Red-winged blackbirds greet me with their raucous “konk-la-REE” calls as I enter the Arboretum. Geese flap overhead, and a cardinal calls from the trees along the road.
Afternoon sun slants through the trees in the forest. Birds are singing and calling constantly. Red-eyed vireos sing three-syllable duets. The raucous screech of a nearby great-crested flycatcher makes me jump. American robins call “pip, pip, cheerio!” and northern cardinals provide percussion in between riffs from song sparrows.
Afternoon sun slants through the trees in the Dayton Wildflower Garden.
Smooth Solomon’s seal is already in bloom, but is hard to see. Tiny green bell-shaped flowers are not visible until I look below the arching stem. They hang in pairs from axils beneath the leaves. Once its petals fall, a purple fruit will swell. Other Solomon’s seal plants are also in bloom: False Solomon’s seal, with its cream-colored bushy spray at the tip; and starry false Solomon’s seal, with white star shapes like mini explosions.
Large-flowered trilliums are, like the tulips, shouting their last hurrahs. Trout lilies, hepaticas, anemones and spring beauties are no longer seen in the woodland. Even marsh marigolds have no blossoms above their bushy heaps of green leaves.
But spring is not yet over! Cut-leaved toothwort carpets the forest floor, its white buds closing against cloudy skies, resting before re-opening in tomorrow’s sunshine. White petals of Canada anemone glow in the deepening shade.
Smooth Solomon’s seal (left) and cut-leaved toothwort (right)
Bright pink petals of wild geranium pop in the woodland shade above mounds of deeply-lobed leaves. Virginia waterleaf forms fuzzy balls of pale lavender above its water-stained leaves. Graceful stems of columbine are topped with dangling blooms in pipestone pastels.
Wild geranium (left) and columbine (right)
Northern bedstraw is already covering open ground and is several inches tall. During summer, billows of white florets will rise above the stems. Woodland ferns are already hip-high. Suddenly, the loud, prehistoric sound of a pileated woodpecker echoes eerily through the trees.
Although the large yellow lady’s slipper as well as our state flower, the showy lady’s slipper, aren’t blooming yet, a research box holds a few small yellow lady’s slipper plants in flower. The poofy “toebox” of the slipper is bright yellow. It is flanked by three tightly curled petals in deep crimson. That’s just one of Minnesota’s more than 40 native orchids. I must return soon to see more!
Small yellow lady’s slipper blooms in a research box maintained by the Arboretum’s Plant Conservation Program in the Dayton Wildflower Garden.
Mary Beth Pottratz is a Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteer. To learn more about the University of Minnesota Extension’s Master Naturalist program, visit their website.