the red menace returns

The dreaded scarlet lily beetle was late to appear this year, and I thought I had been granted a reprieve.  But unfortunately, not true.  In an attempt to foil the little buggers, I punished the victims and  pulled out all my lilies last year. But they just happily went on to chomp on the fritillaria.  They are back this year, breeding and munching away very happily. The problem is huge right across the country, and solutions are not yet forthcoming.  There is talk of introducing a predator wasp that will attack only this type of beetle, but tests are still being carried out to make sure the solution does not become another potential problem in the future.  For more info about the beetle, visit http://lilybeetletracker.weebly.com/

Thanks to my lovely husband Wayne for taking these great close-up shots.

comings and goings

It's the time of year for big changes.  Time to clean up the remnants of the winter, including the bird feeders, and time to notice all the plants springing to life.

Every year, a single perfect red tulip pops up in the corner by my front door.  The rest of the tulips I planted at the same time have long since petered out, but this guy is the gift that keeps on giving!

I have to get right down on my knees to fully appreciate the scent of these hyacinths, but it is definitely worth the effort.  They have been growing here for a long time, and seem to get smaller every year, but the scent is as great as ever.

I'm blaming the racoons for the attack on the bird feeder.  Every feeder I have has taped up repairs where the racoons have broken the plastic holding in the bird seed.  After this incident, I came out to find a bundle of feathers and unidentifiable body parts scattered on the deck, and I knew our cat Whitey had made a kill.  That made me realize it was time to put away the bird feeders and sweep away the excess seeds and scrub off the bird poop streaking the chairs, tables, and railings.  Now I can sit outside without being grossed out.

before and after

It's spring clean-up time again, and this year I could hardly wait to get out there and start cutting down the old perennial stalks and gathering up fallen branches - the first step in the gardening process every spring.
Here's my front yard before I got going:

I decided to go really crazy this year and cut down the shrubs as well.  When they are cut way down, they end up branching, staying lower, and spreading horizontally, covering more space.  It's a look I like.
I also cut back the red osier dogwood in the corner, taking out all the older twigs that are no longer bright red.  That guy will come back like wildfire.
Here is the end result, after cutting and trimming:

It looks stark, but once the shrubs leaf out, it will be much improved.

I've decided to add to the plants in my garden that attract butterflies.  Wild milkweed, which grows as a weed all over my native Ontario, is nowhere to be found here on PEI.  It's the principal source of food for Monarch butterfly larvae, and it's where the adults lay their eggs.  My cousins sent me a few pods, and I pulled off the soft tops that help them fly far and wide and planted them in a row in my garden, hoping to have lots to transplant when they pop up.  Hoping for the best!

back after a long time away

Not sure exactly why it's been such a long time since I made a blog entry.  Life kinda got in the way.  I taught a gardening class this winter, and it took so many hours of computer work to get ready for each session, that, on top of full-time work, I just didn't have time for anything else.  But I'm going to do my best to get back into it.

A few months ago, I took a picture of one of my pet peeves - winter tomatoes.  They are usually woody and  tasteless, but this is ridiculous - actual slivers of what appears to be wood sticking out of a tomato!

Those splinters would have choked any unsuspecting salad eater!  And it looks so pretty on the outside!  The lesson:  buy the more expensive heritage tomatoes that are becoming more popular in the stores, or just wait until summer.  Who are we to think we can have tomatoes in February anyways?

It has been a great year for bird sitings at the feeder on my deck.  Ravens, grossbeaks, redpolls, mourning doves, finches, sparrows, along with the peanut-loving bluejays and the nasty starlings that just sit and stuff themselves with suet and can go through an entire cake of it in one day.  Didn't see a single downy woodpecker, but a huge northern flicker dropped in once or twice.  Complicating matters this year was our new cat - young, energetic, and determined to make a meal out of as many pretty birds as possible.  He lurks on the chairs pushed under the bird feeding table and pops up at birds just trying to get breakfast, like he already had.  So I have come up with a great idea - I have pushed away all the chairs, so that he no longer has the advantage of surprise.

white-winged grossbeaks

The redpolls are really tame.  They arrive in a flock, and don't seem to be rattled by the approach of the cat or by me.

red poll peeking over the railing

So now I need to get outside and gather some more material for my next post.  And it will be sooner rather than later!

travels abroad

In July, my husband and I visited Switzerland and Italy.  Italy was much as I had expected - beautiful architecture, but bleak countryside (at least what I could see from the train.)  But Switzerland was green, mountainous, and full of beautiful plants.  Here are some pictures to prove it:

Zurich has a river running through the middle of the city, which drains into Lake Lucerne.  You can walk for miles in the shade of big plane trees.  The many churches all have clock towers.  The cobbled streets hold many beautiful fountains, with water cold and clean enough to drink. 

An edible garden in Lucerne.  Sage around the outside, swiss chard, mint,  peppers, and fennel in the middle.  These veggie gardens are every bit as pretty as flowers.

After visiting Castle Chillon, we walked 45 minutes along the shores of Lake Geneva to Montreaux.  Along the way were stuning flower beds, beautiful mansions, and mountains in the distance. 



Another view of the walking path to Montreaux.



A huge fountain in Geneva



Pollarded plane trees on the streets of Geneva.  The branches are cut to prevent the trees from reaching their full height.  In the summer when they leaf out, they form perfect balls of green leaves.  I'm sure they are not as pretty in the winter, when those monstrous knobby branches are revealed.



where the mushrooms grow

This is the Woodlands trail at Prince Edward Island National Park.  Today I intended to walk the 4-km trail briskly, to get some much-needed exercise, but I was totally distracted by the many kinds of mushrooms and other fungus along the way.  My brisk walk turned into a dawdle, but check out the beauties I found.

 Look closely under the cap to see what's eating it.

This bright yellow mushroom has a visitor - a slug is making a meal of it.

phantom webworms and a gall

Webworms - at least I think that's what they are - have invaded my poor sumacs.  The trees grew particularly well this year, even with the drought, and have produced a large number of new plants, which are growing into a thicket much more attractive than bare grass.  But the tips of each branch is disfigured by grey, curling, dead leaves bound together with webs.  I haven't seen any actual worms (caterpillars), but there are also long webby strings attached from one tree to another.

I snipped off all the affected tips, put them in a bucket, and covered them with a mix of dish soap and water. I hope that kills the little buggers.

Here is another interesting find:

I really don't know what this is - fungus, or a gall, which is a home for an insect in the process of growing into an adult. It's pale green with a rosy tinge near the base where it is attached to the sumac stem.  Kinda pretty in an otherworldly way.  I'll keep an eye on it and report back!