Yesterday we were invited to join a small supporters outing and information session hosted by the Nature Conservancy Canada at the wonderful Kenauk Wildlife Reserve between Montreal and Ottawa. This is our favourite place on earth bar none so naturally we jumped at the chance. Apart from simply "being there" once again being enough [...]
Iris reticulata Emphatically not a native flower -actually it is native to Russia, the Caucasus, and northern Iran, but cultivated widely in temperate regions. Earns its keep here as one of the first flowers to emerge when the snows leave. Very hard to photograph - in reality it is really a deep purple but auto [...]
Spring arrived with the vernal equinox just a few days ago and the Spring Bunny has been in evidence ... practicing for his annual obligatory Easter appearance no doubt. This year, thank goodness, he does not appear to ring-barked any of our choicer trees like he did last winter. [...]
Things have slowed down a little in the garden this week on the plant front. No especially new appearances but lots of things growing rapidly and strongly with the first of the berry fruits ripening - much to the joy of the juvenile birds we are hosting. It’s amusing watching young birds learning to [...]
STOP PRESS First Garden Warbler of 2017 Just half an hour before going to blog auto-distribution ... the Warbler Magnet garden waterfall has brought in its first warbler of the year. A beautiful Yellow-rumped Warbler. ***************** Phew, got that in here by the skin of our teeth White-throated Sparrow [...]
This week started off almost 20C warmer than just a week ago - the seasonal changes are so fast in North America, almost like throwing a switch to turn the lights on. Many crocuses around this week ... splendid splashes of colour and very welcome, but on the other hand: You might think that [...]
It’s still not spring … Friday saw yet another dump of snow, not a huge one like last week’s but enough to be a nuisance. A month ago, 23 February to be exact, a tiny patch of snow at the base of a tree cleared away and a couple of snowdrops put their heads [...]
Gradually things begin to look like a very early spring around the garden and the traditional Nearly-Easter Bunny has put in his annual appearance.
Our garden bird feeders are almost always knee-deep in gray squirrels that scarf down the reject seeds thrown out by the birds above but occasionally a cute and high-speed red decides to join them. In the sour-cherry tree In the katsura tree Baffled by the squirrel-baffle
It's the beginning of february and the air is going to be cold and crisp for some weeks to come - but the sun is getting a little higher in the sky each day and you can actually start to feel some heat in its rays when there is no wind. The garden squirrels really [...]