First stop for the day was along White Road in Muskegon, Michigan - we have been here before and there is a small parking area. The gated two-track runs all the way down to the Muskegon River near Mosquito Creek and Spring Creek. The property is owned by the State of Michigan.
In the parking lot we saw Wild Lupine, Hoary Puccoon, and Birdfoot Violet. It was a chilly start to the day but quickly warmed up with the sunshine.
Next stop was a place called Lane's Landing, more Michigan State Game Area off Maple Island Road. Here the gate was open and we drove past the trees and out into the open field.
We made our way to Five Lakes Nature Sanctuary, 88 acres in Muskegon County owned by the Michigan Nature Association.
Frostweed (Helianthemum canadense) Family Rockrose
12 comments:
I've been in lupine land myself lately. They say that native blue lupines always have fewer than 11 leaflets like those in your photos. Those are the plants that the endangered Karst blue butterflies lay their eggs on, so it's an important plant. Nice photos!
Thanks, Allen. Wild Lupine has done very well in Michigan too.
Very near the Newaygo Prairie is the Karner Blue Sanctuary - also owned by the Michigan Nature Association, it has 80 acres of prairie in Newaygo County.
:)
Lupine! I like how you showcased the leaves. So often the flower outshines the leaves and I don't even notice them. I'm still trying to identify the tree we saw at the edge of the parking lot of Lane's Landing. It was good to see the water up at Five Lakes and the tadpoles! Your photo of the False Heather makes it look as big as a shrub. Our sunny friend Frostweed was a treat. The days with you are so therapeutic - I don't take a pill, I just take a Chris's Day! Thanks for all the fun, M :)
What a small world! Lane's Landing is a regular stop for me when birding in Muskegon, and I've been meaning to find the Five Lakes Nature Sanctuary, as that's reported to be a great spot for birding as well. Your photos of the flowers are wonderful!
Oh I knew you would like the leaves, almost as pretty as the flowers. We saw a walnut tree blooming farther in the field at Lane's Landing, right? Did I take a picture of the tree to identify? Oh I guess I could check on that.
Since you are saving money on therapy and pills that helps toward the gas right? And I think I forgot to include those tadpoles (pic), oh well.
I can hardly wait for our next exciting adventure!
:)
Thanks, Jerry. I have been to Lane's Landing before but then I didn't know it had a name. Last time we stopped there we walked to the Muskegon River, this time we wanted to go to Five Lakes so it was a quick stop. Marie has gone birding there, back when she was a birder.
Five Lakes is a bit tricky to find. If you need directions let me know. We heard a bird calling while we were at Five Lakes but couldn't recognize the call. Then again maybe it wasn't a bird at all.
One of these days we will end up at the same place at the same time!
:)
The Lupine and Frostweed photos are especially nice. We were surprised to see the Spring Beauty blooming at Newaygo Prairie, too - so late and in such an unlikely environment. We thought we saw two different types of Birdfoot Violet there. We also saw Hairy Beardtongue and Canada Toadflax.
Here is the wildflower report from north of the 45th parallel. Recent hikes - the trails near Glen Haven, Pierce Stocking Drive, and Burnham road in Sleeping Bear; Jeff Lamont Preserve (Leelanau Conservancy); Leelanau State Park; along the Jordan River in Antrim county; Susan Creek, Oden Island and the Headlands (Little Traverse Conservancy; Wilderness State Park; and Mill Creek State Park.
We saw these plants blooming just about everywhere, so I will only mention them once: Starry False Solomon's Seal, Canada Mayflower, Bastard Toadflax, Wild Strawberry; Starflower, Swamp Buttercup, and Columbine.
The main bloom on the woodland trails in Sleeping Bear was Virginia Waterleaf - massive stands in bloom. We also saw quite a bit of Fringed Polygala there and Sweet Cicely. We did find a stand of Puttyroot blooming. Along the beach Hairy Puccoon has started blooming. The early blooms are a bright lemon yellow, and not so orange-ish as they get later on. It was beautiful, like big bright yellow bouquets every 15-20 feel on the beach. Bearberry, Sand Cherry, still in bloom, though near their end, and Lyre-leaved Rock Cress is blooming everywhere on the beach. The other beach flowers are coming on more slowly than in previous years on the Lake Michigan shore, especially when compared to last year. On Grand Traverse Bay the Dune Roses have started for example, but no blooms yet on Lake Michigan. Not sure why the cool spring delayed some blooms, while others are "on schedule." The orchids all seem to be blooming at the same time as always.
The Headlands featured massive stands of Yellow Ladyslipper, and of course Dwarf Lake Iris. The highlight was "albino" Dwarf lake Irises - satiny white with gold trim. Beautiful. We saw clumps of Yellow Ladyslipper with 15-20 blooms. Wilderness Park blooms - Dwarf Lake Iris, Indian Paintbrush by the thousands out on the point, Butterwort, hundreds of Pink Ladyslippers in the woods, huge colonies of Polygala, Striped Coralroot, Ramshead Ladyslipper, Pink Pyrola, Twinflower, Bunchberry, Northern Bog Violet and many others.
The trails in the woods at Mill Creek were lined with dense stands of Clintonia in full bloom, often bordered by stands of Wood Betony in bloom. The contrast between the two made for a nice scene. We also saw large stands of Thimbleberry in bloom.
I probably forgot s few of the flowers we saw, but those were the highlights. We watched a Painted Turtle dig her nest and deposit eggs at Wilderness - helped a few "moms" on their way to nesting sites get across the road, too.
Sure enough, I forgot a few. Golden Ragwort and Northern Ragwort, Daisy Fleabane has started blooming here as has Canada Anemone and Sand Coreopsis. We saw out first Blue Flags and Yellow Pond Lilies of the year at Oden Island near Petoskey. Silverweed is in bloom everywhere on the shores. We saw Northern Winter Cress in Emmet county.
Mike so sorry I missed your comment. That's the problem with a blog things tend to get buried. I really do appreciate the updates from the north or any where around Michigan.
I recently found Grass Pink blooming, it was the first time I came across it, wow what an orchid. Here we are at the end of June, it is hard to believe. Flowers everywhere now! It is still fun to find wildflowers I haven't seen before, but it is also fun to relearn them from years past.
I hope you are having many wildflower adventures!
No problem missing my post - I have been falling behind reading your entries and by the time I respond to an entry it is 2-3 weeks old.
That is exciting that you saw Grass Pink!
Mike how are the wildflowers in the north? The Grass Pink was exciting, such a showy plant growing there on its own!
Hope to hear from you again soon, happy wildflowering!
Hola, ¿alguien me puede conseguir semillas de Helianthemum Canadense o similares de clima frio?.
José
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