This is the beginning of our 23rd year of looking at wildflowers in Cook County, MN. We are three senior women who just love to get out and explore and learn new things. We are even getting together all winter but don't find too many flowers at that time, but no matter.

June 2nd 2004

What a beautiful day, the sky is so blue with wonderful fluffy clouds. It's just great to be out. We first went down behind the Power Plant to see the Bird's-eye Primrose. There aren't as many as there were years ago but it is always a treat to see them.

We then went to our ""Magic Garden" off the Ski Hill road.   This must be the year for the Nodding Trillium as we are seeing so much of it. The Spring Beauty is still lovely but the Dutchman's Breeches are almost done.  We walked on the boardwalk through "Marsh Marigold Alley" - SO Beautiful. The Goldthread was also blooming - not as much as last year. We had lunch at Devil Track Campground and had our perennial discussion on identifying the leaves of, is it Twisted Stalk or Solomon Seal or is it Bellwort??? and it seems we never remember to go back and see them in bloom to solve our problem. Then there was the issue of identifying currants. They were in bloom so with our books on the picnic table, while eating lunch, we decided they were Swamp Currant and Skunk Currant. On the way out of the campground the Wood Anemone lined the side of the road.

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Some of what you may find blooming in the BWCA:

Anemone, Wood - Anemone quinquefolia
Baneberry, Red - Actaea rubra
Butterwort - Pinguicula vulgaris
Clematis, Rock, Purple - Clematis verticillari
Clintonia, Blue-bead Lily - Clintonia borealis
Columbine, (Honeysuckle) - Aquilegiaa canadensis
Cress, Common Winter (mustard) - Barbarea vulgaris
Cuckoo-flower - Cardimine bulbosa
Dandelion, Common - Taraxacum officinale 
Gaywings (Polygala, Fringed) - Polygala paucifolia
Ginger - Asarum canadense
Goldthread - Coptis groenlandica
Lily-of-the-Valley, Wild - Maianthemum canadense
Marigold, Marsh - Cowslip - Caltha palustris
Mertensia ( Bluebells ) - Mertensia paniculata
Primrose, Bird's-eye - Primula laurentian
Pussytoes, Field - Antennaria neglecta
Sarsaparilla, Wild (Smooth) - Aralia nudicaulis
Solomon's Seal, Three-leaved - Smilacina trifolia
Starflower - Trientalis borealis
Strawberry, Common - Fragaria virginiana
Trillium, Nodding - Trillium cernuum
Vetchling, Pale - Lathyrus ochroleucus
Violet, Yellow, Purple

Trees & Shrubs:

Cherry,Pin - Prunus pennsylbanica
Currant, Skunk - Ribes glandulosum
Dewberry - Rubus pubescens
Elder, Red-berried - Sambucus pubens
Gooseberry - Ribes
Honeysuckle, Fly - Lonicera canadensis
Honeysuckle, Swamp Fly - Lonicera oblongifolia
Juneberry - Amelanchier
Lilac, Common (Old fashioned) - Syringa vulgaris

Be sure to stop back throughout the spring and summer 2004 to see our weekly wildflower reports from Lorraine Anderson of Grand Marais, Minnesota.