Paddling Lake Eugenia's Marsh Part 1

Well I think that's enough of the garden for now.  For the next little while you can join me on some of my expeditions around here.  By the way you may have noticed we were absent for a few days - away doing grandparent duty while our new grand-daughter was born.  Mom and baby are doing well, and we're back at home.

About a week ago my paddling buddy and I paddled around the marsh in the south end of Lake Eugenia.  If you know the area, that's the part south of the causeway.  My buddy brought his kayak, while I had my single canoe, which you paddle like a kayak.  I hadn't been out in it this year yet, what with all that's gone on in our lives.

I thought this area was mostly flooded stumps in the middle, with marsh around the edge, but expected a short paddle exploring the bulrushes.  We headed out past the 100 year old stumps.

As soon as I could I was nosing into the bulrushes to see what I could see, and get some pictures.

The water was remarkably clear!

We paddled past the stumps pretty quickly, and headed southeast searching for the spot where the Beaver River flowed into the lake, which I thought might add a little interest to our paddle.  This picture is looking north toward the main lake, and you can see the causeway that cuts off this end, with the bridge where the old river flows through.

I could easily have taken a lot of stump pictures!

And then we found the river.  Once you got beyond the part where the lake had flooded to, we found we could go up the river quite a distance.  What was a paddle past the bulrushes became an exploration of the creek, which got more and more interesting as we paddled upstream.

You might think we were blocked at this point, but we wiggled around through the cedars and fallen logs on the left here.

What I enjoyed most about this part of the paddle was the reeds bending downstream in the current, and I took a bunch of pictures.

What I thought was going to be a short and simple paddle around the edge of the marsh had turned into an interesting exploration of the creek.  And this is only part 1; more to come the next couple of days.

Lake Eugenia is a man-made lake flooded by a dam to help generate electricity, way back in 1915.  The main part of the lake is much larger and more open than the area we paddled here, at the very upstream end.

Linking to:

Ligularia dentata, Elephant Ears

At this time of year we have a bright splash of orange/yellow Elephant Ears at the back of one garden patch, where it's shaded most of the day.  This is the interesting Ligularia dentata, a striking plant that does well in shade.

It has a kind of raggedy blossom, but it is a member of the Sunflower Family.  Wikipedia lists 148 horticultural varieties, and they seem to be of two main types; the other has a vertical spike of flowers.

The flower heads themsleves are fascinating in detail, and they change very quickly as they bloom.

It also has a very interesting seed head that develops out of these flowers, which I'll show you later in the fall when they develop.

This is the whole plant, with the large dark green leaves that give it its name.  They're dense enough that once these get established there's no weeding to be done under or around them.

They spread steadily, creating new plants by seed.  We started with one or two and now have 25, so I have to get rid of a bunch which I'll dig next spring and give to the plant sale.  I didn't feel guilty picking off a large leaf to show you the underside - it's a strong shade of purple, especially the veins.

In any case we have a bright patch of them at the back of the garden now, where they only get a brief bit of morning sun.  There aren't many shade-loving plants that provide this bright a bloom.

These flowers in bloom always tell me we're well into late summer and fall is about to arrive.  But they do seem early this year; last year I posted a photo on Sept. 15th.

These are the last garden photos for awhile, so I'll end with one more photo of those tall yellow Coneflowers that give the other part of our garden such a bright colour these days.  It's very hard to capture on camera compared to actually seeing it!

Linking to:

More Garden Colour - Day Lilies

I seem to be on a roll with pictures of the garden, and soon enough the colour will be fading, so here are a selection of the more colourful Day Lilies we've had blooming from late July through til now.

This last one is 'Tigger', and our dog Tigger's ashes are buried deep beneath it.  As you can tell, all my favourites are the bright coloured ones.  I assure you we do have plenty of pale yellow and pink ones too.  I just tend to ignore them when my camera's in my hand!

'Tall Yellow Flowers'

Frustrated birders refer to those small unidentified sparrows that flit through the bushes as 'Little Brown Jobbies'.  I refer to the large number of confusing varieties of flowers that form the backbone of our garden at this time of year as 'Tall Yellow Flowers'.

Every year I try to sort these flowers out as best I can, and each year I think the different ones we have become a little clearer to me (while in places they spread and take over the garden)!  This year I've pondered the internet again and tried to sort out the species we have.

The first ones are the tallest, and I've decided that they are Cut-leaved Coneflowers, Rudbeckia laciniata.  They are huge, 3 large patches of them at the back of the garden, nearly 8 feet tall, and in clumps 4 feet wide.  They reach far above the decorative fence I built at the back of the garden.

The second group we have around is the Grey-headed Coneflower, Ratibida pinnata.  It's almost as tall, but has a brown flower head rather than a green one, and much thinner, lacier leaves.

It also self-seeds ferociously, planting itself all around the garden if you let it.  I thought I had got rid of it this year, but here's one of the surreptitious plants, bursting into bloom above the fence.

The first year it invaded, I dug them all up and transplanted them to two back corners of the meadow.  Now it's self-seeding out there, among the much shorter Goldenrod, towering above everything else with its bright yellow blooms.

We've got some nice Brown-eyed Susans too, Rudbeckia hirta.  They are in full bloom now, but they do tend to stay confined and spread a little without self-seeding far.

They form a really nice patch, and are only about 2 feet tall.  These ones are right outside the back door by the patio.

And then we have the False Sunflowers, Heliopsis helianthoides.  These ones are just about over now, and have been blooming for about a month.  They're about 3-4 feet tall, and they do spread, taking over corners that get larger each year.

You can see them on the far left and far right of this picture, showing our main flower garden.  The two Coneflowers described above are the tall still-green plants at the back, about 3 weeks ago.

I know you don't care about Latin names, nor do I really, but I'm satisfied I finally know what the four different 'Tall Yellow Flower' species that we have are.

Heleniums, my Favourite Fall Flower

Our colourful Heleniums are undoubtedly my favourite late summer or early fall flower.  They are just so bright and varied, and form a bright spark in our garden.  Helenium is the genus; some horticultural varieties are known as Sneezeweed.

It's this view, from underneath showing the sun lighting up the petals, that makes this my favourite.

The first time I got a picture from below, looking upwards, I was hooked on these flowers.  Since these are my favourite photos of the week, I'm linking to Mersad Donko's Through My Lens meme.

It looks pretty good from above too, and the colours run a remarkable gamut from yellow to red, even on the petals of a single flower.  This genus is an example of a flower group that was introduced to Europe from North America, in the great rush of botanical collectors roaming the world in the 1700's.  Then the plant breeders took over, and today there are numerous garden varieties.

They definitely need full sun.  Our tallest oldest patch is well above my head, while these recently planted ones are only 2 feet tall yet.  But a clump that was in light shade died out in a matter of two years.

I've been intrigued with how the tiny florets in the centre of these flowers each open, get fertilized and then form this unique pattern on the flower head (below) that I've seen in no other member of the sunflower family.

They bloom for a long time, they are colourful, and they're hardy.  What more could you ask of a garden flower?

Linking to:

Garden Close-ups

The garden is actually looking a little ragged at this time of year.  But among it all there are beautiful flowers worth a close look.  Here are a few of them.

We have numerous tall yellow flowers at this season.   I'll share a selection of them in a day or two, but they're standing out against the sky and dominating the back of the garden.  This one always makes me think it's a variety of coneflower.

The purple Coneflowers are everywhere, spreading easily in the garden, but now over their best.  The spiky flowerhead is interesting up close, and will last right into the early winter.

We just have a few Hollyhocks, but I love the early morning sunlight shining through them.

Who hasn't made Hollyhock dolls from the flowers?

We did get some heavy rain the other day, and I caught the water drops on a Day Lily.

All the real garlic has been harvested, dried and is nearly ready for storage, but the Garlic Chives have just come into bloom with their tiny white flowers.

Linking to: