Late Summer Colors in the Woods

I did take a hike yesterday, but wanted to share about the quilt show then, so I saved these pictures for tonight.

First of all, green is a color. And I love it when the woods are green. I've been hiking a lot in the brown months over the last few years, so I want to be adamant about how much I love the green woods.

Not by planning, but it just happened that I got an array of primary-colored mushrooms.

Red is the Apple Bolete, or Frost's Bolete, Exsudoporus frostii. I looked back in the blog and I last saw a bunch of these in 2015. "Apple" should be easy enough to remember. They sure look like someone dropped an apple in the leaves.

If you uncover the stem, you can see that the underside of the cap is convex. It has pores not gills. That easily tells you it's a bolete. And the stem is striped/striated. It will get downright grooved as it ages.

Moving along to yellow, these are Honey Mushrooms, Armillaria mellea. They are supposedly very edible, but I have not tried them. I should... there's not much you can mistake for them.

Blue is iffy. Maybe it's purple. You'd think something that looks so distinctive would be easy to identify. Nope- there are lots of choices. Well, it may be Laccaria ochrepurpurea, Purple Laccaria. That word "ochre-purpurea" should tell you it can vary in color from a yellow-brown to purple.

I did remember to take a picture of the gills. Still not enough info, although it allowed me to eliminate a few possibilities.

For real blue, believe it or not there were a few late-blooming harebells, Campanula rotundifolia. Why "round-leaved" you ask, when the leaves are clearly narrow straps? The first true leaves that appear near the ground in spring are round. That was a nice colorful surprise.

I reported these miles yesterday.

I tried hard to stay on track with getting things done today. Did pretty well. I need to make a master list for September and then stick with it. Several deadlines coming right up. For some reason, I have a sore hip. Hope that shapes up soon!

See Frost's Bolete 2015

Front Garden Report 2025- #2

None of the gardens is completely cleaned up since I got back from NY, but the front bed is close, and it looks pretty good.

I know I show you this view over and over, but this space genuinely makes me happy. And it proves that it stays colorful all season. The light is dappled. Sorry about that, but it does give you one more "look" of that space. I'm particularly happy with the purple Heuchera near the right edge just above the middle. It's called 'Electric Plum.' Interestingly enough, the other red-to-purple Heuchera were more colorful earlier in the season, but this one seems to glow even brighter as we get into high summer.

And just above center is the white hosta with green edges, 'Loyalist.' It was damaged earlier, but it's doing well now. On the other side of the walkway is one of the large 'Krossa' Hosta. Both of those are doing great.

The white Globe Bellflowers have been blooming for well over a week. They seem to be a little later than the blue ones which are now all done. They are also a little shorter. I'm not sure I'm in love with these, but they come up and bloom, so, hey...

This is the one week a year that I don't detest the Seven Sisters Rose. Enjoy it quick.

Moving to the east end of that bed, the poor Vulcan Hosta is really struggling. I think it will survive. I'm still not sure what made it so sad.

Here's another space that is making me increasingly happy. If you want to compare, it's the first picture in the east report below. The Astilbe is blooming, although not prolifically. The Japanese Fern bit that I moved there (just left of center) is very happy. It's gained several fronds already. The 'Wiggles and Squiggles' Hosta is wonderful, and the dark purple 'Season's King' Heuchera is great. Way in the back, a 'Francee' Hosta is in bud.

Today was unbearably hot. But I got myself moving while it was still in the 70s, and got some outside stuff done. Edited before it got too hot in the house, and then went to the air-conditioned store for groceries. After that, I lolled in my chair with a book and iced tea.

Tonight it's supposed to rain, and be much cooler tomorrow. I'm hoping to get a good amount of outside work done. My energy level is good when it's in the 70s. Not so much above that. After 90, forget it!

See Front Garden West See Front Garden East

Tiny Tears Says 'Too Many Sky Tears'

 I'm just about ready for the Lakeshore Art Festival in Muskegon. I have to leave at 6:30 in the morning. Not my best time of day, but...

Meanwhile, more rain. It's hard to believe. My 'Tiny Tears' hosta border decided to bloom like crazy this year, but it's gotten so wetted by the continual rain that it doesn't look as nice as it might. Still, not bad. Remember, these are only about 6" tall.

I have to show you the white globe bellflower one more time. I'ts pretty much in full bloom right now, and it's never been so happy. In fact, the white ones haven't bloomed at all for several years.

I didn't show you this picture. This is the purple globe bellflower in full bloom two weeks ago. It's pretty much done now. It seemed to absolutely glow every afternoon.

I managed to get ready for the weekend AND reach my formatting goal on the book. I want to print a paper copy for the final edit. I still have to do the printing this evening, but the files are ready. For a while there, I thought I'd never get to this point!

See Tiny Tears

Three White, Two Oops

 Today's featured color is white. OK, don't go technical on me and proclaim that white is not a color. I am using the word according to common usage.

I'll start with the oopsies.

I've had this sedum since 1997, starting with a small pot. Now it's everywhere! But that's OK, because I like it, it's easy to rip out if it gets too agressive, and it is attractive in all its forms. Here are the flowers, which is why it's called white sedum, Sedum album.

Look closer, aren't these just adorable?

I've always thought these were Sedum rubrotinctum, 'Pork and Beans,' because they often color up like this, and the leaves are like little round beans.

But they don't always get red. And I assure you every bit of this plant on my property came from that same little pot.

But, I am prepared to eat my ID of all these years. I did suspect that 'Pork and Beans' was supposed to be a little larger, but stuff here almost always is smaller because the soil has been so bad. But the clincher is that the flowers of this are white, not yellow as they would be if it was rubrotinctum.

Now for oops number two. I bought one of these last week. It's candytuft, (Summer Snowdrift), Iberis amara. I'd always believed these were not hardy. But the tag says "hardy to -40oF." I just double checked. That is indeed what it says. Hmmm.

So I looked it up, and my assumption was correct. Everything I can find about this says it's only hardy to 0o. Bother. I wonder if I mulch it if I can get it to live. I don't want to have a lot of plants that need special treatment in the fall. I already have two I'll have to deal with (one bought on purpose, one other oops). Well, it's pretty, but it's lonely out there. I was thinking long-term and splitting it with the purchase, but that may be a forlorn hope.

Now for the winner. I KNEW I had white globe campanula, Campanula glomerata, probably 'alba.' And my notes say it bloomed after the purple one. Check. It's also shorter, which could be useful. Here's the weird part though. I don't recall that I separated these by color when I planted them. However, all the white ones are about 10 feet away from where the purple ones are. These haven't bloomed for quite a few years, so I'm pretty happy.

It was pretty hot and damp today, but I managed to format and do book stuff for 4 hours. Only managed 45 minutes outside, but it was hot.

And now it's started raining!

See Sorting Out Sedums

Newly Blooming- Mid June

 Lots of the plants I've shown you before are still blooming. The pink and the magenta cranesbill (geranium), Dianthus 'brilliant,' The Siskiyou primrose (which is a spectacular success), the Sedum sexangulare, Dianthus 'Kohari,' Dianthus 'Eastern Star,' Heuchera 'Firefly,' the Salvia I showed you yesterday, daisies, the two ice plants, and the ground cherry. I'm beyond pleased with all this.

Things seem to be a little earlier than last year. That's been true all this season, so no surprise.

But some more plants are now adding to the color. I'll start with one that was just beginning last week, and I did show you, but look at it now! This is Dianthus 'Zing Rose.'

Out front, last year, only one of these bloomed. This year, there is a whole patch. Actually, with the bed nicely weeded, they are out-competing a lot of other things. I'm ripping a lot out that are invading other spaces. I used to have white ones too, but I guess they are gone. Globe Bellflower, Campanula glomerata.

This is one of the Sedums I bought last year. It's doing really well. Spreading slowly, but it's very healthy. 'Bright Idea.'

This is another of the sedums I bought last year. I thought it was not going to survive it looked so sad all season. However, there are now several happy patches of it. I'm a little confused, because it's very similar to another sedum I used to have. There are more patches of this (maybe, or maybe only similar) than I can account for. But I'm quite sure this one is Sedum hispanicum 'Pinkie." It's not showy, but its a good filler between rocks.

This one has a story. This is plain old Creeping Thyme. I got a whole pile of it for free back in about 1999. I was walking Maggie (my last dog), but before she was mine. This was in Ann Arbor, and a lady was ripping vast wads of it out of her lawn. I asked if I could have some. She said, "you'll be sorry!" Well, you do have to pay attention or it gets out of hand, but it's very pretty. I might grab a chunk and add some to the newer spaces of the rock garden.

I've now got 3 varieties of thyme, and would like to replace the Wooly Thyme I used to have. However, it can also be pretty aggressive. We'll see. Currently, sedum hybrids are making me more happy, so I'm not desperate.

And for the last act of the day... are you ready?... I am jumping-up-and-down happy. This is the 'Arctic Fire' dianthus. It's mixed in the clump of 'Brilliant (center front),' and the softer purple are one of the geraniums. There's another bud behind it that's opening up. No way will I try to separate these out this year, but maybe there's hope I'll have more of them next year. I don't think I can tell the leaves from the 'Brilliant.' Maybe they are a little darker, but maybe not.

Soon, we are going to have to have an update on many of the hybrid sedums I bought. I can tell that some spread quicker than others. That's OK, I'm beginning to understand which ones can have friends in their spaces, and which ones not so much.

I finished the second time through editing the book today. Hooray! Now I can move on to general editing. Staring at those scrolling columns of campsite data was seriously getting to me.

See Garden Fun

Garden Fun

I'll have to share the hiker statistics maybe tomorrow. I'm trying to get it right, and I didn't have that info already in my spreadsheet. I'm going back through the blog and figuring things out, but it's going to take a while.

Today, I continued the plan of working, alternating with gardening. The gardening is bringing me a lot of joy. This peony bush has never looked so good! I sure wish it wasn't pink, but I'll take any bit of color.

The purple globe bellflower, Campanula glomerata is also blooming. I really thought it would be all done by the time I got home, so this makes me pretty happy. There should be white ones too which always bloom later than the purple ones, but I don't see any buds. These were free from a surplus plant table years ago.

I did almost miss the spotted deadnettle, Lamium maculatum. This comes in a variety of leaf colors. In fact, I don't care a thing about the white flowers on this white-leaved plant. I grow it for the bright leaf color that loves shade. The thing is... it does better some years than others. I'd like to have it grow all around the base of the birch tree, but it keeps getting thin patches and then sending a runner out far away from the place I want it. This year, surprisingly, it's looking fairly good. I moved a couple of erring clumps back to where I want it. Honestly, it's only ever looked really good one year. But I keep trying. This came from the cemetery gully where someone had thrown it at the end of the season.

You can see it here beside the Heuchera I bought three weeks ago. I really like them together.

Interestingly, these plants are called deadnettle because the leaves look something like stinging nettles (not so much the spotted ones), but they don't have the stinging hairs, so they are "dead."

My border of tiny miniature hosta is sending up budding stalks. I may have identified it as Hosta venusta 'Tiny Tears.' The only reason I'm not sure is that the flowers on mine are darker purple than the pictures on line. That may not mean much. But there are SO many cultivars that it's hard to be certain. This was free from Ester and it is very happy. From a small puddle I now have about 10 feet of border along the front flower bed, and I even gave some to Betty. I'll show you that when it blooms.

The yellow mystery lily has three buds. One may be open tomorrow.

I also wrote another news article today.

See Support Group Thanks

One Garden Fairy, One Garden Liar

 
Got home from Ester's today.

Discovered a yellow lily in my flower garden, when I arrived! This is an oriental lily, not a day lily. I have no idea how it got there- must have been the garden fairy that brought it! I don't plant this kind because they are mole candy. There's no point. But look at this. The mole got lazy. So for this year at least, I get to enjoy something.


And the purple globe bellflower, Campanula glomerata, (the purple one may be variety 'Superba') is looking great. I have quite a few white ones which have spread. They are only in bud. I thought I had shared their picture before, but can't find it. Anyway... the purple one is kind of spectacular.



And the garden liar? Must be me. I said I wasn't going to garden any more, but the yellow lily and some hosta sprouts from Ester made me spend some time this afternoon. And I enjoyed it. Maybe what I should say is that if I don't garden, I won't feel guilty.

OK, so it doesn't look like much from this angle. But you can see that I've pulled a bunch of weeds, anyway.



In other news: I drove home from Ester's (maybe a tribute to Jade tomorrow), picked up my computer, did a couple more errands, unpacked, and am trying to catch up on some computer things.

	See When the Computer Dies
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Manistee National Forest Challenge Hike #8

 
We had a smaller group today: 8 humans and Sophie the wonder dog. Several people had other things going on. We also picked up one new hiker. He walked partway with us and then back to his car for a total of 6 miles. No shame in that. He's 82!



This red pine plantation in the low part of a valley always captures my attention when I walk through it.



Here's one of my infamous attempts to give you a sense of the bowl the trail goes around at this point. I never can get an angle with the camera that captures the depth. But I'll keep trying because it's one of my favorite places.



Delicate harebells, Campanula rotundifolia, lined the trail in some places.



McCarthy Lake is always on my list of favorite places. And it always seems to look a bit different every time I am there.



Sure signs that it's August. The late summer flowers are in bloom. Here's flat-topped aster, Aster umbellatus.



Last week, we did 8.4 miles and everyone was very tired. Today we did 9.7 and it didn't feel bad at all. Several of us said we could have done more. Who knows why? (Although I suspect last week's humidity level as the culprit.)

North Country Trail, Timber Creek (US 10) north to 3 Mile Road, 9.7 miles

	See MNF Hike #7
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Mesabi Hike - Marble to Kewatin

 

Thursday, August 6, 2009, Marie and I continued north on the paved Mesabi Trail through former iron mining lands. This view shows how the trail has more interest and topography than a simple rail-trail. You can also see the greenery beginning to cover the raw landscape.



Two of our most interesting wildlife sightings happened this day. First we saw a mammal completely new to me at that time, Richardson's Groundsquirrel. It's more commonly called a Flickertail because of it's nervous habit of twitching that tail.



Not long after that, a gray fox calmly trotted across the trail ahead of us. Unfortunately, the picture isn't focused well. But I was amazed at how unconcerned the animal was with our presence.



I think Marie loves the turtles best of all. This is a common Midwestern Painted Turtle, but it's not covered with pond muck or duckweed, so it was looking nice. I've recently learned that this sub-species differs from the Eastern Painted Turtle in a couple of ways. Easy field mark is that the scutes (plates) of the shell are alternated across it's back.



And, I found another new flower. The blue one. It's Creeping Bellflower, Campanula rapunculoides, and the yellow is Common Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare. Although the blue and yellow are so pretty, both plants are alien.



For the days we followed the Mesabi Trail we loved marking our progress with the gateways to each town.



Marble to Kewatin, Minnesota. 15.8 miles, 63.6 to date for that trip.

	See Grand Rapids to Marble See Spermophilus richardsonii
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