A Story - "The Candy Wrapper" - Short Bellflower, Yarrow, Carnations, Boxwood, Lettuce. North Beach Provincial Park

 A Story

"The Candy Wrapper

Out for their usual walk, Julie and her yellow Lab, Sweetie, were strolling down the wooded path that ran behind their housing development. It was always pleasant to smell the leaves, notice the wildflowers and hear the birds sing. Sweetie, always on the lookout for something edible, took a lunge to the right and grabbed a candy wrapper.

"Sweetie, drop it!" demanded Julie. Sweetie wasn't about to give up the treasure without an argument so she ignored her.  Julie leaned over and grabbed the dog's collar.  With her other hand, she pried open Sweetie's mouth and extracted the wrapper.  The dog sighed and started walking again.  Not wanting to leave the litter on the path, Julie stuffed it in her jacket pocket.

A few days later, Julie saw on the news that an assault against a woman had happened one evening on the path that they usually walked on. She shivered thinking about someone lurking about in the area that she enjoyed so much. 

The police asked the public for any information that could be helpful. Anything at all. Julie remembered that she had picked up the candy wrapper and that she had forgotten to put it in the garbage. With a tissue covering her fingers, she gingerly pulled wrapper out of the jacket pocket and looked at it. Surely the police wouldn't want it. But then again they said "anything".

At the police station, she handed over the baggie with the candy wrapper in it.  She explained the circumstances around finding it and that they would find her fingerprints and her dog's slobber on it. The policewoman looked skeptical but she took it anyway.  Another useless piece of nothing from the public trying to be helpful.

A month later, the police still weren't making any progress on the case.  A junior officer reviewed their paltry pieces of evidence.  Pictures of footprints that could belong to a thousand different people,  some hairs that probably belonged to a poodle,  some dirt that maybe came from elsewhere.  Then he picked up the bag with the candy wrapper. What?  He read the note that was attached.  Had anyone tested the wrapper for DNA? Apparently not.  He arranged to have it tested and the results were surprising. Julie and her dog's DNA showed up but also the DNA of a convicted violent criminal.  

With this new-found lead, the police were able to apprehend and eventually tie the rapist to the latest assault.

Sweetie was hailed as a heroine and had her picture featured in the local paper. Grateful citizens dropped off bags of fancy treats for her.  Julie was thankful that the crime was solved and that, for a time, the man was in prison. Sadly though, she never felt like walking on her favourite trail again."

This pretty little bellflower (campanula carpatica) is a variety I got from W H Perron near Montreal. I had a hard time sourcing this type of bellflower. I used to buy them as small plants at the local stores in the spring but this year I had to buy seeds and W H Perron was the only source I could find. They are a good seed company so that was fine. This variety, Rapido Blue, is replacing Blue Clips. I started the seeds inside in May and now they are finally blooming. Next year, they should bloom in July.  They are hardy to zone 3 but do not like being wet through the colder months.

I wanted a short mounding plant to go with the 4 miniature roses I planted out.  The roses are the usual grocery store variety which happens to be hardy. They have been blooming all summer.  The campanula will work well with the roses because it stays low and although the mound will get larger, it is not an aggressive plant. It should bloom for about six weeks in the summer.

I like the feathery leaves of yarrow and the fact that it is quite drought tolerant. This lovely variety is called Apple Blossom and I got it as a bare root plant from Veseys this spring. I am really pleased with it. It is shorter than most yarrow and the flowers start out as vibrant pink and slowly fade to almost white. Great plant. There is some pink agastache and sedum near it so it is my very pink section of the rock garden.

The Chabaud carnations that I started in February are blooming like crazy in a wild sort of way. Although each stem is quite stiff, it often flops at the base. They will enjoy the cooler temperatures and I should get flowers right up until frost, likely in October.

Such a lovely deep red with a rich cinnamon scent.  The more orangey red flowers don't have much scent.

I'm not a big fan of boxwood. This one came with the property. Now it's really not adding anything to the garden.  I was busy dog sitting for a couple of weeks and wasn't paying attention to the boxwood. It had been growing very nicely, full of dark green leaves, but now, obviously, some bug has stripped it. Perhaps boxwood mites? Fortunately, whatever attacked the boxwood hasn't gone after anything else. I'll leave it for now and see if it regrows next spring.

Every summer I try to do successive plantings of lettuce and every year I fail. The first planting always does very well but when I try to get seedlings going in late June, they never survive. This year, it was earwigs that ate them even though the lettuce was planted in a raised planter. Finally, in August I have managed to get some going.  The days are already getting shorter so I am not anticipating a great harvest in September but I least I will have a bit.  The onions are green onions that I bought at the grocery store. My daughter-in-law planted green onions from the store last year and found it handy to have the green leaves to pick if she just wanted a bit of onion flavour. I did the same this year. I'll pull the whole onion out when a frost is expected.

This is North Beach Provincial Park near Belleville, Ontario. It is on the shore of Lake Ontario. A really nice beach with lots of space and accessible parking. It's busy in July and on summer weekends but it is a large beach so it can accommodate quite a few people comfortably.  Only day use - no overnight camping.

A Story - "The Butterflies" - Bird Drama , Plants for Windy Spots (Coreopsis, Bachelor Buttons, Agastache, Dwarf Balloon Flower)

 A Story

"The Butterflies

Inheriting a house should be a good thing, but Shawna just felt sad and lonely as she looked at her parents' old home. She noticed, as she hadn't when her mother was still alive, that the house looked shabby.  The roof shingles were starting to peel and the siding was dull. The living room furniture was stained, the result of her mother spilling her tea and food. The kitchen counter had a round burn mark where a hot pot had been left to sit.

The garden had been neglected but some hardy perennials still showed their faces. Shawna pulled out a few weeds around the purple coneflower.  A monarch butterfly floated in, landed on the flower head and began sipping nectar out of the tiny florets. Keeping very still, Shawna gazed at the striking pattern on the butterfly's wings and smiled at its polka-dotted face. After a moment, the monarch took flight and bounced through the air to its next destination. So delicate and yet it seemed purposeful in its travels.

A Giant swallowtail flapped in and fluttered on the coneflower, its large black wings marked with creamy white outlines. She could see its flexible proboscis probe into the little flowers. The amount of nectar was so small and yet the large butterfly persisted, one tiny sip at a time. 

Shawna thought about the butterflies and their delicate, complicated lives. The monarchs migrated all the way to Mexico which seemed like an impossible journey, and yet they did it. The swallowtail found sustenance bit by bit.

 The loss of her parents had left her feeling uprooted and floundering, but maybe like the butterflies she needed to find some sources of nourishing sweetness, rise on gentle updrafts, and, then hopefully, ultimately, she would rest in a firmer, happier place."

Click on the bird photos to get full pictures.

The stare down.

"I won. My turn in the bath."

"Can I have a  bath?"

"No, I'm not finished!  Go away!"

"Finally, it's my turn. It's a hot day. It sure feels good to get wet."

I like having some taller flowers in the garden but I really don't like plants that flop if they get a lot of wind.  We have some very windy days here and I have been really pleased with the coreopsis that just keeps standing up straight and tall.  It has smooth, wiry stems with most of the leaves at the base so the wind can easily blow through the planting.

Bachelor Buttons also have strong wiry stems that just sway and bend in the wind and spring right back. They are a very easy to grow annual that blooms quickly from a sowing after the last frost. They do best with just a little fertilizer and not too much water. The blooms keep coming until the fall frost.

This pink agastache, although it is leafier than the other two plants, is doing just fine after wind and rain storms.  Again the stems are tough and wiry.  I have grown taller purple agastache (hyssop) in the past and it also stayed nice and straight.

This is a dwarf balloon flower that I bought this spring. It is only about 8" tall (12" across) so it isn't bothered by inclement weather. Balloon flowers are hardy perennials even down to zone 4. Usually the taller varieties are the ones available. They can grow to 2-3' tall and will get pushed around by wind and start to lean, but this little gem is snug near the ground.

It was blooming when I bought it in May. When the blooms started to peter out at the end of June, I thought it was done for the season but it never stopped blooming. Even now in August, it is just covered in buds . I am very pleased with its performance. Balloon flowers hardly ever get any insect damage or suffer disease. Once established, they can handle dry weather but the first year they should get regular watering. Slow release fertilizer applications a couple of times throughout the season will keep the plant growing well.

A Story - "Rewriting The Story" - and Butterflies and Insects in the Garden - ( Monarch, Giant Swallowtail, Damselfly, Praying Mantis, Baby Grasshopper, Mud Dauber Wasp, Bumblebee)

A Story

Rewriting The Story

"Amanda, the hospice nurse, arrived at Margaret's home and, as usual, found Margaret settled in her bed with a cozy hand knit shawl draped over her shoulders. Margaret's daughter, Julia, was helping her to drink a nutrition milkshake.

"Good morning, Margaret," Amanda said cheerfully.

Margaret didn't answer as she had become nonverbal as the dementia had progressed.  She did, however, glance at Amanda briefly before going back to her drink.

"Anything new I should know about?" Amanda asked Julia.

"She seems about the same. I got some new lotion which is helping with her dry skin. I've been making sure to turn her every two hours, even at night. So far no bed sores."

"You are taking such good care of her, Julia. You're a real blessing to your mother."

Julia smiled at the compliment. Her mother no longer recognized who she was, had forgotten her name almost a year ago. That's when the story began to be rewritten.

The relationship between Margaret and Julia had been contentious over the years. Margaret was so often critical of Julia, and reminded her regularly that she was disappointed in Julia's life choices. Julia had moved to the other side of the country to get away from her and spent decades building a life without her mother but it still hurt that they were estranged.  When her mother developed dementia, Julia felt sorry for her mother and came back to help with her care. At first the destructive patterns of behaviour were present but slowly as her mother became more confused, the conflict lessened. Her mother forgot her old grievances as her memories faded. When finally she no longer knew who Julia was, the tension was released.

Margaret had enough money to pay for full-time care givers in her home but gradually Julia took on more of the care herself. She imagined that she was taking care of a mother who had loved her and that she was just returning the love. Sometimes Julia just sat in the recliner in her mother's room as her mother slept and she reinvented the past. A trip to a beach resort that had been ruined by her mother's constant badgering was transformed into a story about them both having fun in the surf and shopping for souvenirs. She pretended that her mother was proud of her career as a teacher and that she hadn't disparaged her for not becoming a doctor.

Julia spent extra time making her mother look well.  She brushed and styled her hair each day.  She made sure Margaret's nail polish was well done. Even as Margaret became bed bound, Julia picked out pretty clothes for her to wear spending extra money on adaptive clothing that were easy to get Margaret in and out of.  Every morning, she gave her mother a massage with lotion soothing her skin and relaxing her muscles. 

Sometimes her mother smiled at her in a way she never had before and she let Julia hold her hand, and gently rub it. In those moments, Julia felt she was in a loving relationship with her mother. She was able to block out the nasty years. A part of her knew that this was a fantasy but she didn't care. She wouldn't have much time left with her mother and she needed to create this new story while she could."

I've been happy to have some monarch butterflies visit the garden. They always like purple coneflower. A few feet away there is some young milkweed. I'm hoping that next year, I will see some caterpillars, as well, as mature monarch butterflies.
 

Viewed from the side, the monarch's colouring is more subdued- more light brown than orange. 

Several Giant swallowtail butterflies have been flying around the yard. They are the largest butterfly in Ontario but aren't much bigger than the Eastern tiger swallowtail.  They also like the coneflower but I have seen them sipping nectar from the marigolds and coreopsis, and even pansies as well.

Viewed from the side, the colouration is the opposite of the open wing colouration.  It is mainly pale yellow with black markings instead of black  with pale yellow markings.

The Giant swallowtail also has a small red and blue accent in the middle and near the back of its hind wings.

Another visitor to the garden was this bright blue and black damselfly.

For about three days, this brown Praying Mantis hung out in the half-barrel planter among the pansies and carnations.  Such an interesting looking insect. I really like his pointy fingers on the front legs. Mantis are not good fliers so I have no idea where he came from or why he left. They are a good insect to have in the garden as they will eat other pest insects.

This is a young grasshopper. Not generally viewed as a positive inhabitant of a yard as they eat various plants.  However, he is pretty cute and possibly he will end up being lunch for one of the larger birds that frequent the garden.

There are many kinds of wasps.  This one is a Mud Dauber wasp.  They are generally a quiet wasp and do not bother people, unlike the yellow jackets or hornets which can be very aggressive.  Wasps can help with pollination and also eat garden pests.

This pink agastache is very popular with the bumblebees.  Any agastache (hyssop) will attract bees and other pollinators. Agastache is a sturdy plant and can survive winter in zone 4- 6 if the fall and spring weather isn't too wet.  Otherwise it can be grown as an annual.  I started these plants in mid March.

A Story - "Water Play" - Sunset Coloured Flowers -( Marigolds, Rudbeckia, Coreopsis, Miniature Rose), and Dianthus -(Perennial, Carnation), and Ostrich Farm

 A Story

Water Play

"One of those perfect summer days. The sun's penetrating blaze mellowed by a cool breeze off the water. It had been a long time since she had been to a beach. She felt like a stranger as she walked along the pebbly shore.

Nearby a family arrived. Two children, maybe eight and ten years old, ran towards the water.  The young girl shrieked as the cold water hit her stomach. The young boy gave a whoop as he plunged in.  They splashed each other and laughed, loud and shrill.

She watched the children and her body remembered the feel of the cold water, the urge to dive into the refreshing coolness,  the smoothness of the water as her arms and legs swept through it.

She hadn't brought a bathing suit but the water was beguiling. Best to lock her purse and phone in the car. She pushed her keys under the car beside the inside of the front wheel and hoped they would be there when she got back.

Back at the water's edge, she stepped out of her sandals and slowly walked into the water. How familiar it felt. Once her shorts were wet, she bent down and pushed forward gliding through the silky lake.  Stroke, stroke, kick, kick. Her body knew how. She flipped over on to her back and savoured the gentle rocking of the waves. She closed her eyes and was once again a child, playing in the water."

I like this rudbeckia nestled between the marigolds in sunset colours. The marigolds I direct sowed in May and the rudbeckia I bought from a neighbour this spring.  The marigold seeds were ones that I had harvested from my plants last summer.

I planted this Early Sunrise coreopsis inside in March and transplanted it into the garden in May.  It is a perennial, that in ideal conditions can be hardy to zone 3, but it needs soil that drains well. A cold, damp fall can ruin it. It's a lovely golden yellow and blooms for weeks.

A miniature rose, in another sunset colour, that was bought in the winter in a little pot with 3 other roses. They transplant well to an outdoor garden and are hardy with no mulching to zone 4.  They like to be well fertilized and need at least an inch of water a week.

This little sweetie is a perennial dianthus.  They like well-drained alkaline soil and are hardy to zone 4 . This is the first year so I will see if they make it through the damp months of fall and early spring. They may get eaten by rabbits.

This year I wanted to grow real carnations.  These red ones are Chabaud carnations.  I started them in late February.  They are slow to get going.  They are only starting to bloom now. The colour is very vibrant and the scent is rich cinnamon.  Worth the wait in my estimation.  They make good cut flowers but I think I will just leave them in the half-barrel planter outside.  When I am out to water or weed, I stop by and give them a good sniff. Full sun and even moisture is good for them as well as regular fertilizing. I use a slow release granular fertilizer.

A couple of kilometers from our house is an ostrich farm.  They are the funniest birds with necks that are like large bendy  toys.  The farm sells pellets that you can feed to them but you have to use a pole with a sieve fastened to the end because they could give you a nasty bite if you tried to hand feed them.

This one was sitting down as were some others. So strange. The birds were a bit shabby looking because they are molting.

Two young ones watching some adults in the next enclosure.

They clack their beaks together even when they aren't eating. 

Their feet have serious claws. I have no idea how the farm owners handle the birds.  They look like they could be dangerous.  They remind me of dinosaurs. Fascinating but not cuddly.

The farm sells ostrich meat which looks a lot like beef and apparently tastes a lot like beef. Very healthy.

Ostrich leather is very nice. Supple and soft .  They had some bags made out of it in their shop and they were very attractive.

A Story - "Goals" and Mulberry Tree , and Dramatic Sunset

 A Story

Goals

"So much money, so much fuss. It's just a ball getting kicked around and maybe going into a net.  

Fine for kids but it seems a bit excessive for adults.  A lot of money changing hands though, what with betting being involved.

Oh well, let's watch the highlights of the Canadian game. TSN is putting up short videos on Youtube of the crucial moments.

It's surprisingly entertaining to watch the highlights of the game. Hum, maybe I could watch some other videos.  Soon I am familiar with the names of star players : Messi, Mbappe, Haaland.  I find out that Messi is 39 years old. That's impressive. I watch a video about his life and find out that he was a small boy from a working class Argentinian family. He was missing growth hormones and his family couldn't afford to pay for them. Eventually a soccer club paid for them. He grew to 5'7" - still quite short. He had to really develop his technique because he wasn't as big or strong as the other boys. In 2022, he helped Argentina win the World Cup. Honestly, his life is like a Disney movie.

Maybe I'll find out more about Mbappe and Haaland.

Now the games are not just about a ball whizzing around a field.  It is about real people with dreams, gifts and challenges.  It's about life. "

I discovered a while ago that we have a mulberry tree on the property.  I cut away some buckthorn from one side and now you can see the lovely graceful shape of the mulberry tree.

The tree is full of berries.  They ripen gradually over time and most of the ripe ones have been picked off by the birds and squirrels.

Here you can see the deep purple colour of a ripe mulberry.  I tried one and it tasted a lot like a strawberry with a hint of raspberry.  No wonder the birds love them so much.

Here is a robin, who blends in quite well with the tree, having a snack. We have a pair of robins that live in our front yard.  We see them all the time, picking up bugs off the lawn and then flying over to the mulberry tree for dessert.

So many lovely sunsets at our house.  This one was especially striking.

A Story - "Hummingbird Competition" - and Unusual Hanging Basket and Spirea

A Story

Hummingbird Competition

As a newcomer to the neighbourhood, Stella was going to have to try hard to attract hummingbirds to her yard. The ruby-throated hummingbirds were only in the area for a few short months and not many travelled that far north.

Wanda, who lived next door, had the advantage as she had several feeders up and had been creating a pleasant habitat for the hummingbirds for years with gardens full of colourful flowers.

It felt a bit sneaky to be trying to lure some hummingbirds over to her feeder, but Stella really wanted to see and hear these little dynamos in her garden. She planted some salvia and bee balm near her solitary feeder. Occasionally, she saw a flash of green but most days her feeder saw no action.

When she bumped into Wanda at the store, Wanda enthused over her busy feeders and Stella couldn't help but feel disappointed at her lack of attraction.

One morning, she started watering the flowers with a fine mist.  Suddenly, a hummingbird zoomed in and carefully flew into the spray.  It fluttered its wings as it enjoyed the shower. Stella held her breath. Just before it flew away, the bird gave Stella a keen intense stare.  "I'll be back", the bird seemed to say.  "Thanks for the bath."

I found an interesting hanging basket at the local store. I like the W shape to it and the unusual use of the tradescantia.

Tradescantia Nanouk is usually used as a houseplant but it is just fine in an outdoor setting for the summer.

The flower buds are covered in fuzz and the little white flowers are delicate. The variegated leaves are thick and the stems are sturdy. If I wanted, I could take cuttings in the fall and have it as a houseplant.

A couple of fuchsias in traditional fuchsia pink and purple add whimsy to the basket.

Lantana is always fun as each flower cluster has different shades of colour - yellow, orange, pink. Lots of pollinators like to visit lantana. It enjoys full sun.

It seems like the dragon wing begonia might have been an afterthought in this arrangement.  I really like this kind of begonia but I'm not sure that this was the best spot for it. Anyway, I'll see as the summer progresses if it was a good idea after all.

Spirea is a great little shrub for any part shade or sunny locations.  The flowers can be pink or white.

They can get a bit leggy over time.

I cut this plant back to about 4" inches this spring and now it has a really nice rounded clump form. Its blooms are coming out a bit later than the unpruned plants but that doesn't matter at all. I probably won't prune it next spring and hopefully it will still be short enough next summer.