Embarrassed Sunflower and Veggie Faces

Remember the handsome sunflower I posted about earlier? Well, he may be a bit embarrassed by all the attention, and ever since has been hanging his head:

On the veggie side, I have been blessed with a great crop of Purple Peacock and Scarlet Runner beans, even though I have only 4 poles of the former and 1 of the latter this year, with 5 of the poles not fully utilized (cut down by slugs or pulled off the poles by my snap peas). Even with only 5 poles, I have been picking a large handful of beans every 2nd day. In the last week, my cucumbers have started bearing also, with a fresh crisp cucumber for me every 2 or 3 days.

I was hoping to post a few photos, but realizing that it will look very much like my Purple Peacock bean photos from last year, and wanting to keep up my reputation for creativity, having recently been awarded the Creative Blogger Award by Crafty Gardener (thanks so much - what an honour!), I decided to post some veggie faces.... Mine:

My daughter's:

...and my son's:

By the way, "cool" moms encourage their kids to play with their food. :-)

Stargazer Puzzle - Improved!

I've been having lots of fun with my Stargazer Puzzle, and lots of visitors enjoying it also. So I decided I'd better fix the proportion issue which resulted in the grey edges. So here is the improved version of the puzzle, it should be more of a challenge now (click the "Play" symbol to solve it):

Stargazer Puzzle

Hi, I discovered a make-your-own-puzzle site the other night, made a puzzle from my stargazer lily photo:



After you play once, you can "Play Again", and see previous scores. See if you can beat my score. :-) Try also the "bird" cut, it's much more difficult, I found!

To make your own puzzles, go to www.jigzone.com.

21Aug07 Note: I now have a "fixed" version of the puzzle, with the gray sidebars removed. Enjoy!

What Turns a Sunflower's Head?

I have one very tall and handsome sunflower growing against my East fence. His face is wide and cheery and bright yellow. But to my dismay, he has decided to turn his head to face toward the neighbours below, instead of gazing into our yard of delightful flowers.


It got me to thinking the other day, what turns a sunflower's head? What causes them to gaze in a certain direction? Surely it is not the sun, since he is neither looking into or away from the sun's rays.

Next door, there is not much to look at:


Or is there? On closer look into the yard of the neighbour two houses down... There is this row of giggling, pretty sunflowers. Ahah!

Hummingbird Pics

I am determined to get a few photos of the hummingbirds which are constantly zipping about our garden this year. Since it was overcast today, I took the opportunity to try again. The quality is not good, but here goes anyhow:




The hummingbirds are most often near the Buddleia (butterfly bush) and Monarda in the top corner of the garden, but are also visiting many of the flowers in the garden, including the Crocosmia, Phlox, Lilies, and Fuschia. They chase each other around the yard, and up into the alder trees beyond our fence. They are so fun to watch.

I am really pleased with the Helianthus Giganteus this year, I wish I had a few more. Grows like a weed, as does the other sprout in the photo. :-)

Speaking of our sprout, after talking about wanting a pet every day for I don't know how long, we finally gave in to her request, and got her a hamster 4 days ago. "Hammy" seems to be settling in to the household fairly well. We have started taking him outside in the early evenings, while we clean his cage (I'm sure this daily ritual won't last long!). It is interesting that if we put his cage out, he will stay near it.

But that seems to be true of any large object; we had the same result with an overturned flower pot tonight. If he's in the open, he makes a quick dash for the wall, and runs along it. I am reminded of the time my son and I witnessed a small mouse running out into the street, and a crow swooping out of nowhere, to snatch it up. It is no wonder the hamster is not comfortable out in the open.

Hammy also enjoys my snap peas (just the peas, not the pods), so it gives me an excuse to get out picking them regularly. I had fallen behind in checking on them, since I had a large bag of store-bought snap peas in the fridge for the last week or so to enjoy. I just noticed that my Purple Peacock beans are ready to start picking, and I brought in my first handful last night. It seems only days ago that I had checked, and they were barely in flower. This summer is going by much too quickly for my liking.

To end on a positive note, the dahlias I received from my father-in-law are looking gorgeous again this year. My favourite is these tall (6') pink and white ones. They start out a vibrant pink, and fade almost to white with age. This year again, I didn't stake them early in the season, and it is too awkward to try now (without breaking too many branches), so the plants are flopping forward too much, especially when it rains. But the flowers, I think, are stunning.

Garden Glimpses : Early August 2007

We took advantage of the great weather on the weekend, to visit Bunsen Lake. We were very impressed by our kids, 8 and 6, who very cheerfully walked the trails for 1 hr 15 min to get to the other side of the lake. Then, the 2 hr 15 min of the more gruelling (or perhaps it just felt more challenging since we were already tired on the return journey) longer trail on the other side of the lake. Afterwards, they even had enough energy to go wading in the cold lake!

The barn swallows had several nests on the outside of the building which contains the washrooms. It was fun to see the little heads and open beaks pop up each time a parent approached the nest. One nest contained 4 chicks which looked nearly ready to leave the nest (click any of the photos for a slightly closer view):

I waited for quite a while, trying to snap a shot of them with their mouths open, but the mom (or dad, I guess) darted in and out so quickly, I missed a number of times. Finally, I got the shot I wanted:

On a similar note, almost every time I look, there are 2 or 3, sometimes even 4, hummingbirds darting around our garden, and up into the maple and alder trees beside our property (in the ravine). I have been trying to catch them on camera, but this is the best I've done so far:

Not National Geographic, but any means! I've done a bit better, with the video camera, because that at least picks up the motion, and I got a good close-up of one sitting on the top of my small cherry tree.

Here is a nice shot of the globe thistle with bees in it:

I find it interesting, that each flower has its own following of bees. The globe thistle attracts the smaller honey bees. Many of the others are a magnet for the big fuzzy bumblebees. The lamb's ear was a favourite of what I believe was mason bees, as well as bumblebees.

Can you smell the fragrance of this stargazer? They are so sweet-smelling. I am pleased to have a number of them blooming in the garden at the moment, and catch a whiff of them as I walk through the yard. I have a fond association with the stargazer, since it was my wedding flower. This is a good time of year to buy them in the grocery stores, enjoy the fragrance indoors, then when they are finished flowering, plant them out to enjoy next year. It is about the same price as buying the bulb at the garden center, so this seems a better way to go.

I don't remember if these lilies are fragrant, but I love the rich orange colour, and the freckles on them. My friend Lily gave them to me, the bulbs are apparently a Taiwanese delicacy. But I think they are much too beautiful to consider eating.

I learned something interesting the other day. A few weeks ago, I had deadheaded a number of my hardy geraniums, mainly since I already have enough seedlings to deal with, and the seedheads can look quite messy. On one geranium, I trimmed most of the plant, but was interrupted before I finished completely. Now, weeks later, the part I had trimmed (front), looks green and refreshed, and has even started to flower again, whereas the part I had left in seed (at back), appears yellow and faded (Yes, those are really two parts of the same plant!!):

Finally, it is only the first week of August, which feels like only half way through the summer. But the Virginia Creeper is telling a different story, it has already started to turn red. (It turns a brilliant red in the Fall before losing its leaves for the Winter.)

Could we be so close to Fall? I guess it is only 4 weeks left before the start of school! Much too soon!

Floral Wreath Workshop

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a hands-on Scandinavian-inspired floral wreath making ("Every woman a goddess") workshop offered by Catherine Dale of the Land Conservancy (TLC), held at the Eagles Estate in Burnaby.

My mom first heard about the workshop, and brought along her mom who is visiting from the Okanagan. I brought along my daughter, so we ended up with all 4 generations of us ladies, which is already a special moment in itself. Then add to this moment some bright flowers and berries, mix it with good company (Catherine and I are old friends - although I would have to qualify that neither of us are actually old - who hadn't seen each other for a number of years), and then place this in the setting of a restored historical house on 1 1/3 acres on the upper side of scenic Deer Lake, and the result was almost magical. (Click any of the photos for a closer view.)


Here we are, all 4 generations, sporting our floral arrangements.


My daughter is fortunate to have a great-nana (now 89 years old). I hope the Lord grants me the opportunity to one day meet some of my great-grandchildren. (Although I had only 2 children myself, I already tell mine that one day I am hoping for lots of grandchildren!)


Doesn't my Nana look like a Queen with her floral crown? Very distinguished indeed.


My grandma decided to make a larger wreath, so hers became a flower necklace for the photos.


I got this photo with my daughter at home, before we hung up our wreaths to dry. The flowers were quite wet when we started our wreaths (it had been raining for a few days already), and perhaps it was a bit early in the season for the hydrangeas, so the crowns are looking pretty curled and wrinkly, but the ivy still looks fresh. I suppose one could use silica gel and dry any flowers. We'll see, but there may be some life still left in it.

For anyone inspired by these photos, the technique was actually fairly simple. We started with a length of common ivy, wrapped maybe twice around (try it on for size if you are aiming for a crown), and scotch-taped together. Then we used a spool of black sewing thread, tied and knotted to start, then wrapped around and around to secure each bunch of flowers or berries, in turn. For a fuller arrangement, you could go around twice (although we didn't). To end it, cut the thread and tie and knot (it's a bit awkward with only one end of the thread), and then separately take another piece of thread and tie and knot it again securely.

The flowers Catherine gathered included a few colours of hydrangeas, mini roses, lavender, mountain ash berries, and tansy (pretty yellow, but not sweet smelling). My mini roses are much past their prime this year, but I'm already wondering about an all-rose flower crown next season, if I can find the time.

Thanks to Catherine for an enjoyable Saturday morning, and for a great floral craft experience. We look forward to the next workshop! Here we are, with Catherine:

Garden Glimpses : Mid July 2007

This afternoon we had a short reprieve from this week of rain, so I went out and filled a clear garbage bag full with weeds and trimmings. I also snapped a few photos, like this daylily from my friend Lily, which cheers up the back garden, near my compost bins:

This daylily from my father-in-law, Hemerocallis "Kwanzo", a beautiful triple orange, is a great contrast to the purple Campanula sprouting next to it:

I was happy to spot this fuzzy bumblebee on the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea):


Here's that bee from another angle:


The purple coneflowers are so photogenic, I can't resist including another shot:


The purple coneflowers are great plants for the garden. They are perennial, don't need staking, don't spread throughout the garden, don't seed themselves liberally, and they are gorgeous, especially in mass plantings. I have a few small groups of 3 or 5 plants, but I am hoping to continue to add to my plantings, with the precious offspring I find on occasion, and starting more from seed.

This sunflower (Helianthus giganteus) seems to be taller each time I look at it. What a delight it will be when the flower appears!


The sunflower, as well as a small row of tomato plants, grow near the post between my espalier apple and asian pear trees.

The espaliered asian pear has produced a number of vertical shoots lately, so today I trimmed it down again. I prune out these shoots about once a month during the growing season. Since it has set fruit already, I feel confident to cut these shoots, and hopefully redirect more of the tree's energies into the fruit. Here is a pic before the pruning:


I know I posted a similar shot last year, but I love this cheery Liatris underplanting of my Fuyu Persimmon tree, which seems to still be trying to settle in (and then I hope it will surprise me with noticeable growth, and one day, some fruit!):

And finally, my garden moment was sponsored today by Simmons:


I was feeling very tired myself this afternoon, so I took a small rest at 2PM, which was ended before 3PM by a phone call (an automated recording, of all things!). My 8 year old daughter, who had fallen asleep on the bed beside me, continued to sleep. When I came downstairs, I found my 6 year old son asleep on his new mattress, which is still wrapped in plastic, on the living room floor (waiting for Daddy to finish assembling the new bed, which he did tonight). Amazingly (just short of miraculous), they continued to sleep until almost 7PM, so after finishing work at 5PM, I had lots of time in the garden to weed & take photos in peace!!!

Here is my son in his new bed, new mattress, new sheets. This is a big improvement, since his feet were already touching the bottom of his crib-sized bed!


On that note, I am going to close off, and head to bed myself. 'Night!

Cool Bug Discovery : Ten-lined June Beetle

I was out walking with my neighbour Navdeep late last night, when we spotted a really neat beetle on the sidewalk. I had to bring it home to show my kids, so I picked it up, and carried it home in a paper cup I found. Here is a photo of it in the small "pet" cage we have, for keeping and observing various small creatures we find on occasion (double-click image for closer view):

My research indicates that this is the Ten-Lined June Beetle (Polyphylla decemlineata). Apparently, it lays its eggs at the base of conifers, where the larva (grub) lives for 3 to 4 years, eating the roots of the tree. Then it emerges as an adult, mates and returns to the soil to lay eggs. The adults feed on the foliage of conifers (e.g. pine), so I plucked some pine needles and dropped them into its cage.

Since dropping him into the cage, he has remained pretty much motionless, with his feet slightly curled (i.e. not standing, just lying on its belly). So I was afraid this morning that he would already be dead before the kids could see him. It looked like it, until I reached into his cage, and picked him up, and he moved a little. Then later in the morning, I took him out, for some photos on my hand:
Then on my daughter's grasshead (which she made at school) - doesn't Mr. Grasshead look surprised?
Then suddenly the beetle started moving around, and before I could put the camera down, flew to the top of my kitchen cabinets. I climbed a chair to retrieve him. So there is still some life left in him. Here he is reaching skyward just before flying off.

Chafer Beetle Dance - Too Close for Comfort

Sometimes you make a discovery you wish you never had. Last night was one of those nights.

I was out visiting the garden at twilight, and noticed something buzzing about my Rainier cherry tree. Earlier in the day, I had discovered a chafer beetle resting on a branch, and had wondered if I should pluck the little bugger out of there and squish the life out of him, or drown him in the potty, but being bare handed, I decided I would just let him be for the time being.

In case you don't have European Chafer infestation in your neighbourhood, let me provide a layman's summary of what you're missing. The beetle, which is brown, oval and slightly smaller than a honeybee, lays its eggs under the lawn in summer. Then the grubs, which are ghostly white and a disgusting curled up C shape, overwinter under the lawn, completely unknown to the poor homeowner, eating away the roots of his grass. By spring, the grubs are big fat and juicy, and irresistible to crows and raccoons, which rip up chunks of the grass (which has already been weakened by the grubs by all their munching on the roots), to get to the juicy grubs, and leave the lawn a clumpy, unsightly mess. Serious infestations require starting the lawn again, from seed.

There is no real known prevention (although keeping the lawn healthy and not trimmed too short supposedly help), nor effective treatment (except perhaps some nematode treatment which requires very specific timing and conditions for them to be effective in killing the grubs). So the infestation spreads throughout the city, leaving random spots of mangled lawn behind.

So you guessed it.... Last night I realized that this buzzing was a chafer beetle, buzzing about the top of my cherry tree. Then I noticed another, and another. I looked toward my plum tree, and the same buzzing about there. In the neighbour's yard, too, near the top of each small tree, there were a couple of beetles, buzzing around in a mating dance.

I had read about this mating dance, high up in the tops of trees. But our trees are only 6' to 8' tall. So there were the beetles, buzzing around directly in front of me. I didn't know whether I should reach for my camera, or a fly swatter, or what. But as I stood, wondering, disgusted by these little creatures, the mosquitoes decided it for me. I retreated into the safety of the house, already stinging from a few bites.

It is interesting... if these had been ladybugs, or dragonflies, or some other creature welcomed in my garden, the whole experience would have been quite enchanting, perhaps even romantic. I would have braved even the pesky mosquitoes to capture some memory of it on video camera. But instead, the thought of these little beetles frolicking in my trees, so they could come down and lay eggs, so their disgusting offspring could destroy my lawn, tainted my view of this spectacle.

On a happier note, the dragonflies - which are my favourite friend in the garden - have returned in full force to our yard this summer. On most days, I can spot one or two darting about the lower yard, and a few more darting about the upper yard, but today I saw more than a dozen at the same time, darting in every direction. I can only hope that they caught a few chafer beetles while they were darting about.

Garden Glimpses : Late June 2007

Lately I have spent little time in the garden during the day, a combination of work being too hectic, and my allergies going crazy. This is the first year I have had noticeable allergies during the summer, usually it is only February to April. I suspect the cottonwood trees - at times the fluff is coming down so heavy, it looks as if it's snowing. It could also be grasses. Anyhow, I am very pleased this year to have gotten off those awful antihistamine pills, and instead have a really effective nasal spray (Nasonex) and eye drops (Patanol), which work quite well to reverse the effects, when I do go outside.

The last few evenings, I tried instead going out between dinner and putting the kids to bed. However, I now have over 20 mosquito bites on my arms, 10 on my legs, and about 5 on my.... well, let's say those little buggers bit right through my underwear!

So with the change in weather to occasional rain, my strategy has changed to visiting the garden between bouts of rain. This sure helps with the allergies. And today I needed a break from my work anyhow, so I was out weeding in full force. In a good session, I can pull a whole large clear garbage bag of weeds in one hour. Everything grows BIG in my garden. If the weeds were edible, they would all be entree size, not just side salads!

Anyhow, from a distance (which is what most visitors see), it looks like I am keeping on top of it all. Here is a view of the back yard, the Southwest side (double-click for a larger image):

...and Southeast side:

There is no shortage of projects in my garden. Yesterday I trimmed down many of the yellow Garden Loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata) which had flopped over. (This year, it appears an animal must have jumped or walked through it, it doesn't usually flop so much with just the weight of the rain). My project was interrupted by sudden and very hard rain, and I dashed for the house, with a small bunch of flowers to enjoy:

I am thinking to relocate many, if not all, of these cheery yellow flowers, to the outside of the fence, in my wild corner. Perhaps these vigorous and spreading plants will eventually outcompete the tall grasses and 5' high horsetails growing out there! If you don't believe me, take a look at these specimens:

Too bad those are not edible!

Moving back to the garden, here is a cheery patch of asiatic lilies:

And finally, to celebrate the first day of summer vacation, a photo of my son in his graduation hat (which one of the moms made out of construction paper), after returning from his graduation ceremony:
I'm not too much for making a bit deal about kindergarten graduation, but it sure was a cute ceremony. I look forward to many more - serious - graduations in future.

Red-backed Jumping Spider Discovery

My six-year-old son called me today to come and see a really neat spider. I was surprised that it is one I have never seen before (and I've discovered a lot of creatures in my life!). So I encouraged him to scoop it into his "pooter" jar until we could identify it.

It was not hard to identify. It turns out to be a Phidippus johnsoni, also known as a red-backed jumping spider. Pretty neat. All black and hairy like a miniature tarantula, with the back of his abdomen completely red. Looks poisonous, but apparently is not, it just inflicts a very painful bite, which may hurt for days. Ha ha. Handle with care.

It turns out that ours is a male, the female would have a black stripe down the back of the red abdomen.

I don't think my camera will take a picture which will do it justice, and I'm not ready to let it out to try, so here is a photo "borrowed" from a page (just in case the page disappears) which has some really good photos of both a male and female:
Kinda spooky, she looks like she's looking at your right shoulder, considering whether she should jump up, doesn't it?

And here is the original Phidippus johnsoni page which helped me positively ID this little guy - a page well worth visiting - just not before heading to bed.