Category: Arb Talk

A smidge of gold has doused the Northfield foliage a touch earlier than last year, and a touch later than the year before. These shortening days, as well as the cooler temperatures we experienced the first week of classes kicked off the annual Minnesota spectacle.

Earlier this term, the Cannon River flooded and engulfed the soccer fields next to West Gym and the entirety of the Arboretum’s floodplain. Flooding can cause issues for humans, but…

After a cold winter and a rainy spring, the weather is finally perfect to get out into the Arb! In these last couple of weeks, you can get out and see the wildflowers blooming, the leaves on the trees budding, the flooding Cannon River, and the geese with their newborn goslings.

During the annual frog and toad survey that happened in Week 4, we were very fortunate to see and hear at least one river otter (Lontra canadensis) in the retention pond near the Lower Arb entrance.

Spring has arrived, and the Arboretum is starting to flower and leaf out. But spring has also brought a couple of non-traditional signs to the Arboretum. Burned patches of ground, plumes of smoke — what are we up to?

With a funky tune in the background, a plump, long-beaked brown bird treads daintily, bobbing its body forwards and back while keeping its head perfectly stable and keeping up with the beat.

With what may be the last of the snow, southern Minnesota has seen a flurry of activity amongst its many feathered and furry creatures.

The city of Northfield recently published a press release confirming that emerald ash borers have started to infest Northfield ash trees. This is bad news for the campus Arboretum, as green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) makes up 20-30% of the trees in
the lower Arb.

The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) is the heaviest flying native bird in North America and has an average wingspan of 185 to 250 centimeters.

For the majority of the long, frigid, Minnesota winter, Lyman Lakes and the Cannon River freeze over, and layers of snow cover the frozen lake. As a result, it may seem like the lakes are dormant and in a stagnant state, but that is certainly not the case. While there are animals that hibernate or migrate south throughout the winter, many aquatic and semi-aquatic species stay active despite the harsh conditions