I do have more photos, but I think you'll have seen enough after today! It was hard to get close-ups too, largely because I was sitting too far back in the chair. But between us we got a few, and we certainly enjoyed it!
These white ones had shades of pink and yellow n them,].Seasons in the Valley + Furry Gnome's Adventures
Monday, May 19, 2025
The Last of the Tulips
Saturday, May 17, 2025
More Tulips!
As I said, I ended up with lots of pictures, so here you go. I was initially attracted to the solid colour tulips, but I surprised myself becoming entranced with their mixed plantings. I kept trying to think 'How did they do this?' It still seems quite amazing!
You know me and bright colours!There as even a windmill in the distance. Note the pathways between the rows. I found these fields totally accessible, and my chair did not sink in the sand at all. It was very encouraging.
I enjoyed all the solid colour plantings, but then I started getting intrigued by their mixed colours.
How did they do these? There was such an even distribution of the different colours all the way down the row.
There are some multi-coloured Tulips here, yellow and red, but there are also different coloured Tulips, white, red and yellow.
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Tulip Fest!
We went off to a Tulip Fest today, held at Sandhill Creek Farm just west of Hepworth for you local folk. You need a ticket, and they try to spread tickets over the day so it won't get too crowded. The tulip blooming season is very short, only about 10 days and we were there for the peak bloom. They could have hosted many more people in our opinion.
The colour combinations were remarkable, very carefully selected and very uniform.
I have lots more photos to share, and we'll certainly be returning every year in the future!
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Magnolia Magnificence!
It's peak season for Magnolia trees around town, and they are spectacular! Yesterday, riding downtown I saw at least six Magnolia out in full bloom. Enjoy.
This is the largest one I pass, just a couple of blocks away. Seeing it up close and personal always takes my breath away.The blooms on this tree, which I think would be considered a Southern Magnolia, are huge and luxurious!
Sunday, May 11, 2025
These Aren't Leaves!
I remember when I first took a close look at a Sugar Maple flower in spring. I didn't know what I was looking at in spite of teaching students about identifying trees for 40 years! Now I watch for the maple flowers to give the trees that yellowy-green look at this time of year every May.
So you might think these are leaves emerging on this tree, but they're not; these are the tree's flowers, which come first.As you get closer and closer you realize these do not look like leaves, though there are emerging leaves among them. These are the flowers that will ultimately produce the seeds in the form of maple keys.
I had to go down the street to the next Sugar Maple to show you these up close. You can see the tiny stamens protruding below the calyx of each flower, held on thin stems 2" long.
Friday, May 9, 2025
Ditch Diving
On Sunday we went for a drive again, down south of here, turning off the main road to take a few sideroads through the swamps. I'm calling it ditch diving, driving along swampy sideroads to see what spring flowers we can see in the ditches. Mrs. F.G. has become quite fascinated with those swampy sideroads.
As it grows the bright leaves dominate, forming small fields of green, somewhat odiferous plants with very large leaves.
Last Sunday some plants were well developed, while some were little more than the purple spathes poking above water.
On we went and in front of a drier patch of upland forest we quickly found some Dogtooth Violets or Trout Lily. The second photo here is drastically cropped, leaving it a little unclear.
Even the woods themselves were showing a sheen of green as the leaves started opening. Did you notice the line of beehives?
We passed a small stream that used to mark one of my hideouts. There's a beaver dam holding back a large wetland just a short distance upstream. This is the headwaters of the remarkable Wodehouse Creek which I've written about before..
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
May Day was a Big Day!
Well, I'm a few days behind since this actually happened on May 1st, May Day. If you're a gardener I'm sure you'll recognize what you're seeing. These seedlings were planted in mid-March, and on May 1st they were brought up from the basement and out into the garage to start the long slow process of 'hardening off'. These are still Mrs. F.G.'s babies but they've graduated to sit outdoors.
Mrs. F.G. has a set of grow lights set up in the basement, large enough that a mysterious pink glow can be seen from the top of the stairs. This is where she plants seeds to grow her vegetables, mainly tomatoes and peppers. Then after the danger of frost is past, usually by June 1st in our location, she can plant them outside. All of them will be planted in raised beds or big pots for the summer.