Thanks to my Sister!

 Ten years ago at this time of year I would have been out in the woods, walking whatever trails I could with my camera and looking for wildflowers to photograph.  The first three weeks in May are a special season in the woods, after temperatures have risen above freezing but before the leaves come out.  For those few weeks the sun can reach the forest floor, and that's when you can find the wildflowers in bloom.

Of course I can't do that anymore, but my sister can, so today she's given me permission to use some of her recent photos.  Thanks sis!

It's the season of leaves emerging, and soon the forest will be a different place.

But for now the woods looks like this, sunlight filtering through the branches to the forest floor.  Quite simply it is the most beautiful time of year in the woods.

And here in Ontario it is the time to look for Trillium, here a beautiful large patch.

I have always loved Trillium, and my sister did a great job of capturing these.

You probably would not recognize this field of small white flowers, because they are very rare here.

These are the white form of the Trout Lily or Dog-tooth Violet.  I have only seen these in one location myself.

This is the much more common version of the plant, with a yellow flower.  These are very common here, carpeting the forest floor.

And a great swath of bright yellow Marsh Marigolds.

A small clump, up close.

Thanks to my sister for getting these great photos and sharing them.  The two smaller ones are my own.

Garden Work is Well Underway!

 Mrs. F.G. has begun the annual spring clean-up  and tune-up for the garden.  In particular she and our garden helper have carried out the bags of soil and reconstructed the 'towers', adding the soil as they went.  Mrs. F.G. uses a number of soil amendments to achieve the balance she wants, so it all requires mixing.

A great deal of the garden work goes on indoors where Mrs. F.G. has lights set up in the basement and grows many of her plants from seed.  This year she has tried geraniums, and she has already moved them into the garage to harden off.  They won't get planted out until the end of the month.

In the back yard work began on building the towers, starting with the soil mixture.

By the end of the day three towers were in place, ready for Mrs. F.G. to try out various little plants in them.

The big job was filling each layer with soil as they were built.  These towers are taken apart and the soil removed for the winter.

In other news the onions and peas have been planted.

The decorative trellises for the peas have been installed.

And the grandchildren's giant dragonfly added.

Mrs. F.G. has also begun her annual translocation trapping for chipmunks and red squirrels.

The Garden is Growing!

 Since I last showed you shoots of Daffodils coming up through the snow, the garden has boomed!  We have bunches of Daffodils out front, and a few out back.  And work on the garden is getting underway.  More on that tomorrow.

The small kidney-shaped garden a round our two trees out front is just beautiful at the moment!

One lonely Dandelion showed up in the front lawn.  I like Dandelions, but this one didn't last long.

And a few Daffodils out back.  Daffodils mark spring at our place.

There are  other plants in bloom!  The Forsythia provides a bright splash of yellow in the corner of the garden.  Yellows seem to typify spring around here.

Old Houses, Daffodils and Bloodroot

 One day last week I rode down Nelson Street West, the street that suffers from terrible 'alligator pavement'.  I try to ride down it once or twice a year never-the-less, just to keep in touch.

There are several small red brick homes that date from many decades ago, probably built when this was farmland on the edge of town.  This is the first, with its bright patch of Daffodils out front.

The Daffodils are right at the peak of blooming just now.

Across the street is this old home, same centre entrance, but with a peaked roof overhead, and this one has an upper porch above the door.  But out front they used to have a giant old Sugar Maple, and under it a small patch of forest floor filled with Bloodroot, and later with Mayapple.  The tree was taken down some years ago as branches started to rot, but the Bloodroot are still there and I see them every spring.

The leaf of the Bloodroot forms a protective shield around the stem in early spring, lessening the risk of frost damage to the flower.

Facing down the length of the street is this old home, same centre entrance and peaked roof.  Unfortunately hidden behind large cedar and lilacs.

But beside it is a very attractive small barn.  They've obviously replaced the siding recently.

The fourth old home, similar architecturally, is back near the beginning of the street, though unfortunately it hasn't been as well cared for.

Beside it though is a beautiful patch of bright yellow Aconite.

And just after the start of the street is this tiny stream, which flows north and under our street before draining into the golf course and out to the bay.

And just in case you've forgotten, here's a patch of relatively smooth 'alligator pavement', no problem for cars, but painful for a wheelchair!

Now that I've posted this I find myself wondering if the upstairs doors over the front porches weren't an escape route in case of fire.  All these homes would originally have been heated by a wood or coal stove in the kitchen.

Spring Plant Quizz - Answers

 Here are the answers to the plant quiz.

1. Peony

2. {oppy

3. Jacob's Ladder

4. Leopard's Bane

5. Day Lily

6. Common Mullein

7. Coral Bells or Heuchera

8. Lamb's Ears

9. Primrose

10. Sedum

How'd you do?

Spring Plant Quiz

Although I can't do much active gardening anymore, I still enjoy watching the garden come to life in the spring and grow all summer long.  I've learned a lot the past few years from Mrs. F.G., who is the horticulturalist!  But there are still green leaves emerging in our garden just now that I'm not sure of.  How about you?  Here's a plant quiz to challenge you.

1.  These are Peony shoots emerging, pretty easy to recognize.  I don't expect you to guess which variety of Peony they are.  See if you can guess the following ten plants.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Tomorrow I will post the answers, at least as far as Mrs. F.G. and I label them.