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.   

A Fluffy Day

For the last few weeks, the poplar trees have been releasing their fluff like snow, except this snow drifts around in the breeze and collects in corners until it germinates more unwanted awful trees.  Can you tell I don't like the poplars?  They make me sneeze, invade my flower beds with their suckers, and aren't really attractive.  Unfortunately, they grow everywhere around here.  I can't do much about it.  My three year old looks outside and calls these "fluffy days".  To her, they are good days to be outside. 

Poplar fluff in the air

My white herbaceous peony "Lotus Queen" is in full bloom.  It is described as a zone 3 perennial and does very well here.  I only wish I had more peonies.  Ah well, someday I will. 

Peony "Lotus Queen"

Our first strawberries are ripe!  They are covered in netting so no critters get them, aside from the ones that live in our house and walk on two feet...and I see that I got a lovely dandelion leaf in the picture too!  Someday I'll get some time to weed again.  At least the power is on and we can bath and enjoy working kitchen appliances again.  The long weekend is sure to be a crazy one here.  Wish I didn't have to work!  

Power Out: Camping in Our Own House

Saskatchewan saw some tremendous storms in the past two days.  The southern province saw some tornados, but we just saw lightening and wind last night.  The lightening cut power to tens of thousands of people on Monday night, with our power finally restored today.  With the absence of power, we also had no water.  The town dispensed drinking water from the water plant.  I hauled some water from the lake across the street, some of which was given to the potted plants.

RCMP officer dispenses drinking water in La Ronge

 We have a generator, which helped to keep the fridge and freezer cold while the house heated to 30 degrees C.  Power outages of days in duration are not unheard of here, and it pays to have a generator on hand, rather than seeing all your meat thaw out and go bad.  Quite a few people in town were running their generators. 

Beach in La Ronge, a popular place in a power outage

 Most of the stores were closed, and I hear the CO-OP grocery store was broken into on early Tuesday.  The store did open to sell water later in the day, however.  The weather was quite warm and the humidity high, so the water was quite appreciated.  By the end of the day, my own layer of sweat was getting too sticky for comfort, so I brought a little bottle of shampoo with me to the beach.  I saw out a ways and made it look like a new backstroke.  Ah, relief! 

Robertson's Trading Post in La Ronge, closed Tuesday because of the power outage.

 Of course, fuel was in short supply, with gas stations not able to provide much or any.  Some wanted fuel to take their boats out on the lake, while others probably used some for their generators.  Local ambulances were warning that they had extremely limited fuel and thus limited travel abilities, so I hope that the available fuel went to better causes than recreation. 

Lineups outside the Shell station.

Northmart closed due to power outage.

La Ronge health center made arrangements for alternate water supplies.

I purchased a solar and dynamo powered radio/flashlight/cell phone charger online for the next great power outage, adding to our emergency supplies for the next time.  You can never be too prepared!