Blue Mounds State Park...

The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.
(e.e. cummings)
The garden is a scent for the noses with all the peonies blooming this week and I am showing a third variety which is a medium pink. Most of my peonies have been passed on to me so I have no names of the varieties.

On to our latest park in our full day of cycling/hiking last weekend. These photos are from Blue Mounds state park near Luverne, MN. Jeff & I got a laugh from the kids digging mud holes and slinging mud at each other...what ever happened to building sand castles? This park has a resident buffalo herd grazing the prairie mounds.
We have not been to this park for 20 years but I had wanted to go back again in June to see all the blooming cacti. I remember being amazed at the first visit that Cactus even grew in MN and that they had such a beautiful bloom. So we planned the trip for June but with our spring being so late this year there wasn't a one blooming but all had buds.
But there were many other wildflowers to enjoy on our hike.
The wild prairie roses were blooming at all 5 parks we spent time at...
and there were birds to enjoy at each one too. This tree swallow couple posed for lots of photos as we walked by them.
A bit of MN history tomorrow, it is our state's sesquicentennial (150th anniversary of statehood) this year so we hope to ride to quite a few historical sites.

SD nature part 2...

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.
(e.e. cummings)
More nature from our trip but first the white peonies are blooming too...
Our third stop near Garretson, SD was Palisades State Park. This park is also on Split Rock Creek (river?) and is known for its sioux quartzite formations. We had a picnic in a shady spot along the river and watched a couple continually throw out a stick for this black lab to swim out and fetch. We took a short hike through the woods along the river to the area with the bigger rock formations.
There were a group of men/boys rock climbing on these rocks.
The river had a definite brown tinge but there were families swimming in it.
The gardener in me admired all the wildflowers blooming everywhere and their toughness to grow in unusual places.
Then we drove to the lookouts on the other side of the river for the high vistas. This is King & Queen rock.
From the lookout, I noticed a flash of orange at the top of this tree growing at the edge of the water. (The spot marked with an asterisk)
After changing to the zoom lens, it was a robin sitting on her nest. She must have liked the penthouse view.
We'll travel back into MN tomorrow :-)

Natural beauty...

If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere.
(Vincent Van Gogh)
We took a short camping/cycling trip this weekend to explore southwestern MN & a tiny bit of SD near Garretson. When we got back last night I was happy to see the first of the peonies are opening and the wind that went through this weekend did not lay them down. At Garretson we first went to Split Rock park along the Split Rock River. This area of the river looked so peaceful and serene it made you wish you had a canoe...
but then right after this rock formation it ran over a dam so it was a great thing we did not have a canoe :-)
Next we went to Devil's Gulch. Legend has it that in 1876, Jesse James jumped this ravine with his horse to escape the posse chasing him from the Northfield bank robbery. There is also a nearby cave where he & his brother Frank hid for a few days while the posse went on by.
We enjoyed the walking trail through this park and I was suprised to see spiderwort growing everywhere as a wildflower including in small cracks in the rock.
We hiked to the bottom of the canyon and back along the rim..
where the creek ran shimmering rapids through the woods...
before dropping at Devil's Falls deep into the canyon.
I hope to share more of our adventure in the next several days.

Hold up your Hand and Sing...

Five busy bees on a lovely spring day.
(hold up fingers)
This one said, "Let's fly away.'
(indicate each bee in turn)
This one said "We'll drink some nectar sweet."This one said, "Let's get pollen on our feet."This one said "And then we'll make some honey."This one said "Good thing it's warm and sunny."
So the five busy bees went flying along
(fly hand around while wiggling fingers)
Singing a happy honeybee song.
Bzzzzzzzzzz!
(Fly your hand behind your back)
(author unknown)

FIVE...there were more than of dozen of these fat bumblebees on the false blue indigo yesterday. They moved to fast to get a group shot but I think they are kind of cute and fuzzy in their own unique way.

after the rain...

In the tiny petal of a tiny flower that grew from a tiny pod,
Is the miracle and the mystery of all creation and God.
(author unknown)It rained and was very windy yesterday and the taller plants in the garden took quite a hit (I'll be staking today) but things are looking better in the sunshine this morning. Ruthie asked if the flowers in the garden art in the last post were current blooms and yes they are. The irises are all in full bloom.

The false blue indigo plant took the hardest hit in the wind but the blooms are still spectactular.
The cranesbill geraniums are also in full bloom...
and most of the columbines.

For once I am happy the peonies weren't blooming yet as they would never lasted through yesterday. The buds are definitely tougher than the blooms.
I am just loving these bright spots of color in my day.

Garden art...

As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.
(John Lubbock)









If we just take the time to stop, look and listen there is so much beauty around us. A peek into a few of today's blossoms...I wish you could smell the little Miss Kim Lilac - it perfumes the whole backyard.

Missing Dad...

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. (author unknown)Whenever I see an oriole, I think of my Dad. When he was homebound during his last months he enjoyed watching all the birds, especially the orioles. One day when we visited, the orioles were busy building a nest right above his driveway using tape from a old cassette they must have found somewhere. Daily, we watched the progress and kept his feeders filled for him. Last month my daughter called to say she had seen an oriole in her yard in northern MN. She asked my opinion on getting them to stay because they always remind her of Grandpa too. Everyone misses him! He had a such wonderful sense of humor and he loved his family especially his grandchildren.
We built an angel garden in his memory and I love to go out there and reflect. The plaque below is in the garden.
I cannot believe he has been gone 10 years today. We miss you and love you Grandpa Ben!

gardening for the birds...

To me, the garden is a doorway to other worlds; one of them,
of course, is the world of birds. The garden is their dinner table,
bursting with bugs and worms and succulent berries.
(Anne Raver)
I love having a garden that attracts all these beautiful birds! This guy visited the rock for a drink this week and I was stumped trying to ID him. After looking through all my bird books the only similiar photo I could find was one of an immature male hooded oriole, but then I looked and saw that they only live in the southwestern part of the US and this is central MN so I ruled him out (unless he rode the jetstream up or something).
So I went to the Cornell All about Birds website and looked up every oriole I could find. I think this one is probably an immature male orchard oriole. Though I have never seen one before we do have several adult orchard orioles so it makes more sense to give him this ID. Click on the blue links to see the photos of these two at the Cornell site.So even though I had initially convinced myself he had the curved bill of the SW oriole, I caught a better glance of the two white wing bars in flight which according to what I've read would confirm him as an immature orchard oriole.
Did I tell you that I love gardening for the birds?