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.

I think these are just the neatest things!

This branch waving against the sky is right here in our own back yard.  This is certainly not a close-up, but you can still see the dangling flower clusters.

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. 

Our first stop was at a spot we knew to see the Skunk Cabbage growing.  We're a little late this year, so we were mainly seeing their bright green leaves rather than the deep purple of the 'spathe', the first part of the plant above ground in the spring.  You can see remnants of the spathes of these two plants in the photos.

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..

As we carried on the other bright spring flower we soon found was the Marsh Marigold.  It's remarkable to see these growing right out of the water.  Thus ended our ditch diving, a short but fascinating ride.  

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.

I persuaded her to wait until March to plant the seeds this year, and it looks like we were just about right.  Probably half of these will be given away, a large group to our daughter-in-law, who helps run a plant sale in favour of a pet charity.  And this is only about half of the plants to be brought up from the basement yet, the rest mainly peppers.

So you're looking at the foundation for a joyous summer of growing veggies in the garden!

And Home Again

The best thing about Big Bay, besides the skipping stones and the ice cream available at the nearby general store, was that I got out in the fresh breeze, to ride out on that pier.  Once she saw me looking regal against the blue waters of the bay, Mrs. F.G. thought I needed a new picture, so here it is!

This flag has been here for a long time, but I have never in my life seen as many Canadian flags flying in front of homes as I am this year!

And here I am, handsome for an old gent eh?

Then we headed home, taking the shore road around until we came out at the Women's Institute memorial.  The Kemble Women's Institute is the oldest in the world, dating from 1897.  The monument, taking the form of a table set for tea, seems so appropriate to me.  We always stop here when we're going by.

The view is incredible.  Sitting on top of one of those escarpment outcrops, this one known as Cape Rich,, the view takes you right across Owen Sound (the water body, not the city), to the clay banks on the northern side of the military base, just north of us.

There was more ice storm damage here and there on the way home, these some willows behind a former B&B.  Willows are highly susceptible to ice damage.

Having told you about the ancient glacial shorelines, I should point out the view from the crest of the highest of these as we returned to Meaford, the Algonquin shoreline.  On a sunny day it provides a stunning view over Meaford.  Not surprisingly the crossroads here is called Bayview.  The far shore is about 50 km. away.  All in all a wonderful Sunday afternoon drive!

To Big Bay

 It's an interesting drive through the back roads into the village of Big Bay, but you come out to a rocky beach next to the pier overlooking Georgian Bay.  We've been here before, including with our grandchildren before they moved out west.

There's a large patch of flat farmland, just north of the village of Kemble, featuring this old starting-to -tumble-down barn.  The nearby house wasn't in any better shape!

Then we headed up over the hill.  The farm on the left here is a popular stop for maple syrup.  We've been there several times.  They tap this sugar bush running up the hill and let the syrup all flow downhill to their evaporator by simple gravity.

Over the hill, where there was a lot more ice damage visible, and down the other side into the village.  Houses here seem to be scattered in the woods, and back in aways we saw a large patch of /Scilla glowing blue in the sunlight.

Shortly we came to a small patch right outside a house.

Then it was down to the beach, looking out across the bay.  That significant bluff across the water to the northwest is Malcom Bluff, where the Bruce Trail goes right along the top.

I was actually able to get out of the van and out onto the pier, which delighted me  This view, northeast,  is of Griffith Island.  This is where I've got my best pictures of the Canadian flag blowing in the breeze.

This photo is from several years ago; cars were blocking the sign this time.  This beach is not sand, but is entirely composed of small round flat stones, perfect for skipping, hence the sign.

A Sunday Afternoon Drive

 It was a beautiful sunny day on Sunday, so after church in the morning we headed off for the afternoon.  Our destination was Big Bay, a tiny little ragged village strung out among the trees, on the distant shore of Georgian Bay, some distance north of Owen Sound.

This is the ancient Algonquin glacial lake shoreline, a significant hill to the west of Meaford.  After the flat sand plains the apple trees so enjoy, you can't miss it.

We had an ice storm here two weeks ago, so on the higher bits of the landscape you could see a fair bit of damage, trees and branches down.

We eventually dipped down over the Niagara Escarpment into Owen Sound.  I've never got into the habit of photographing meals, but we did stop at a new pancake restaurant and really enjoyed our meal.  Then it was all the way through town and out the west end, turning to head north.

Once we got on the back roads we started to spot things.  These are Coltsfoot, one of the earliest spring wildflowers, often confused with Dandelions.  But with Dandelions the leaves come first; with Coltsfoot the flower comes first, and in my view they are one of the most beautiful spring wildflowers.

One of Mrs. F.G.'s favourite spring plants is Red Osier Dogwood, noticeable because the stems turn bright red as spring arrives.  It tends to form large patches especially where the ground is a little wet, but you can't miss those red stems.

We passed a curve, dropped downhill, and there was Georgian Bay - well, Owen Sound (the water body, not the city), brilliant blue in the afternoon sun.

We turned left and followed the shoreline for a distance before turning back inland, choosing the back roads to get to Big Bay.

More Flowers

The world here is coming alive with colour, and a few green leaves can't be far behind.  It's still the Daffodils that are the highlight for me, but there are a number of other flowers coming into bloom.

Clustered around our Birch tree are a number of Hyacinths, one of the most fragrant plants in the garden.

We have both pink and blue one, and they both, along with a Daffodil or three, ended up in a small bouquet beside my computer the other day.

We have a couple of small patches of Scilla out back.

And one unusual 'species' tulip.

And then there are the plants just emerging - this is one of our big Peonies.

And I think this is our pink Bleeding Heart.

Hellebores

We do grow lots of flowers besides Daffodils!   One of the most interesting is the Hellebores.  Commonly known as Lenten Rose or winter Rose, they have no relationship to the rose family.  But in our area they are one of the earliest spring flowers, this year the earliest, so we often think of them as Easter Rose.

This is a young plant, with only a few blooms and small leaves.  One of its main limitations is that the flowers hang downwards, preventing you from getting a good view of them.  Or of course they are facing away from me and my camera!

So I tried a back view, but this blossom is looking a little bedraggled.

In contrast, this is our original plant, quite large now, with dozens of blooms.  You can see how the leaves form in a whorl, unusual among flowers. and quite distinctive.  It's also evergreen in our experience, though it does get buried by snow.

So yesterday while I was out on the patio, Mrs. F.G. ruffled the blooms and I was able to get this photo showing the dark rich purple on the interior pf the blooms.  It's really very pretty when looked at from below.

This is one of our newest plants, an interesting pink shade.  Now they are bred to point upwards rather than hang down.  I'm not sure that's an improvement!