Summer began very hot and dry. Eloise Butler noted less water in the swamp than ever before. There had been little Spring precipitation and there were only two rainfalls in May and June that exceeded a quarter inch of rain.

Her planting work continued all summer. Plants arrived from Malden, Mass - these would have been shipped by her sister Cora Pease - and from New Hampshire. In addition, Eloise combed the local sources such as Fort Snelling; Clinton Ave. and 27th St.; Savage, MN; Cambridge, MN; Glenwood Springs; Breezy Point, Minnetonka; and Minnehaha Park.

Here is a list of plants introduced into the Garden during the summer months for which 1910 is the first year they occur in her log: (listed first are the common and botanical names she used; these names are followed by other common names for the same plant and the newer botanical classifications, if any; then is listed her source for the material.)

Native to Minnesota:

• Allegheny Monkey Flower (Square Stemmed Monkey Flower), (M. C.), (Mimulus ringens); Savage, MN.
• Beck's Water Marigold, (Bidens beckii -now- Bidens beckii Torr. ex Spreng.); Brownie's Pond, Minneapolis.
• Broadleaf Arrowhead (Duck Potato), (Sagittaria variabilis); Brownie's Pond, Minneapolis.
• Carolina Larkspur, (Delphinium penardii -now - Delphinium carolinianum Walter ssp. virescens (Nutt.) R.E. Brooks); Brownie's Pond, Minneapolis.
• Curly-cup Gumweed, (M. C.), (Grindelia squarrosa - now - Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal); Glenwood Park (Minneapolis).
• Marsh Hedge Nettles, (Stachys palustris), Zumbra Heights, MN.
• Single Delight (One-flowered Pyrola), (M. C.), (Moneses uniflora, now - Moneses uniflora (L.) A. Gray); New Hampshire - not specified but probably William's Nursery in Exeter which is a source she used.
• Whorled Milkweed, (M. C.), (Asclepias verticillata), Minnetonka, MN.

Non-Native:

Water Pepper (Marshpepper knotweed), (M. C.), (Polygonum hydropiper); Peninsula.

A few of the more unusual plants (that had also been planted in previous years) were Moccasin Flower (Cypripedium acaule); Smooth Forked Nailwort, (Anychia dichotoma) and Tall Wormwood (Artemisia caudata - now named Artemisia campestris L. subsp. caudata (Michx.). Only the Tall Wormwood would still exist in 1951 when Martha Crone took a complete plant inventory and it is no longer extant.

There was also a planting of species that still exist in the Garden today, including:

Cup Plant, Flowering Spurge, Gray-headed Coneflower, Great Blue Lobelia, Heartleaf 4-O'clock, Hedge False Bindweed, Purple Prairie Clover, Stiff Coreopsis, Stiff Goldenrod, Veiny Pea, White Prairie Clover.

Eloise also noted for the first time the presence in the Garden of these three native plants:

• Large-leaf Avens (Big-leaved Avens), (Geum macrophyllum). Not extant
• Norwegian cinquefoil (Rough Cinquefoil), (M. C.), (Potentilla norvegica L.) Not extant
• Polk Milkweed, (Asclepias phytolaccoides - now classified as Asclepias exaltata L.), currently found in the Garden.

The Showy Lady‘s-slipper (Cypripedium reginae Walter) bloomed on June 23 which was quite late in the range of dates for that plant to bloom.

The more unusual things Eloise would report in her Garden Log included the Goldenrod being already in bloom on July 19th and of seeing a snake swallowing a frog.

In June Martha obtained 24 clumps of Greater Yellow Lady’s-slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum Salisb. var. pubescens (Willd.) Knight) to plant on the 8th. Then on June 13, Gertrude Cram brought over 2 plants of Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides (L.) Michx.) and after planting them Martha and Gertrude were held-up at gunpoint at 10:30 AM by two young men who appeared to be students and robbed them of $7.

The Showy Lady’s-slipper (Cypripedium reginae Walter) heralds the end of spring and beginning of summer and can bloom any time from May 31st to late June depending on the season’s weather. Right after the Summer Solstice, Martha planted six new clumps. She did not specify the source.

In July Martha secured various other types of plants from Taylor's Falls, the Gunflint Trail, Anoka, Askov Nursery, Stillwater, Marine-on-St. Croix. Included here were two blueberry bushes she planted on July 18th.

Here is a list of plantings for species no longer extant in the Garden that Martha planted for the first time in 1935 (all are native to Minnesota except where noted otherwise). Only one is extant.

• Canadian Mayflower (False Lily-of-the-valley); "M.C."; (Maianthemum canadense)
• Dragon's Mouth, "M.C."; (Arethusa bulbosa L.) - this is a most beautiful orchid.
• Mountain Wood Sorrel (True Wood Sorrel); "M.C."; (Oxalis acetosella -now- Oxalis montana Raf.). Eloise Butler also planted this as early as 1908.
• Starflower; "M.C."; (Trientalis americana - now - Trientalis borealis Raf. ssp. borealis). Eloise Butler also planted this as early as 1908. Extant.
• Thyme-leaf Speedwell; (Veronica serpyllifolia)
• Viper's Bugloss (Blue-weed or Blue Devil); "M.C."; (Echium vulgare). This is the only non-native plant. It is an introduction to the state that has naturalized.

By mid-August Martha noticed birds migrating south already. She saw Grinell’s Water Thrush, Wilson’s Warbler, Black and White Warbler, all on the 17th; Canada Warblers on the 26th and on Sept. 1st - Chestnut-sided Warblers, Blue-headed Vireos and more Grinell’s Water Thrush (spelled “Grinell’s” in old books, some newer books use “Grinnell’s”). Weather during summer was warmer than average with good rains.

Meanwhile, Gertrude Cram is up at Isle Royal collecting plants. Mrs. Cram wrote to Martha in a letter posted August 25th, 1935 from Rock Harbor:

“There will be a box for you in this mail containing the Pinguicula and the Fragrant Fern. I have found the latter in only one place and not much of it so I had to be careful about robbing the treasury. It is not listed as rare so maybe in time I’ll find more of it, although I have been looking for other places for two years.”

Martha identified the species of Pinguicula as P. vulgaris, the Common Butterwort. (photo above). Fragrant fern is Dryopteris fragrans (L). Seven other plant varieties were in the box, none of which survive in the Garden today. These included the following species that Martha planted for the first time in 1935 (all are native to Minnesota except where noted otherwise):

• Black Crowberry; (Empetrum nigrum)
• Broad-lipped Twayblade, (Listera convallarioides)
• Devil's Club; (Fatsia horrida -now- Oplopanax horridus (Sm.) Miq.). Not native to Minnesota, but native to Isle Royal.
• Dwarf Primrose (Mistassini primrose) (Bird's-eye Primrose) (Dwarf Canadian Primrose); "M.C."; (Primula mistassinica)
• Fairy Slipper Orchid, "M.C."; (Calypso Bulbosa)
• Small Green Wood Orchis (Little Club-spur Orchis); "M.C."; (Habenaria clavellata -now- Platanthera clavellata (Michx.) Luer)

An earlier box had also arrived from Mrs. Cram. On August 15th Martha noted planting from Isle Royal a number of plants including 10 of the unusual plant - Broad-lipped twayblade (Listera convallarioides). Twayblades are low growing orchids of moist woods and bogs with small flowers growing on a raceme above to egg-shaped leaves the appear midway up the stem. In Minnesota the only reported native population is in Cook county in the far Arrowhead. The plant has not survived in the Garden and in the wild in Minnesota it is listed on the “Special Concern” list of native plants. None of the above plants from Isle Royal are extant in the Garden.

Thus ended the summer adventures in the Garden.

Summer was kind to the Garden. There was adequate rainfall and temperatures were within the average range for the period except for some hot days in the last half of July. The “Violet Path” was dug up and replanted by assistant gardener Sam Baker. (This path is the eastern path in the Woodland Garden.) A large Birdfoot Violet bed (Viola pedata) was established in the Upland Garden. (Not present today- see photo below). Martha Crone had planted this species in the Garden beginning in 1935.

In The Fringed Gentian™ Editor Martha Crone writes to encourage groups to establish wildflower reserves and later in the year she would see some personal success from this. She had previously written in the Winter issue that

“A wild flower garden is always a pride and pleasure and the finest heritage that can be passed on to the next generation.”

She writes of “Summer in the Garden”:

“There is a kind of pause as summer passes its peak and prepares to coast down through August toward September and the splendor of summer is gone. For summer reveals the maturity of all creation. The lazy air is still full of fragrance.”

And for more variety she writes of porcupines and black bears.

The Minneapolis Woman’s Club awarded Gardener Ken Avery a 2-week fellowship to the Audubon Camp during August 8 - 22.

During the summer a pair of Kasota Limestone benches dedicated to Clinton Odell, were placed near the bird feeders by the Garden Office. They replaced a pair of wooden "settees" that at the time, were situated very close to the old "office" in the Woodland Garden. Today the location is just off the patio area in front of the newer Martha Crone Visitor's Shelter, so one can use the current location of the benches to judge where the old office was located. The benches were presented by Odell’s daughter, Moana Odell Beim (Mrs. Raymond) in honor of her father. The inscription on the dedication plaque reads:

“In loving memory of my father, Clinton M. Odell devoted patron of this sanctuary. M.O.B.”

A bird bath was added later in 1967, between the two benches, in honor of Amy Odell, Moana’s mother.

Clinton Odell was the Founder of the Friends of the Wild Flower Garden and had passed away June 4, 1958. In 1959 a bench in his honor was dedicated in the Upland Garden.

During the Summer of 1985, Friends Board member Gloria Miller and husband Lon were busy putting together a “gift book” for donors. It would have a combination of color photos and poetry. The book, titled "From Friends to Friends" was used for many years as a gift not only to donors but to those who contributed large annual memberships. Several copies are available in our records and a full size pdf version (although not as good looking as the original) will be found in the Site Archive - Garden Reflections.

This year the Friends Board approved a “small grants” program for applicants who were pursuing some study of the natural world. By the end of the year, 15 small dollar grants would be made - one to a national Audubon Camp, six to college students ($200 each) and eight to students at the Minneapolis Public Schools Agribusiness Center ($50 each)

Station WCCO and Mpls/St. Paul Magazine were doing a daily selection called “Summer Pleasures” and August 20th was the day that The Garden was featured. The Friends would help host the event and tours would be given in the Upland Garden.

The Fringed Gentian™ reported on much of this including the positive result of a search for lost issues of the newsletter. Lon Miller’s poem “Trillium” was published. You can read it in “Poets Corner” in the site archive.

The weather in the summer months moderated as if frequently does and average temperatures fluctuated above and below the normal range infrequently. There was reasonable rain including one rainfall of almost 2.5 inches in mid-August.

Right: Gardener Cary George with one of the tall lilies in the Upland Garden.

The volunteer spotlight was on George Bridgman who by year 2000, had volunteered for five years (and finally retired from volunteer duties in 2008). He was the focus of the spotlight article in the Summer issue of The Fringed Gentian™. George's mother, Betty, was a very active member of The Friends. Four new members joined The Friends since Spring. It was announced that long time Friends member and director Mel Duoos passed away on May 29th.

Weather was moderate with good rain in June July and August including several rainfalls over two inches.

Right: Fallen trees and branches are left where they fall to complete the cycle of life - growth - death - decay that is essential for the processes of the natural world. Naturalist Susan Wilkins explained that although the Garden is located in the heart of the city, the Garden must conform to the natural cycle of nature in order to retain it's distinction as a natural garden.