May 2016 – Botanically Inclined

A perfect – woodland – day

If I leave aside the heat, the endless road constructions/detours and the million mosquitos hungrily awaiting into the woods, yesterday was quite a perfect day. The first seeds of the season were collected and a new, nice Trientalis borealis population has been found.

Really perfect; only that I had to keep reciting Issa’s haiku.

What good luck!
Bitten by
this year's mosquitoes too.

The bright Northern Starflowers (Trientalis), delicate Mitella, the elegant, stylish Medeola, columbines, bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), showy orchids….

Trientalis borealis

Medeola virginiana flower

Geranium maculatum

Mitella diphylla

Mitella diphylla2

Aquilegia canadensis

Cornus canadensis

Cypripedium parvifolium

Thalictrum thalictroides

What good luck!

May 30, 2016

In charge – Corydalis nobilis

Gardens, Plant portraits, Propagation

In preparation of going away for a little while, I looked around today to see who would remain in charge of the garden and the seedlings…The first ones asked found excuses of being busy flowering, setting seeds, or putting up new growth.

So, I had to appoint by force the lord of the garden – Corydalis nobilis. You will hardly find a more reliable, resilient and fair garden fellow. From its corner location it can easily survey the whole garden, including the youngster Cory (from seed) which is flowering for the first time.

Corydalis nobilis

I read somewhere (most probably in an AGS Journal) about an old, neglected garden where C. nobilis had taken hold of and was growing everywhere like a weed. It can happen in time; say 30 years from now on.
Sounds like a good plan…

And a few May pictures: new and older plants establishing together, Aquilegia canadensis- short form in the sun-rockery (in the making), and… lots of seedlings :) On the seed adventures at full steam!

Iris ‘Concertina’

Paris quadrifolia

Stylophorum diphyllum

Dicentra ‘King of Hearts’

Aquilegia canadensis – short form

Seedlings

May 13, 2016

Wildlife Wednesday – Ode to the bumblebee

Gardens, Plant portraits

Finally some warm weather (then cold again…warm). However, spring is here and in the past couple of weeks Corydalis and Dicentra cucullaria, some of the first here, have not only flowered but started to set seeds! Watching the Corydalis solida and Dicentra cucullaria flowering and the bumblebee hungrily foraging them, I realized that I was awaiting its apparition as much as that of the first spring flowers.

I won’t get into details on the bumblebees since I am sure they are well known; this is for sure the mother queen which is busy building the future colony. Of course, Corydalis grown from seeds will always come in various colours :)

Note: The wiki stub on Bumblebees is excellent if someone needs an extra read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee.

And a few more images, since last month I had a very short post on Robbie, which seems to get into a territorial dispute with the cardinals lately.

A lady bug sleeping(?) on Narcissus flower

Few other images taken in the wild recently: a solitary bee on Cardamine, woodland hawks (maybe Cooper’s Hawks) and an unknown insect (for now) on the spring beauty flower (Claytonia caroliniana).