Welcome to This Week in Nature, a new weekly feature on what’s happening in the natural world in Minnesota, so that you’ll know what to look for when you head outside.
This Week in Nature
Your weekly glimpse at what’s happening in Minnesota’s outdoors.
By Lisa Meyers McClintick
August 22, 2024 at 12:00PM
Chicken of the Woods mushrooms are sprouting
The bright, pillowy mushrooms named “chicken of the woods” sprout after rains this time of year. While morels might get the lion’s share of love when it comes to Minnesota mushrooms, late summer — not spring — rules as the most prolific time to forage edible mushrooms. Chicken of the woods ranks among the best beginner finds whether you harvest them or simply enjoy the visual spectacle. Look for ruffled layers of deep yellow and orange (also called sulfur shelf) on the sides of trees. Chicken of the woods can be sautéed, marinated and grilled, or deep-fried.
Blazing star wildflowers are blooming
Find a patch of prairie or gardens with native plants to catch blooms of liatris, also known as blazing star or gayfeather. Keep a camera handy to catch the butterflies and wide variety of bees drawn to them.
Cicadas are screeching
Keep an ear out for cicadas as they crank up their dental-drill soundtrack. Minnesota’s dog-day cicadas, also called annual cicadas, emerge once a year. The high-pitched sounds come from the males hoping to attract females. Look for them on the sides of trees, fences and buildings as they molt.
about the writer
Lisa Meyers McClintick
Mushroom hunters, wild blueberry pickers, chokecherry lovers and other foragers don’t want to leave it to the DNR.
![BRIAN PETERSON ¥ brianp@startribune.com St. Paul, MN 9/24/2009 ] A lone kayaker makes his way from the Minnesota River into the Mississippi near Pike Island near Fort Snelling Thursday afternoon. Minnesota and 11 other states in the watershed of the Mississippi River will get $320 million from the federal government to clean up the river. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the program today, calling the 2,350-mile river "a critical national resource." The Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative is designed to improve water quality during the next four years in an attempt to shrink the "dead zone" the river's pollutants create in the Gulf of Mexico.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/O7Z6YC6SRE6G4XOBWQNICI7WUU.jpg?&w=252&ar=3:2&fit=crop)