Spring Equinox Greetings

Hello Everybody,

Spring weather has arrived to the Twin Cities several weeks ago with warmer than average temperatures and lots of sun! Officially, we welcomed Spring on March 20th this year.

It is my hope for myself and for all you; to continue our deepening relationship with the environment around us....and especially at our homes. It is at each of our homes that we can provide refuge for soil organisms, native plants, native insects and birds. I encourage us all to stimulate our imaginations by observing and creating spaces and places that we can co-exist with these various species here on Earth, our great home.

This spring we were greeted with "snow mold". Snow mold developed really well under the deep snows that were with us all winter. The mold was revealed after warm temperatures and rain melted all that snow within a couple of weeks. Then the sun came out and dried it out. The snow mold was even mentioned on a local news website.

Buds on Amelanchier alnifolia (Saskatoon Serviceberry), Aronia melanocarpa (Glossy Black Chokeberry), Prunus virginiana (Common Chokecherry), Prunus pennsylvanica (Pin Cherry) are beginning to swell a little. These plants produce fruit during the summer that is eaten by birds such as Robins, Cardinals and Catbirds in the city.

I know people who have been collecting sap from Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) and Acer saccharinum (Silver Maple) for the past 3 weeks. This sap will be cooked and eventually become delicious "maple syrup". American indians such as the Dakota and Anishinaabe made maple syrup for centuries before European settlers learned how to make it too.

My father is planning to remove a dense patch of Aster oolentangiensis (Sky Blue Aster) that is native. He is going to replace these plants with a dense grouping of Liatris ligulistylis (Meadow Blazingstar) which is also native. He wants to attract Monarchs to his backyard and he know this plant is excellent for attracting Monarch butterflies.

My friend Duane is going to breed Hepatica acutiloba (Sharp Lobed Hepatica). This plant is a native woodland wildflower that has beautiful little white or pale blue flowers. The foliage grows in little mounds. According to Duane these plants are very popular in England and are somewhat deer resistant here in Minnesota.