though the NFL concedes an error was made, they refuse to overturn the score. Now the Worst. Call. Ever. has it's own t-shirt, selling for $12.07

—the rightful score of Monday's game. I also like their Instant Replay shirt.  

More Thursday Thirteen Topics

Wordless Wednesday 150: Frost Asters

I've been seeing a lot of these lovely white frost asters this year, which bloom into mid-October. I especially like the way they look in amongst the drying white vervain (first photo), and the way they stand out against the reddening leaves of sumac.

LINKING TO:

Wordless Wednesday

Create With Joy