September 1999

     Happenings in and around Linnaeus Arboretum

Listed below are a few observations from a year ago made in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas, including the Linnaeus Arboretum/Nicollet County area (and out of the area where indicated). Many of these observations have also been recorded in the Minnesota Weatherguide/Environment Calendar, published in conjunction with the Freshwater Foundation and WCCO Radio/Television, to which Gilbert has contributed since 1977. These events can be used to anticipate September 2000 happenings and will help to compare this year with last.
 
 

1 - First red-breasted nuthatch of the season. Indian pipe blooming. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are migrating through and feeding on jewelweed in wetland areas, and hosta flowers in gardens. The butterfly-bush blooms nicely and attracts monarchs and many other butterflies.

2 - Apples being picked include Wealthy, Minjon, Red Baron and Cortland. Aggregations of monarach butterflies commonly seen. Last annual cicada buzzing this evening at 8:26, 37 minutes after sunset. Native red maples in Duluth area showing much bright red foliage.

3 - Jerusalem artichoke at bloom peak with its showy bright golden-yellow flowers. Some fields of soybeans yellowing as the plants mature. Gardeners are pulling beets, carrots and onions; and digging potatoes. Red admiral and mourning cloak butterflies attracted to over-ripe apples.

4 - Bur marigold blooms on edges of ponds. Surface temperature of Lake Waconia is 76 degrees F, and the water is perfect for swimming. Many monarchs on the move. Clusters of wild grapes offer hikers a pleasant snack. Woodchucks are busy foraging on plant material and storing up fat for hibernation.

5 - Canada goldenrod very showy and at bloom peak. Boxelder seeds are mostly brown and give the impression of many dead leaves on the trees. Fall producing garden raspberry canes have ripe and ripening fruit. The bright yellow-orange sulphur shelf fungus is seen on some stumps, logs and standing trees.

6 - Steady stream of monarch butterflies migrating south. Stiff goldenrod at bloom peak on prairies. Surface temperature of Lake Minnetonka is 73 degrees F. Alfalfa hay harvest at full-swing in southern Minnesota.

7 - White snakeroot and zigzag goldenrod at bloom peak in forest areas. Last Baltimore oriole spotted; the orioles have left to spend the winter in Central America. Male wood ducks are in breeding plumage again. Some late monarch butterfly caterpillars still being found.

8 - First raft of American coots returns to Lake Waconia. Peak of monarch butterfly migration; thousands seen heading south. The green prime is passing; the deciduous trees, shrubs and vines proclaim the change. Some yellows are seen on elms and basswoods, and sugar maples have patches of burnt-orange.

9 - Garden roses blooming nicely and very showy. The best time to transplant peonies is the month of September. Rafts of American coots seen on Lake Minnetonka.

10 - White-lined sphinx moths nectar on garden flowers. Crocus and daffodil bulbs should be planted in September for bloom next spring. Red Squirrels feed on cones of the red pines in Itasca State Park.

11 - New England aster first blooming. Green darners and monarch butterflies migrating. Staghorn sumac shrubs and Virginia creeper vines have up to about 20 percent red fall color, rest green.

12 - Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) has showy silver-white flower plumes. Both great and common ragweeds continue shedding pollen. The surface temperature of Leech Lake is 63 degrees F, and yellow perch and walleyes are biting.

13 - Some sugar maples have patches of burnt-orange. Zinnias, petunias, snapdragons and many other garden annuals are blooming nicely. The native red maples growing in lowlands in the Hackensack area are close to fall color peak and showing brilliant reds.

14 - First common milkweed pods open. Many Carver County farmers are chopping corn. First banded woollybear caterpillars. Pumpkins in fields and gardens now nice and orange.

15 - Young eastern cottontail rabbits seen in a nest. Butternut trees are nearly bare; they are the first to drop their leaves. McIntosh apples are ripe. Huge migration of hawks over Hawk Ridge in Duluth.

16 - First soybean field being combined. Mother northern cardinal seen feeding sunflower seeds to her begging fledgling. Farmers in northwestern Minnesota are harvesting sugarbeets and potatoes.

17 - First big raft of American coots; 200 plus coots on Town Bay of Lake Waconia. Late common nighthawks migrating through. In Faribault area, the Ohio buckeye trees are beautiful with their burnt-orange leaves.

18 - Monarch butterflies and green darner dragonflies continue migrating. Katydids, cone-headed grasshoppers and snowy tree crickets fill the warm evening air with enchanting sounds.

19 - Heath aster at bloom peak. Many sulphur butterflies in alfalfa fields. Common flickers and American robins migrating through.

20 - Poison ivy foliage is mostly red, some yellow. Thousands of broad-winged and sharp-shinned hawks over Hawk Ridge in Duluth. Flock of about two dozen eastern bluebirds seen near Grygla.

21 - First scattered frost over much of southern Minnesota. Dahlia, zinnia and tomato plants nipped in St. Peter. Black walnut and Ohio buckeye fruit falling. American bittersweet vines have bright sunny-yellow foliage.

22 - Field corn plants in southern Minnesota are mostly tan-brown. Fall-bearing raspberry canes at production peak. Gray squirrels are making leafy nests.

23 - First combining of field corn. First white-throated sparrows. Large flotillas of American coots are seen on many lakes; build-up in numbers of coots today.

24 - Blue jays migrating south. Third year needles of red pines are golden-brown. Green ash trees and eastern cottonwoods show much golden-yellow. Monarchs still migrating through.

25 - Last day this fall annual cicadas heard buzzing. Surface temperature of Lake Waconia is 66 degrees F and marks the end of the swimming season. Sugar maple trees, in open areas, tipped with red. Flock of about 30 eastern bluebirds on wire in Dayton.

26 - We can still pick and eat ripe wild grapes. Shaggymane mushrooms popping up. Dahlias, chrysanthemums and garden roses continue to bloom nicely. Fall colors are just great in Grygla area, and at overall peak.

27 - First dark-eyed juncos arrive in Brooklyn Park. Sumac shrubs showing much scarlet fall color. This is one of those rare days of the "illuminated woods," in the Leech Lake area, where the forest areas just glow. The deciduous trees in their autumn glory are especially nice among the evergreen pines and spruces.

28 - Virginia creeper at overall fall color peak with mostly bright red foliage. Cologne area farmers combining corn and soybeans. Near Karlstad, about 100 sandhill cranes seen in a field.

29 - Honeycrisp, Honeygold, Haralson and McIntosh are some of the apples being harvested. Killdeers migrating. White-tailed deer now have their gray-brown winter coats.

30 - Sumacs at overall fall color peak and mostly showing beautiful scarlet. At the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 75 varieties of chrysanthemums bloom. Still many ripe tomatoes coming from gardens. American goldfinches are changing to their somber brown winter plumage. Hundreds of white pelicans observed in Minnesota River Valley just north of St. Peter.