The entrance to the Arboretum is brightly lined with annual flowers in shades almost as hot as the temperature. Just beyond, the drive is flanked by casual swaths of arching wildflowers and grasses in calmer tones. Cut-leaf coneflower, bowers of golden sunflowers, mauve Joe Pye weed, big bluestem and more!
Clouds are thick and low in the sky. Raindrops hang on plant stems. But the grounds are alive with people. The Arboretum’s annual Art in the Garden event is in full swing. More than 70 vendors are displaying crafts, fine arts, foods, nature items and more. And Music in the Garden brings a lively cadence to it all with live music from local group Old Guys Play the Blues!
Crabapples are heavy with fruit. Watch for the cedar waxwings — they love to gather in treetops where they peck on crabapples, devour flower petals and call each other in a pitch so high I can barely hear them! Or … are those harmonica high notes from the Old Guys playin’ the blues?
Fuzzy, red seedheads top red sumac shrubs. Some are ready to dry for a tart tea that is rich in vitamin C. The row of sumac appears trimmed in a straight line, but the Arboretum’s staff is not responsible. This is the highest level the tallest deer can reach as they chomp those seedheads right off the shrub.
Deer chomp off all the fuzzy, red sumac seedheads within reach.
The green roof near the Margot Picnic Shelters is in flower! Waves of leaves and blossoms cover the shingles. In the city, green roofs do much to help reduce the heat island effect and to clean the air.
Green roofs like the one near the Margot Picnic Shelters can help to reduce the heat island effect and clean the air.
Common milkweeds, those darling hosts of monarch larvae, are adorned with large seed pods. I keep an eye out for monarchs, but only spot one in the Bennett-Johnson Prairie. Monarchs love to nectar on blazing star, but I see no blazing star plants in the Prairie. Deep purple coneflowers stand out against the prairie fray.
The pink-purple heads of purple coneflowers stand out amongst the plants in the Prairie.
Wild cucumber vines are alive with honeybees, flies, bumblebees and a giant black wasp. They are all nectaring in the vine’s white-green petals. A tiny, pale blue butterfly beats its wings rapidly while darting willy-nilly.
A bank of black-eyed Susans sways and winks in the warm breeze.
A swath of yellow black-eyed Susans sways in the warm breeze.
Grasses flower in the heat. Minuscule yellow florets hang from graceful plumes of yellow prairie grass. Prairie dropseeds arch their lacy seed tops over their grassy mounds. Turkey-foot seedheads of big bluestem rise tall above the prairie.
Yellow prairie grass (left) and Joe Pye weed (right)
Four sandhill cranes wander silently in the Chinese Garden. These birds can reach about 4 feet in height, with a wingspan of more than 6 feet. Their call is a loud, tremolo bugle. You can hear them at Audubon’s Bird Guide online.
A family of sandhill cranes wanders through the Arboretum’s Chinese Garden.
Summer’s heat draws out the delightful scent of anise hyssop and bee balm’s heady perfume. As I wish for cooler temperatures, I also wish I could bottle these two fragrances!
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.
Cover photo of the Annual Garden by Lily Smith