These two photographs were on facing pages in the Tyke family album but there was no indication of date, location or even if the occasions were linked. Had the chaps taken their ladies for a picnic in the countryside? Was this a works summer outing from a small business ... such events [...]
A good 39 years ago we were in Shetland with light in the sky at mid-summer midnight, noisy Oystercatchers and a very territorial ram This is going back a few years, 39 in fact to June 1983. We were going to Shetland for a couple of weeks isolated self-catering with wildlife, [...]
There are two groups of plants that are always spoken of as "THE" obligatory species to grow in a wildlife garden - Asters and Golden Rod. Very hot and sunny this afternoon in the garden and ten minutes baking in front of a single Golden Rod produced these eight species. There were more [...]
Obedience (Physostegia virginiana) Back-lit in the morning light. A native flower that gets its name from the fact that you can, apparently, twist and turn the flower stems and they stay where you put them.
Welcome to our Garden ... On the eve of what may be the hottest and most humid weekend of the summer we thought to invite our friends to a "virtual open day". Welcome all ... Five years ago this was a suburban garden with a lawn. Plenty of shrubs and native plants [...]
The garden is about to suffer under a many-day heatwave starting tomorrow, but this morning with the light diffused by thin cloud it was pleasant to wander through the head high native flowers and enjoy their colours and varied forms. This is not quite the peak summer flower-show yet but that's not [...]
Along one stretch of shoreline in the Iles-de-la-Madeleine last month the sandy shoreline was being eroded and fallen trees had been washed by the saltwater. Interesting shapes.
An afternoon in July The experiment with "no-mow" gardening continues and now we are in the first half of July and three years along the road to creating a "mead" where once there were boring, monoculture grasses. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words so here is a small [...]
Baltimore Oriole As most people know, to attract a Baltimore Oriole to your garden you are supposed to put out fresh fruit - a half orange being a classic meal for them or maybe some grapes. This immature male arrived and obviously had not yet reached that page in the How to [...]
Today is the Fête nationale in Quebec, St-Jean Baptiste, and the sun is shining. Not many words to go with this, just a sunny corner of the garden to share with anyone who likes gardens. So much greenery here with fat flower buds starting to form ... it won't be long now until [...]