For the late-blooming flowers we must turn to the floodplains and meadows still glorious in the white, blue and gold of the moisture-loving asters, gentians, lobelia and sunflowers, tricked out here and there with the deep red of the Cardinal Flower- the purest red found in nature. The brilliant salvia now blooming in the cultivated gardens has a tinge of yellow in its redness, but that cannot be said of the red lobelia known as the Cardinal Flower [Lobelia cardinalis L.]. Conspicuous in this notable company is the large-flowered, pale pink Hibiscus militaris, [Now classified as H. laevis, Halberdleaf Rosemallow], locally abundant on the river bank. The hibiscus from the wild garden printed above [shown below] is H. moscheutos [Ref. #1] with a larger and brighter colored flower. This species is not indigenous to Minnesota but is the glory of the swamps ranging from Massachusetts to Ontario and Missouri.

The Swamp Betony, Pedicularis lanceolata [Swamp lousewort], would be of interest to the close observer, with its dense, leafy spikes of pale yellow, laterally compressed, two-lipped flowers, but who can spare a glance for it when awed by the miraculous blue of the fringed gentians that surround it?

The sweet fragrance, however, of the tiny Spiranthes cernua [Ref. #2], an orchid slender as a grass blade, makes one conscious of its presence, and its pearly whiteness intensifies the celestial blue of Bryant’s flower (Ref #3).

Most of the orchids are early bloomers. The blossoms of this delicate late-comer are arranged in a curiously twisted raceme, so that it has been given the name ladies’ tresses.

Above: Prickly Russian Thistle, Salsola tragus L. Photo ©J S Peterson, USDA-NRCS Plants Database

This plant, introduced from Russia several years ago, is not a true thistle, although so called on account of its prickles. It belongs to the goosefoot family, which numbers other tumble weeds. The Smooth Pigweed, or lamb’s quarters [Chenopodium album L.], whose young, tender leaves are superior to spinach for the table, is of close kin.

A part of the wild garden recently acquired by the park board was once used for a pasture. Consequently, several naturalized weeds, as Canada Thistles [Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.] and Creeping Charley or ground ivy [Glechoma hederacea L.], are firmly established in excess. The thistle is discouraged by being pulled up wherever it shows its head, but it continually breaks out from the newly budding, creeping rootstalks. Another method is taken with Creeping Charley, who, with pretty, scalloped, round leaves and bright blue flowers, is not uncomely, if only he could be taught to keep his proper place. Various other rampant, naturalized plants, with pleasing foliage or flowers - Butter ‘n’ Eggs [Linaria vulgaris L.], Cypress Spurge [Euphorbia cyparissias L.], Aaron’s rod [Ref. #5], Bouncing Bet [Saponaria officinalis L.] - have been planted around him, which, together with the native goldenrods, will tussle with one another for possession of the field. We shall watch the scrimmage with somewhat, we fear, of the Irish delight in a shindy. .

Last November Tansy [Tanacetum vulgare L.] also was planted among the contestants. Every root has grown and blossomed, and it bids fair to spread and hold its own with odds in its favor. Tansy is found on the sites of burned down or abandoned houses in the country and is associated with days long past. The finely curt leaves have a pungent odor and the flower disks, bright and golden as sunlight are fine for large bouquets.

Your attention is called to another edible bracket mushroom Polyporus frondosus (Ref. #6), pale gray and velvety, and made up of many overlapping brackets. The pores on the under surface are barely perceptible to the naked eye.