Summer Morning with the Birds

Raven: The ubiquitous northern bird.

The weather is sunny, the skies are smoky, and the sun is having a storm this weekend.  This should mean that I could get northern light pictures if I went out at 2 am with a bunch of camera gear.  We'll see if that happens or not.

However, I am glad that it is getting a few degrees cooler.  I guess the seven months of winter doesn't prepare me well for the two really hot weeks we get in the summer.  No, I shouldn't complain.

Looking north to Lac La Ronge and Nut Point Provincial Park.

 We are told that smoke from fires in northern Alberta are making our skies hazy.  Yesterday at the airport, the two water bombers took off together right before my plane.  As of yesterday, the fire report stated that there were 30 wildfires in the La Ronge fire control area, which is a large chunk of land including La Ronge and north to Wollaston Lake.  

Heron visiting the docks this morning.

In the yard, the current major bloomers are the delphiniums, roses, and Sweet Williams.  I have one solitary blooming lupine and wish I had more.  I went out in spring and pushed lupine seeds into the beds and I do see some small plants scattered around, but they won't bloom until next year.  The hybrid lilies and annual poppies are just starting.  The sad part of this is that the bulk of the flowers are going to be soon done for the year!  I did start some ornamental flowering kale and sunflowers indoors in May and planted them out this past week in hopes of having more fall excitement in the flower bed.  I've never planted kale before, but have enjoyed seeing them in other people's yards, so I hope they turn out well here in my yard.

First spotted morning glory flower this year.

The annual poppies have seeded themselves in the same spot for a few years now.  It is not hard to keep them coming back, however, you do need to thin them.  I ripped up poppies all spring to save them from coming up thick as a lawn.  If you don't do this, they will end up all spindly and never produce any significant flowers.  They are easy, but it does take that bit of effort to make them look their best.  I interplanted with direct-seeded Cosmos, which should bloom a while later.

The annual poppies are starting to bloom in the raised bed.

Hot Weather, Loud Colors

The weather is warm, the humidity is 40%, and the colours in the garden are getting more garish in their summer abdunance.  The hot pink rose and several varieties of dianthus color the flower beds as the spires of delphiniums rise with their aspirations of impending bloom.

Large raised bed with pink Sweet Williams in foreground.

White Campanula persicifolia against
blue Delphiniums

It is swimming weather in La Ronge, where we don't have any public swimming pools, but do have the lake.  If you don't mind the sand in your toes, some weeds in the water, and possibly the occasional leech, it does feel pretty good.  Oh yes, and the swimmer's itch parasite lives in a few bays, though that is a pretty common irritant in bodies of water around North America.  It also can be prevented by towelling off and changing clothes immediately after getting out of the water.

Speaking of pests, resident-lawnmower-man found our strawberry thief.  He watched the squirrel sneak under the carefully placed mesh to get his strawberries and then sneak out again.  Some weighty rocks will now be placed on the loose edges of the mesh.  What a pest!  If our dog was loose, I think we could get rid of that strawberry thief, but alas, we keep the dog contained in a fence.

Sweet Williams (Dianthus barbatus),  a biennial flower that self-propagates very happily.

Large raised bed getting full with perennials.  The Siberian irises have just finished.

As far as insect garden pests go, there are some worms in the lettuce and the whole yard is festooned with the little pockets of white spittle bug deposits.  If you see wads of "spittle" on your plants, you will find a spittle bug inside.  They don't seem too destructive and can be washed off with a stream of water.  Otherwise, I sprayed insecticidal soap on the spittle mass that accumulated on the new rose's cluster of new buds.  

Sloped little rock garden full of thyme and Dianthus deltoides, both in bloom.  A few yellow perennial foxgloves have popped up here and there.

A solitary perennial Geranium flower amid Dianthus deltoides.

I love the little mounds of blue and white Campanula carpatica.  They get covered in blooms.  The burgundy shrub is a Japanese barberry and the silver spikes are Lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina).

The edibles are growing well, with the pumpkins and other vines finally taking off and looking happy.  I don't see any developing fruit on the pumpkins yet, though.  The herbs are going to good use in the cooking.  Tomorrow will be Mexican food night, so the cilantro will be savoured.  Violas are edible too, so this planting below is entirely edible.  I put a rosemary in the center, and violas are interplanted with parsley and cilantro, sown from seed in this pot.

Wild Calla Lily in the Bog

The northern boreal forest has some pretty plants, including those that grow in the bountiful bogs in northern Saskatchewan.  I suppose the bountiful bogs also account for the plentiful mosquitoes, which may be why I have five new mosquito bites to go along with these photos.  These photos show the Wild Calla Lily, or Bog Arum.   

Wild Calla Lily (Calla palustris)

These plants just happened to be growing in some standing water that surrounds the Nut Point campground's playground.  Yes, a playground in a bog!  DEET is required here.  Following the playground experience, I went to two local stores looking for the new OFF clip-on product (as seen on TV).  It's website says it uses AAA batteries and lasts for 11 hours.  One store had sold out and was waiting impatiently for the supply truck and the other store hadn't heard of them yet.  Apparently, they're quite popular.  I certainly will be buying the first ones I find.  I would like to see this in a bulk northern family pack.  Reviews will follow!

Wild Calla Lily (Calla palustris), part of the Arum family

Interestingly, the wild calla lily is pollinated by snails.  I thought pollination by bats was unique, but this is even cooler!  This plant is considered poisonous because its oxalic acid content.  Oxalic acid is the same agent that would cause grief to our kidneys should we eat rhubarb leaves.  However, the rhizome (root) is edible after some processing.  It apparently has been used traditionally as a medicine.  I've never met anyone up here who knows much about traditional uses of the wild plants aside from rat root, but the plant has a circumpolar distribution, so the northern Europeans may also have some experience with its use.

Wild Calla Lily (Calla palustris), Nut Point Campground

Later in the year, the green spadix at the center of the "flower" will transform into a cluster of red berries (also inedible).  The beautiful flowers we commonly call Calla lilies and find in florists boutqets are not actually Callas at all, and belong to the genus Zantedeschia.  I see the lovely purple and pink varieties of these in the mail order catalogs and have considered getting one, though I fear that I would not be able to keep up with their water requirements.