the hunt for spring asparagus begins the previous summer and fall, when these ferns and berries actually stand out from their backgrounds and announce the location of next May’s gourmet treasures. i could tell you where i found this, but you know what i’d have to do to you. it wouldn’t be pretty.

wild asparagus ferns and fruit

vadnais lake, saint paul, minnesota

we once visited friends in the new york finger lakes region, and we happened to arrive in the midst of a mayfly hatch on lake skaneateles. i swear to you that the mayflies were as thick as these hydrangea blossoms on the walls, windows, and doors of every lakeside building. i look at this photo, and i swear i can see the petals flexing.

hydrangea blossoms

saint paul, minnesota

i couldn’t think what these seed stems could be. i looked them up trying every combination of words i could think of in google. in the end i just stopped and looked at the plant itself. it was so obvious. it looked just like the sweet clover i’d seen all summer in the exact same location, except now with seeds at the tips instead of little bottle brushes of flowers. it’s not as if all the species suddenly changed locations just because its fall and not summer. once again, simplicity and common sense for the win.

sweet clover

grass lake, saint paul, minesota

well, of course the word “aster”  comes from the greek word for “star.” just look at them. i wonder what the greeks would have named this little constellation.

aster (canadanthus modestus) blossoms

lake johanna, saint paul, minnesota

the sporeprint of this fern reminds me of a tintype photograph from the 19th century. it’s the right color and it has the same sort of stern and proper demeaner as those civil war soldiers in their uniforms staring straight into the camera. once it had its portrait taken, however, this particular soldier appears to have visited a bordello or two, and then gone on a colossal bender.

fern frond with spores

saint paul, minnesota