A Close Look at some Daylilies

The Daylilies radiate colour across our garden, but a close look at individual flowers shows some interesting differences.  I have my favourites of course, the first and last below especially, but you might have yours too.  And never forget the work involved; the spent blossoms from yesterday have to be picked off every morning to keep it all looking good.

The dark purple one always appeals to me.

This yellow one is interesting for the narrow petals.

I think we have nearly 20 different varieties altogether.

This yellow oe has very wide petals.

Finally, 'Saugeen Sunrise' is my top favourite.

Back to the Garden

Before I bother you with some dry pictures of Meaford's historic buildings, (it is our sesquicentennial this year after all), I thought you'd enjoy a few colourful pictures from our garden.  Here they are.

When I sit in the living room and look out the window, this is my view of the garden.  Several different Daylilies and a pink Echinacea.

The details of the view change every day, but it's always bright and colourful.  The bright orange ones are 'Saugeen Sunrise'.

There is bright red Crocosmia at the bottom, the Echinacea as you move up, then the orange Daylilies and then the pale yellow ones.

I wish I knew the name of the big yellow ones with the crinkly edges, but I don't.

Daylily varieties are separated by characteristics like how wide the petals are, how smooth or crinkly the edge is, and of course by their colour - here yellow with a reddish-brown edge, and an almost green centre.

Some people like the flowers all separated clearly, but Mrs. F.G. excels at mixing them all together.  Remember, it is a 'chaos garden'.  Doesn't this look like chaos?

As the days have gone by the pink Echinacea have become more and more dominant.

And one day, fluttering on those flowers I spotted an American Painted Lady butterfly.

Crops and Cattle

On the way to Owen Sound to see the tall ship I started noticing the crops.  By mid-summer they should all be growing well, while hay and perhaps some wheat might be already harvested.  It would be a time when farmers would look out and pray for good weather over the next few months!

We both watch for the canola fields, they are such a bright yellow.

This appeared to me to be a large field of hay that has already been harvested.

A good-looking field of corn, probably waist-high already.

I think this is a field of wheat, but somewhat damaged by lodging.

And this is a field of soybeans.

Before we actually left Owen Sound we passed this busy field of cattle - there actually were houses right across the road from this pasture.  The mature ones all just continued grazing, but the calves all turned and then headed over to have a close look at us.   Calves are always curious!

The Tall Ship TS Playfair

The 'tall ship' tied up at the dock beyond the lake freighter looked tiny indeed!  Beside the freighter it was short and small; I didn't know how 28 sailors could live aboard her!  Of these, 18 would be new trainees, but aside from the First Mate and Captain, all would be 13-18 years of age.

As I understand it, training courses last a week, and everyone has to be 13, but no experience is necessary.  I think it would be a great adventure!

The rear deck looked very interesting to me, with the life buoy, the life raft and the helm.  It would be a busy place with people all moving around!

And I'm sure that safety would be a big part of the training!

The helm seems like the centre of the ship to me.  I wonder how responsive the ship is when it's under sail?  It looks so peaceful tied up at the dock, but I know it sometimes gets rough on the lakes!

As for the rigging, that's totally beyond me.  I'm sure there's a logic to all of this, but it would take me awhile to understand, let alone to climb the rigging and raise or lower the sails!

Meanwhile, Mrs. F.G. was intrigued by the decorative pattern on her bow.

The John D Leitch Docked in Owen Sound.

Last weekend Mrs. F.G., saw that a tall ship would be docked in Owen Sound as it took on a new crew, and she thought it would be fun to go and see it, so we did.  But when we pulled up to the dock we found ourselves right beside an enormous lake freighter, the John D Leitch.

This was our view was we drove along the dockside road.  It's a big ship!

The John D. Leitch has a reputation for having an enormous superstructure, and you could see how high it was when we pulled up, like a small 4-story apartment building.

When we pulled up and got out of the car, this was our view.  The ship did appear to be enormous, nearly 800 feet long.  It has apparently been docked here for the winter, and as you can tell, is empty, riding very high in the water.  Based on the comments I've read, this summer's sailing may be its final year of sailing the lakes.

Like many older lake freighters, this one was scraped everywhere from passing through the locks.  Those narrow diagonal plates were added in one of its retrofits.

The stern loomed enormous above the waterline.  It sits so high that you don't even get a glimpse of the enormous unloading gantry that was state of the art when the ship was launched in 1967;

(Source: The Sault News)

I found this image in the Sault News, taken from the side, so you can see the long self-unloading gantry extending back from the bow.  The ship has a conveyor belt running at the lowest point of the hull, so the cargo, usually coal or iron ore, can tumble down and be carried along to the front of the ship.  There it rises in an elevator and gets carried on another conveyor through that gantry, dropping into piles wherever it's docked. That system makes it a self-unloading bulk carrier.

And it made the little ship we had come to see look very tiny indeed.

 

Tomorrow a closer look at the TS Playfair, the sail training vessel sailing out of Hamilton that we came to see.  It's a brigantine, a two-masted, square-rigged sailing vessel, with a complement of 28 people (where they all sleep I can't imagine).  And it did look tiny to me!

A Drive Through the Swamp

A week or two ago we went for a drive, to one of our favourite destinations, the swamp north of Shallow Lake.  We were watching for birds, but there was nothing to get very excited about, however, there were thousands of white /water Lilies.  So Mrs. F.G. drove slowly along, puling over frequently, while I pointed my phone out the window.

A good chunk of what we call 'the swamp' is really more of a marsh, with reeds and open water.  In a few weeks there may well be an Egret or Swan in this area.

A little further along the open water disappears, replaced by thousands of lily pads.

This is the White Water-lily, with thick waxy leaves that float and flowers that are open for three-four days.  On the fourth day the stem 'corkscrews', pulling the flower underwater until seed matures.  White water-lily are a main source in the diet of both muskrat and moose.

There are lots of other plants you'd expect in the marsh, like these Bulrushes.

Along the roadside were lots of Milkweed.

And the first Chicory I've seen this year.

We left the swamp behind and drove down the narrow rural road as we headed for home, with plentiful berry crops ripening along the way, including these wild grapes.

A nice view of an old barn across the fields.