365 Days of Northern Nature: Backyard Almanac: Photo Edition - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Larry Weber’s own “backyard” is his old farm in Carlton County, Minnesota, where he lives with his wife and son. He was a science teacher for more than 40 years, and he received the Minnesota Secondary Science Teacher of the Year and the National Biology Teacher Association’s Middle School Life Science Teacher of the Year awards. He has weekly radio phenology programs and a phenology column for a local newspaper. He is the author of Butterflies of the North Woods, Spiders of the North Woods, Fascinating Fungi of the North Woods, Web Watching, and Awesome Autwin. Daily walks on his land keep Larry in tune with the phenology of our northern flora and fauna.

Sparky Stensaas is a naturalist, a publisher, and the author of six books on the natural history of the North Woods. He is a photographer with a passion for all things wild, including birds (duh!), spiders, (wow!), butterflies (ooh!), fungi (really?), mammals, moths, and miscellaneous Minnesota stuff. Sparky’s latest venture is Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, a non-profit aimed at educating the public about the natural history of bogs and purchasing and preserving land in one of North America’s premiere birding locations. He lives with his wife, Bridget, and sons, Birk and Bjorn, under the big pines in the Nemadji Valley of northern Minnesota.

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May 1: Yellow in the Swamp—Marsh Marigolds
Its yellow-gold flowers and profuse growth in wet habitats make the Marsh Marigold a very obvious and welcome addition to our spring flora. Our brown wetlands are dotted with color as these flowers bloom. In the sunlight of early spring days, they can grow to be 18 inches tall with huge heart-shaped leaves. Like many of the spring wildflowers, Marsh Marigolds are perennial, surviving winter as underground stems called rhizomes. Flowers are one and a half inches across and usually have five petals, rarely ten. When in full bloom, yellow Marsh Marigold patches are easy to see even by speeding motorists glancing at roadside swamps. Marsh Marigolds are not related to true marigolds at all, and are more closely related to the anemones, clematis, hepaticas, and buttercups. Sometimes called cowslips, which refers to the odor of the swampy areas where they grow: the swamps smell like cow dung or cow slop. The name cowslip is also applied to a plant that in the Northland is called bluebell.

May 2: Miniature Pants—Dutchman’s Breeches Bloom
Early in the spring wildflower season, an unusual-looking but attractive flower blooms on the forest floor. Dutch-man’s Breeches grow best in the bare maple woods where sunlight reaches the ground before being obstructed by a leafy canopy. Carrot-like leaves are evident, but it is the flower that makes this plant so unique. Hanging from a drooping stem, the white blossoms are composed of two parts. Depending on our point of view, they look like either extracted molars, complete with roots, or miniature pairs of pants. The latter image leads to their common name, Dutch-man’s Breeches. Two spurs filled with nectar project from each flower. Spurs are formed by the fusion of petals. Nectar attracts the attention of early spring Bumble Bees, who subsequently pollinate the flower. The leaves of the plant produce plenty of food but die in the shady forests of summer. Underground tubers, however, assure the survival of Dutchman’s Breeches during winter.

May 3: Wild Strawberry & Wood Anemone
Wild Strawberry and Wood Anemone are two wildflowers of May which can be confused with one another: both are small with five white petals (actually sepals in the Anemone) and three leaves. If we take a closer look, however, we’ll notice some ways to tell the two apart. The leaves of the Wood Anemone are more deeply cut—so much so, that a single leaf may appear to be five. Wild Strawberry has, clearly, three rough-toothed leaves with no deep cuts. The flowers are also different. Though both plants have many stamens in the center of the flower, the Wild Strawberry’s are yellow; the Wood Anemone’s are white. Perhaps the easiest way to tell the two flowers apart is by their different habitats. Wood Anemone lives up to its name and can be found on the forest floor. Wild Strawberry is a plant of meadows. Another big difference: Wild Strawberry produces a sweet red berry that ripens in early summer. The berries are eaten by many critters (including humans). Few eat the green spiny fruit of Wood Anemone.