The MN wildflower blog

This is a tiny little flower, barely 1/16 inch in diameter. I’ve wondered what kind of critter goes for such a small flower. I guess now I know.

I like taking photos early in the morning, usually because the light can make everything glow. This morning I got a treat with heavy dew, too.

It’s a pretty thing, but evil nonetheless. It’s invading my favorite park.

Today’s outing was a quest for yellow iris at Long Lake Regional Park. It’s a relatively new invasive species I first found growing there a couple years ago. I volunteered to hunt down all the spots it’s growing for the Ramsey County Cooperative Weed Management Area.

I recorded about 30 spots with 1 or more iris leaf clumps along the west shore of the lake, 12 of which are blooming. Only 2 have been confirmed as blueflag. That’s 10 confirmed clumps of yellow iris. It’s already worse than I thought, and most of the plants aren’t even blooming yet.

A spring drought is tough, but it does mean some areas are accessible that would normally be too mucky to explore. It was in one of those places I came across this.