I ventured north in the state this weekend. Partly a familial visit, partly to fix the riding lawn mower on the familial property, and partly to fulfill a last minute favor that my sister had asked of me. There was visiting and having a meal with my parents, the lawn mower was fixed, and the favor fulfilled. I spent much of my time on the property. The weather was wonderful for late July — with temperatures dropping into the 40s at night, sleeping in the small travel trailer that we have on property was, like the weather, wonderful.
A bit wandering our road, revealed, what seemed to be, countless varieties of species in the raspberry and blackberry family (Rubus). Back my parents, my mother and I pored over Welby Smith’s Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota. Was that a Rubus allegheniensis, or the R. ablatus. Bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis), Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), and yellow tansies (Tanacetum vulgare) – which, although invasive, I like them as they remind me of when I traveled Finland years ago.
There were a few mushrooms, here and there. But nothing in great numbers.