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.

May 26th 2004

This is not a report of flowers in Cook County this time, because we just took highway 61 south and west about 120 miles to Jay Cook State Park near Duluth. The weather was beautiful and nowhere in this county can we walk and see such a variety of flowers. The blooming flowers we saw were: Wood Anemone, Large Flowered Bellwort (fields of it), Wild Oats, Spring Beauty, Claytonia virginica, which is a different variety than we have here and we have never seen this one. There were areas where all you could see ahead was the pink of the Spring Beauty. We saw violets, yellow, white, blue and purple. They were just starting. Nodding Trillium, Wild Ginger, Fly Honeysuckle, Marsh Marigolds, Large-flowered Trillium, Trout Lily both yellow and white. This is the first time we have seen the white ones. Dewberry, Sweet Cicely, Baneberry and Strawberry. Among others we saw the leaves of Round-lobed Hepatica and Wild Leek. Wow - What a day!!!

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  Here are some early bloomers to look for in the area:

 

Anemone, Wood - Anemone quinquefolia

Arbutus, Trailing - Epigaea repens
Bloodroot - Sanguinaria canadensis

Dandelion, Common - Taraxicum officinale

Dutchman's Breeches - Dicentra cucullaria

Early Sweet Coltsfoot - Petasites palmatus

Hazelnut, Corylus

Marsh-marigold - Caltha palustris
Pussytoes, Field - Antennaria neglecta

Red Maple - Acer rubrum

Spring Beauty - Claytonia verginica

Strawberry, Common - Fragaria virginiana
Violets

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