Lily Perfume and Other Lovely Blooms

Tall delicate flowers of Thalictrum rochebrunianum (Giant meadow rue).

 How are your gardens growing?  It is that time of year that we do seem to spend less time in the yard, and the yard isn't doing as much as it was in spring.  Of course, this leaves time for other summer activities. 

Thalictrum seeds itself around generously and I pull out seedlings all around the flower beds, but I leave a few to grow these 6-8 foot delicate towers topped in tiny pink and yellow flowers. The flowers are hard to photograph, hardly appearing more significant than spider webs. 

Oriental lily "Acapulco", planted in fall 2010

 The Oriental lilies seem to be the last lilies to flower in my garden.  They are just getting into their prime today and smell amazing.  Orientals are known for their amazing fragrance.  I would plant some more of these just to have more end-of-summer-color, if I could remember where the empty spots are (the remains of tulips are now disappearing and I can't keep up with my own signage).  I buy my lilies by mail order and plant them in fall.  I prefer to buy only the types of lilies with upwards facing flowers, which includes the LA Hybrids and the Orientals, but not the Martagon lilies and some others. 

Hardy geranium "Rozanne".

 I think the bees, frogs, spiders, and ants enjoy my yard a whole lot.  We see many insects here and they seem to thrive, except for those 300 or so dead ants I just dumped out of the new hummingbird feeder.  That made me decide that there is indeed a purpose for those ant moats they sell to keep ants from hummingbird feeders!  

The hardy geraniums are known to spread seed a fair bit, but Rozanne does not make seeds and has very attractive flowers on a nice compact rounded plant, making it one of the most recommended hardy geraniums.

Large raised bed with Oriental lilies; Lac La Ronge in the background.

Annual poppy Papaver rhoeas

After a losing battle with the squirrels last year, I started my "Tiffany" sunflowers indoors this spring and planted them out as 4 week old plants.  This was more successful and we are getting a few of these bright flowers for August.  I was planning for blooms in fall, but their headstart may have accelerated their blooming season.  "Tiffany" is another sterile flower that doesn't make seeds -- much to the kids' dismay --but this feature ensures that the squirrels won't ravage the blooms either.   

"Heavenly blue" morning glory, an annual vine.

The yard, just before mowing today.

More War on Foul Insects: Mosquito Repellants

In my quest to find new ways to wage battle with the biting insects, I have been researching the new clip-on products, including the new Off! Clip-on.  I know I am not the only one who hates mosquitoes, because the mosquito repellant pages on my blog are among the most popular!

I found this research out of the University of Florida, on the Entomological Society of America website.  It looked at four clip-on devices, evaluating the repellent effect against the disease carrying mosquito Aedes albopictus.  The clip-on devices included the Off! Clip-On (contains pyrethroid agent metofluthrin), ThermaCell Mosquito Repellent (contains pyrethroid agent allethrin), and the natural products Lentek Bite Shield (contains geraniol) and BugButton Mosquito Eliminator (geraniol, lemon oil, citronella oil).  Interestingly, the pyrethroid containing products reduced trap capture by 41.7% to 77% while the natural repellents and placebo worked about equally.  Clearly the natural oils are not of much benefit against this mosquito (though they probably smell nice), and this is consistent with previous research on other mosquito species.

Orb-weaving spider spotted on the dock at Jim's Camp at Nistowiak Falls.  This is one of the largest spiders I have seen in northern Saskatchewan.  I put my finger in the picture to show size and I think it was making irritated gestures towards me with its front legs.

Pyrethroids are synthetic compounds similar to the natural pyrethrin, which is produced by Chrysanthemums.  The most familar one is permethrin, the agent applied to bed nets in malaria endemic areas.  They are toxic to bees and aquatic organisms, so should be used with caution and not released into bodies of water.  They are not applied to human skin, like DEET, and should not be directly inhaled.  However, pyrethroids are not toxic in low levels to humans and other vertebrates, excepting cats, because of an enzyme they lack.  Unfortunately though, even bed bugs have figured out how to be impervious to this insecticide. 


The clip on products are battery operated and run a little fan that distributes the insecticide around you like a cloud.  You would need to keep yourself stocked with batteries and refills of the insecticide to keep it going.  I've read anecdotes that it is not effective in extremely heavy mosquito areas, such as next to bogs and ponds.  Also, if you are moving around, you may leave your protective cloud behind you and may need to stay put for a few minutes to regain your "protective cloud".  Perhaps standing in one place and weeding may be useful, but putting it on the kids as they run through the forest may be futile.   


Also, the other issue is the effectiveness of these pyrethroid emanators against no-see-ums and blackflies.  Thein lies the itch.  I did try the device in the yard this past week.  We do have a high-mosquito level in our area and I did still get two bites.  I think it did manage to repel some mosquitoes though.  It does make a quiet sound, like someone running the vacuum cleaner three doors down the street, but is not bothersome.  I think I would like to use this device while sitting outside reading a book or eating, where the protective cloud could build up and have better repellant activity.  Anyone else using this?  

Cherries in the North

I harvested the tart cherries this week and have a litre of pitted ones in the freezer already.  I used the Norpro cherry stoner, which worked fairly well.  I may have left in a pit or two, but considering the tart cherries are a bit smaller than the sweet ones and may not fit the same in the tool, I think I've done well.

Carmine Jewel tart cherries

These are the Carmine Jewel cherries, a variety well-suited to growth in the north.  These trees are about six years old and had a fair bit of fruit for their dwarf size.  There were no pests bothering the leaves or the fruit this year.  In previous years, pear slugs (not actually a slug, but the larvae of a fly), did some damage to the leaves.

Carmine Jewel tart cherries

We decided to pick them this week after seeing the robins rustling around in the trees, thinking they'd found a generous supply of food close to home.  The robins can have the domestic Saskatoon berries.  I don't like those anyhow.

Cherry tree before the cherries ripened

If you've never had tart cherries, don't let the name put you off.  If you let them ripen to a deep red, they are sweet.   I think that their main advantage over the sweet cherries is that they are superior to sweet cherries in baking and many other cooked items.  I personally love them made up as a sauce on grilled pork.  Absolutely amazing.

Of course, it is great that they just survive at all up here.  The pretty little round trees are also quite attractive.  Several more varieties of tart cherries have been introduced since these ones were created, and I'd even try growing these in warmer climates when we should move away from the north.  Hopefully we'd still find them pest-free.  I've heard that the sweet cherries in the Okanagan, British Columbia, often end up pest-ridden (usually full of worms) if not sprayed.