Last Updated: Friday, May 25, 2007 2:10 PM CDT
Cranes, loons and new blooms highlight May's end
by Ced Vig - Wisconsin Woodsmoke
“Though but an old man, I am a young gardener.” - Thomas Jefferson
Bob and Jan Dall of Harshaw have compiled the final results of this year's Oneida County Crane Count. The first number of the fraction reveals this year's count. The second number indicates last year's results: Total cranes 91/140; breeding pairs 35/48; number of volunteers 59/45; locations served 41/39; new count sites identified 2/3; locations with cranes 29/34; pairs seen nesting 1/3.
Interesting crane observations: One pair doing breeding dance, one pair on nest, one pair seen unison calling, one pair unison calling in flight. Other wildlife encounters reported: Amphibians - wood frog; mammals - coyote, red squirrel, black bear, white tail deer; birds - wood duck, hooded merganser, Canada goose, common grackle, red-wing blackbird, northern cardinal, common crow, mourning dove, brown creeper, ruffed grouse, song sparrow, mallard, chickadee, bald eagle, common loon. And wild turkeys at 15 locations! Yes!
Gardening
For the past 12 years, I have been reading Christine Allison's book, � Days of Gardening” - a day-to-day book of more than 1,000 terrific facts, tips and reminders. I ordered it through a local bookstore and highly recommend it to any serious gardener. You'll love it. She also mentions the history of many of our favorite holidays, such as Memorial Day, which we will celebrate Monday. For example, she writes: “The oldest story about the origin of Memorial Day goes back to April 25, 1866, and not surprisingly, it is a story about flowers. On that day, a former chaplain in the Confederate Army escorted a group of women to a cemetery just outside of Columbus, Miss., where 1,500 Confederate soldiers and 200 Union soldiers were buried. The town was occupied by Union soldiers, and there was some apprehension that the women, carrying armfuls of flowers for the dead, would be misunderstood. But the women were not going to honor just their own but all of the dead. Instead of creating more friction, they created a fragile harmony with their gesture, strewing flowers on the graves of Confederates and Union soldiers alike.”
Some of the interesting “quips” I have read in Allison's book are: Plant radishes as soon as you can. They reach maturity in 22 days. Try thin slices of radishes on a slice of homemade bread with sweet butter and a few grains of salt.
To create large peony flowers, remove the side buds. The ants do not have anything to do with the opening of the flower buds, even though they are licking off the nectar.
Fertilize the daffodils when the plants begin to emerge.
Not all manures are created equal. Both horse and cow manure should be aged at least nine months to prevent burning.
The best potato for French fries is the Idaho or Maine russet because each has relatively low water content.
The largest seed in the world is that of the double coconut. The single-seeded fruit seed can take 10 years to develop and weighs up to 44 pounds.
Dogs are now shedding their winter coats. Save the fur. The fur can be strewn around the garden and it will not only deter certain other furry creatures but also release nitrogen into the soil. Thanks, Christine, for the tips!
It's trillium time
The trillium plants are displaying their beautiful white blossoms - just in time for Memorial Day. Soon much of the lightly-shaded forest lands will be carpeted with millions of their blossoms. Trilliums are rated as the sixth most popular wildflower. It's better not to pick them. As is true of all our wildflowers: “Flowers are loveliest where they grow. Love them, enjoy them, but leave them so.”
Lilacs
The lilacs are fading. The dandelions are getting old too - blossoms are getting gray heads and their seeds are floating through the air.
Lilacs have been around for a long time. It was one of the first plants to be introduced to this country. Thomas Jefferson planted lilacs in 1743, and George Washington was transplanting lilacs at his mansion in 1750. Lilacs are native to southeastern Europe and Asia and not native to Persia.
They should be pruned after they flower, their old blooms carefully snipped off so as not to damage next year's flowers forming on the stem just beneath.
American poet Walt Whitman thought of lilacs when Abraham Lincoln died, “When lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed, I mourned and yet shall mourn with every returning spring.” In England, it was said that a girl who wore lilacs, except on May Day, would never marry.
Violets are in blossom
I have wild violets in my backyard this week. The blue violet was selected to be Wisconsin's state flower by a vote of the state's school children on Arbor Day, 1909. Wisconsin has 20 species of white, blue and yellow violets. The larger, pale blue birdfoot violets are the most popular - the smaller white violets are the most fragrant.
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