Wildflowers

The story of how Searching for Minnesota's Native Wildflowers came to be written, starts, as the very best stories do, with a road trip.

Larry Weber is an educator, author and naturalist and he joins us every Friday for Backyard Almanac.

Less than a month ago, there was still ice and snow on the ground.

Which means, despite a weekend forecast of mid to upper 80s, the season for spring ephemerals is a little more ephemeral than usual.

Naturalist larry Weber observes that following the 5th coldest April on record we moved into a warm start to May, then colder again.  Some much needed rain finally arrived (not much, but a good start), and many plants and blooms are beginning to emerge.  We've now reached over 15 hours of daylight.  Frogs and turtles are awakening, and many birds are returning.

Larry Weber with a wrap up of April stats (three times as much snow, but precipitation still below normal), the migrants who've shown up just in the last week, and happy news on the frog front.

I wish I had the means

to give all the north back to itself, to let the pines

rise in the hayfield and the lilacs go wild.

But then where would we live?

                        from Hartley Field by Connie Wanek

Few things, perhaps, go so well with a walk in the woods as poetry.

We're finally caught up on moisture for the month; yes, snow in April is "normal;" we'll have 14 hours of daylight come Sunday and the white pelicans have returned to the St. Louis River.

Larry Weber almost never takes a vacation ... so when he requested a little time off, we dug into the archives for this program from October 9, 2015.  Have a listen to find out what it was like last year at this time!

Sneezeweed is still blooming in spots around the Northland.

Seriously.

Sneezeweed.

Larry Weber says purple wildflowers abound in nature right now.

The Northland Morning host is inclined to believe that's a nod to her NFL football team, but the Northland Morning host is a little funny that way.

Chances are Larry Weber is keeping paper records - he's old-school like that - but he's been a busy fellow regardless this week.

For more information on the Minnesota DNR's breeding bird survey, start here. 

For more information on the Minnesota Frog and Toad Calling Survey (there are even recordings you can listen to!), click here.

    Less than half the normal amount of rain for May this year?

  But is it really fair to make up the deficit over a holiday weekend??

Sneezeweed is still blooming in spots around the Northland.

Seriously.

Sneezeweed.

  Author and naturalist Larry Weber talks about the heat, the Heat, and the HEAT. The days are getting shorter, so he has noticed the beginning of fall bird migration, including chimney swifts and nighthawks.  Gray tree frogs are calling, goldenrod and asters are in bloom, and the blackberries are ripe.  Not many mushrooms, unfortunately, even though we received some rain over the past week.

Author and naturalist Larry Weber joins us from Crested Butte, Colorado, where he's taking in the Wildflower Festival and enjoying some new flora and fauna.