Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: cohan on February 28, 2009, 10:47:26 PM
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hi all--i thought i would start to share some photos of plants and flowers here in alberta--some in my 'backyard' (the 6 acre acreage i live on, plus the 300+acres of the main farm this is carved from), roadsides and fields around the area, etc;
others will be from trips short and not so short into parks and other climate zones in the province; i live where the boreal forest (north/west) meets the aspen/grassland areas (east/south); just to the west, the foothills biome begins, farther south, drier grasslands and badlands;
most of the province is dryish, though this area is not as dry as farther south, and in this band just in from the foothills (even more so just a bit to the west) is much less dry than farther east: much of our weather comes over the rocky mountains from the pacific, and while it loses most of its moisture in the western rockies in british columbia, it still has some to dump just outside the mountains;
my immediate region is agricultural, with lots of petroleum as well, but there remains a lot of uncleared or re-grown forest (this area is naturally forested), so while our flora is very low in endemism, there is quite a lot of good habitat, including a lot of wetlands, which may be grazed, but are not intensively cultivated, and not as suitable for escaped forage weeds, so a good place to see a lot of wildflowers, with roadsides, ditches and hay and forage fields having room for many species as well; forested areas range from largely untouched, to heavily grazed/trodden by cattle, so quality of habitat varies, but there is enough of it to provide fairly good connections between patches for many species;
our winter is cold and long, though reasonably sunny, so by late winter/ early spring when there begin to be significant gaps in the snow, the eye is hungry for any sign of green, though flowers are still far away;
i decided to start with pictures from last year, since by the time things are happening this year, i will be outside more, and perhaps those in warmer climes will be in mid season!
the first few shots are from early april 2008--no real activity yet in these shots, these are overwintering rosettes of annuals/biennials/perennials--i told you i'm desperate at that season! but these little glimpses of green/colour in a mainly brown and gray landscape(apart from evergreen conifers, of course) are very welcome!
note that many of these plants, as well as the first emergents, later on, use red/purple pigments, and/or hairs to attract/hold on to whatever heat they can get! they will still get snow repeatedly after this date, and nights as well as some days, well below freezing for some time yet. none of these are plants that remain this small;
many of the photos are of plants partially id'd and any suggestions are welcome;
an unidentified purple crucifer, i think i have shots of it later on;semi-disturbed wet areas
Epilobium, probably palustre; this is by far its most charming season...lol;wet areas mainly, occasionally disturbed areas elsewhere
Corydalis aurea one of my very favourites esp because it has these lovely little glaucous green rosettes at a time when there is so little around; flowers come quite a bit later;disturbed areas in open woods or edges;here esp in the loose mounds of soil turned up by pocket gophers;widespread, but not that common, probably because it cant compete for long once other things grow into its disturbedd soil patches
Fragaria ; one of our most common plants everywhere except really wet areas; not clear if this local species is vesca or virginiana
Geum probably rivale, but there are a couple of species, i need to look more closely at several features; wet areas and disturbed areas, very common..
hope this first installment wasnt too boring...
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A great thread idea, Cohan.Super shots of the furry bits!
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thanks, maggi--you guys are fast! i wasnt even sure i had the message posted properly yet (in fact i posted it twice, but i removed one...) and i see 5 views and your reply!
here's the second instalment, where we will actually get to see some flowers (i think...)
we are now at the beginning of may, 2008, and things have started to grow;
first a couple of unnamed bits
a couple i cant always tell apart in early foliage; plus some that grow in shaded areas never flower;
as i mentioned, this is predominantly a forested area, naturally, with temporary open areas after blow down, trees falling due to age etc, fires, and so on (of course more open areas due to human activity; even before coming of europeans etc, natives used to burn the forest in this area to expand the prairie, and therfor bison range!); this means that most plants can survive in semi/forest, even if they prefer/flower more in the open;
so you will see many species growing in varying degrees of shade, some without flowering at all, some with a few flowers (some doing quite well, thank-you); many of them spread vegetatively during this dark, crowded phase of their growth; if/when, something or someone removes the trees, they are ready to grow much more vigorously, flower /seed abundantly;
if that doesnt happen, in this area, eventually spruce will grow amongst the aspen, poplar and birch etc, and the area will become shadier and shadier, and drier; fewer species will survive or thrive in the mature spruce forest, but when a big spruce goes down, they will still be ready to seed in--maybe even grow from a few straggling, surviving bits..
conversely, many of the forest plants will not usually be killed by the falling trees, they will still hang on in the sun, maybe with faded leaves, but probably more flowers than usual (maianthemums to come later on...)
an Anemone? or Ranunculus?
another (the same?) cress
? maybe someone can name this when i post flowers later; growing near corydalis; prob an agircultural weed
Epilobium palustre again, growing now
Glechoma-garden escape- one of two patches on the 325 acres, that i know of;its been there prob 30 years at least, the patch is now some metres, but i dont see it spreading elsewhere; one of the very first things to flower, the next pic shows the habitat,to the right, a few feet from the bases of the trees, about a week sooner: the Glechoma had probably been flowering before this snow fell, and kept right up as it melted out from it..
this view will also show you why, at that time of year, i am excited about little snippets of weeds...lol
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i thought Petasites deserved its own post;
these are very common here,usually in wettish areas, though many of these would be dry in midsummer, in 'normal' years; the last couple of summers have been the wettest in around 50years, and there has been standing water in many places in midsummer, which i never saw growing up
--this is probably
Petasites sagittatus
also common along edges of woodlands, esp moist areas, is P. frigidus var palmatus, and hybrids between the two are supposed to occur;
there is some variation in this plant, as individuals may bear both male and female florets, or both; also, some individuals show a lot of purple/pink (especially on the outsides of buds/flowers) and others dont; this could be temperature related pigment;
when they first emerge, they are no more than a couple of inches high, by the time they are done flowering, and later emergers, will be near a foot(20-50cm according to the book); the leaves come later and can be to 30cm and put on a show of their own(we'll see them later) and fruiting stems up to 75cm with bright white fluffy seeds..
i think this plant could be very showy in the garden, but i think spreading is a real issue--maybe a contained/raised bog? though you'd want enough of a clump to appreciate the dramatic foliage
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a few more from the same time, at the beginning of may
presumably
Mentha arvensis
our wild mint, common in wet, marshy areas; nice for teas, etc--i guess stevenb would approve? ;)
young shoots of, presumably
Rumex crispus
introduced; purportedly among the most widespread plants on the planet; growing here in wet places;
there is a very charming, lowgrowing species found in the southeast of the province, that i'd like to get my hands on...
and--a pussywillow
Salix ?
we have lots of willows here, several species, i imagine; i havent begun to try to sort them out (i've only had 1 1/2 growing seasons here since moving back..)
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Thank you Cohan,
An interesting start - please continue!
Which animal left its excrements on the Petasites?
Gerd
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Thank you Cohan,
An interesting start - please continue!
Which animal left its excrements on the Petasites?
Gerd
thanks, gerd,
i think it was a deer..
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still early may 2008
these few shots are on the edge of my acreage, a spot where coniferous (spruce and tamarack{larix}) forest grades into a wet area where willows predominate, birch are occasional through this zone, and aspens try where they can get enough sun and not too much water;
the last couple of years have been the wettest in over 50, and these areas that would usually have been wet only in spring, have had standing water, and/or much higher moisture levels in in mid summer;
this is still early may, and you can see the small evergreens are not at their best--they can suffer when exposed in late winter/early spring if snow levels are low, but the ground is still frozen, so they cant take up moisture..
these all grow on raised spots within the wet area--on hummocks grown around roots or fallen trunks
Ledum groenlandicum
the brown scraggly stuff...lol--the local plants of this species seemed really to have suffered last winter,and i didnt see any flowers, though another place i visited a bit farther west, they seemed healthier...
Pyrola asarifolia
super common around here, from right on the edge of the wet zones, into open woods, under the spruce, and even into roadsides and ditches in near full sun
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
bog cranberry, widespread, but never abundant, commonly at the base of conifers at the edge of wet areas
a view of this habitat--wetter areas to the right, the spruce forest to the left
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the first of what we call cowslips here--
Caltha palustris
and a couple more Petasites with pollinators--these flowers are very sweetly scented, and at this time of year, almost the only thing in flower besides Salix, and Caltha just starting; this bee looks like she has managed to load up on pollen!
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Cohan, it ss easy to see how much you enjoy little plants by the detail you are showing us in your photos of these young shoots .... detail which many of us would otherwise miss.
I have to admit that I really did not know how intricate and beautiful the flowers of the Petasites were.... thanks for that insight!
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thanks, maggi--i do hope at least a few people are enjoying these photos! there will be more flowers as i get farther along...lol
i do enjoy the details as well as the overall plant and setting; macro/close-up photography is definitely the friend of small or insignifcant plants and flowers! but i also like to look closely at larger/showier flowers-- a bed full of blue geraniums is lovely, but so is the veining and diaphanous detail of an intimate view :)
(ok, this isnt such a great shot, but its what i dug up on the spur of the moment...lol; noname Geranium in my yard, from my mom's plantings;very vigorous and totally hardy here at zone 2-3; has not seeded beyond its beds)
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Great thread Cohan I am enjoying your pictures.
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Great thread Cohan I am enjoying your pictures.
thanks, david, glad you are enjoying :)
it occurred to me i had mostly missed out on the willows, so i am backtracking a little to mid april 2008;
we have a lot of willows around here--mostly they are smallish--in areas that are left alone (many of the habitats on farms are occasionally cleared for grazing, and willows gradually grow back, when the growth gets too dense, they are cleared again) they do form some trunks up to maybe 20 feet, but unless they have a stronger tree to lean on, these thin trunks usually flop over, and generally dont seem to live terribly long; usually there are lots of new wands from the base...
some of them start to put out their pussywillows in midwinter--which might not seem strange in a mild climate like england, but does seem very odd to see any sign of life when the ground is frozen solid, and temperatures rarely venture above the freezing mark;
if i remember correctly, these early catkins are male, and are not yet in flower--the wooly outside helps draw heat to the buds so that they can continue to develop over the next couple of months;
here in mid-april you see them in full flower, male and female..
i havent yet studied how to tell the various species apart,
Salix sp
male and female flowering catkins
i dont have any good overview shots of this very typical area, i will try to get some...though the snow is still deep on the ground, i remember as a child walking out on top of deep snow to gather pussywillows..
cohan
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Wow, how I envy you being able to just walk out from your house into something approaching wild lands! (I'd have a long walk from here, darn it! :()
A reflection on common names... I found it interesting that to you, "cowslips" is Caltha palustris. To me, growing up on the prairies and learning common plants from my parents, "cowslips" was Lithospermum canescens... and then, of course, I eventually found that the name referred (first, presumably?) to Primula veris... Well, at least the flowers are all yellow - though that's probably almost all they have in common. No wonder people get confused! :)
In your second set of photos, the one you refer to as "prob an agircultural weed" appears to be Descurainia sophia, or flixweed - yes, an introduced agricultural weed.
Nice to look forward to spring, though chances are it will be a bit delayed this year, with more snow than usual.
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Enjoyed your willow pics very much although I immediately got a bad attack
of hay fever. It seems the pollen was carried over with the photos. ;D ;D ;D
Gerd
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Wow, how I envy you being able to just walk out from your house into something approaching wild lands! (I'd have a long walk from here, darn it! :()
A reflection on common names... I found it interesting that to you, "cowslips" is Caltha palustris. To me, growing up on the prairies and learning common plants from my parents, "cowslips" was Lithospermum canescens... and then, of course, I eventually found that the name referred (first, presumably?) to Primula veris... Well, at least the flowers are all yellow - though that's probably almost all they have in common. No wonder people get confused! :)
In your second set of photos, the one you refer to as "prob an agircultural weed" appears to be Descurainia sophia, or flixweed - yes, an introduced agricultural weed.
Nice to look forward to spring, though chances are it will be a bit delayed this year, with more snow than usual.
tks, lori-- yes, that closeness to nature is the best thing here :)
lithospermum i dont think i know at all, i will have to look it up; i didnt know until much later that 'cowslips' was a name long in use across the pond, here it seemed reasonable enough, as the flowers and the cows could often be found in the same habitat! i forgot to mention before that this is (in my family) a traditional mother's day bouquet, and or for my mother's(and her twin's!) birthday, at about the same time; i also added petasites to the bouquets for fragrance, and if the caltha was out, the petasites was; in good years, white and blue violets might both be out, also; not last year, though..
tks for the tip on the weed, i will look that name up; i'm pretty sure i will have flowering pictures of it later in the files..
here are two views of my sunset yesterday--the first is taken almost literally from my front door, the second from the end of our driveway, looking across the neighbours land...
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Enjoyed your willow pics very much although I immediately got a bad attack
of hay fever. It seems the pollen was carried over with the photos. ;D ;D ;D
Gerd
we better not let the customs people hear about that! they might shut down the site: if pollen can get through, who knows what pathogens might! ;)
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Great thread Cohan ! :D
Very interesting to discover what is growing in this beautiful part of the world !
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Enjoyed your willow pics very much although I immediately got a bad attack
of hay fever. It seems the pollen was carried over with the photos. ;D ;D ;D
Gerd
we better not let the customs people hear about that! they might shut down the site: if pollen can get through, who knows what pathogens might! ;)
At least some kind of virus is transferable - I hope not the same which affects bulbs. ;D ;D ;D
Gerd
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Great thread Cohan ! :D
Very interesting to discover what is growing in this beautiful part of the world !
tks luc--stay tuned, it should get more exciting as i get farther into the season..lol
gerd--i think the only virus you can get on the forum is the 'PAV'
--plant acquisition virus!
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hi again, all,
i thought i'd veer off the topic of plant portraits a bit, to show you a few other sights in my area:
this is again in May of 2008, 8-9, we had a fairly heavy snowfall, luckily it didnt last long;
some of you may associate bison with the north american west; these are on a farm which i pass on the way to work (i work in a town around 30km away, towards the mountains); they are advertising bison meat for sale, i have no idea if they sell much or not...(being vegetarian, i have not tried it..)
the last shot is just outside of the town i work in, on the way home; you can see the mountains in the distance, about an hour's drive from there..
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ok, so, nearing the end of May, 2008, and our sluggish spring is starting to gain some momentum
sprouting up all over, and i do mean all over: all around my yard, outside high traffic areas, in light to moderately heavy woods, from roadsides to the edges of wet areas, you see first the coiled leaves, gradually unrolling, flowers to come a little later-- the 'wild lily of the valley'
Maianthemum canadense
now flowering,before its overshadowed by later growth, also all over my yard, from edges of woods, to anywhere it can get a little space..
Viola adunca
this particular cropped shot is to show that nearly every flower of any species that i photographed for the whole season had some kind of critters on or in them! often too small to see until shots were enlarged onscreen..
the above species mixes with, but usually surrenders to
Viola renifolia
just at the edges of woods where wetter areas begin, similar spots to where we saw Vaccinium and Ledum
next, a couple of flowering shrubs
Amelanchier alnifolia
the deservedly famous Saskatoon berry (serviceberry, in some other areas..) in flower now, fruit later on..
and, presumably,
Shepherdia canadensis
Buffalo berry or Soap berry, with near microscopic, hard to photograph flowers, i will have to try again this year; plants are male or female, and the tiny female flowers (only males in this shot)will give rise to red, edible, but not very tasty, berries; i need to take more pics that show the whole bush, this year--it is a sprawling affair, with a sort of expanded candelabra shape
finally, i need to get to know the non-flowering plants better, but this i guess is one of the many forms of
Equisetum
major players in the forest, and graceful at pretty much all stages..
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okay, still at the end of may, 2008, and right at the back of my acreage, where mixed/coniferous woods give way to wetter area, mostly overgrown with willows
Chrysosplenium sp
i guess there are a couple, and i didnt catch this in flower, so i cant say which;i remember there being tons of this when i was a kid, last year i hardly found any--dont know why--its a wet area plant, and its been wet...maybe less grazing in recent years has left it crowded out, though that doesnt apply much in these shady wooded areas it favours; this year i will look again and try to get seeds or cuttings--it is charming in large clumps in full flower--all aglow in yellow green..
Caltha palustris
this is how it looks in shady areas, leggy and sprawly, still flowering though less densely; this is natural for it, as no spot here remains unforested apart from open water or human altered areas...
an overview of the area; even more closed in in summer as the willows leaf out; i've been harvesting dead wood from the willows for firewood, so it should be getting less tangled...
not sure what this stuff is in the last shot, but its nice to see the bright green from earliest spring in wet spots...
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details same as yesterday's post...
the tiny
Viola renifolia
leaves only about 3inches high at this stage, flowers less; the leaves only shot shows typical habitat: wettish open forest, usually at the base of trees, or on other little mounds--i guess it can be close to moisture, but keep out of the water;
NOTE: although these areas are wet in spring, and have remained wet all summer last couple of years, all of these plants from wettish areas other than open water, are adapted for potentially dry midsummers--all during my youth, these areas would have been totally dry in summer--though prob moist not too far below the surface..
the view shows the area-thats not a stream, just an old cattle path--now a wildlife path, with standing water
the ubiquitous but charming,
Mitella nuda
an almost everpresent creeper, with very exotic flowers, not open in this shot; i think it would be great in a shady bed where it could really spread out; i'm thinking to use pieces of mossy branch/trunk etc in the manner of a crevice garden...
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Thank you for this detailed description of a violet habitat!
Gerd
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you're welcome, gerd!
we have 3 species here on the acreage--renifolia, adunca and canadensis; on the whole farm there is one more:nephrophylla (presumed)..
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location/date still same as above
a couple of Ribes, cant say i exactly have these clear, yet, first perhaps
Ribes triste
plant similar to a high bush cranberry, Vaccinium, flowers very different, of course
second perhaps
Ribes oxyacanthoides
though there are are something like 11 species in the province; this one is an early coloniser of disturbed areas, and especially places like brush piles (where logs/smaller trunks, branches and sod, soil etc are pushed up when land is cleared for grazing or other purposes)
Carex
many many of these and related genera--scarcely begun to get to know them, but really liking them--these tiny things (maybe 4-8inches tall?) are flowering early when not much is yet; many others are larger and/or growing in masses to make themselves noticeable, especially in wet areas, where the colours of stems, flowers or seed heads can colour large areas (different shades of greens, black, brown etc) making interesting colour patterns in apparent 'grass' areas...
the same Carex, and Caltha, each with visitors...
this was the only caltha flower on a plant with a half dozen flowers with this ominous looking, but tiny visitor;
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last couple of shots from this area;
i never really knew what this plant was, but came across it in a book--in the sandalwood family--sounds very exotic! and apparently is semi parasitic; to make things more fancy, it can carry a fungus(blister rust)which turns plants variegated, and which also affects lodgepole pines--we dont have pines right here, mostly they start about 20 miles frther east, so i dont know what the fungus does to them, but you can see the odd mottled leaves in the second photo;
then two views--one shows the edge of the area these photos have been from--this clearing faces north, and you can see very little activity so far, no greening yet; the second view is not too far away, on the main farm (really, probably only several hundred metres away) but on the south edge of the woods, and grass is already greening; next photos will be from that area..
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Very interesting, Cohan. I was not at all familar with Geocaulon lividum... It's described in Moss and Packer as "reticulately veined, bright green to often yellow-variegated". The plants in your second photo seem to be show the reticulated veining - I wonder if that is a basic but variable characteristic, or an effect of the blister rust? Royer and Dickinson seem to attribute yellow-streaking or variegation to the rust but don't comment on the veining at all.
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the royer /dickinson book is the same source i saw; you know, i think its a fairly common plant, but it grows in the same places as blueberries etc, and i had always thought it was one of those--of course the flowers are quite different, but i had not looked that closely/consciously, i guess..
so when i got this book i was going through front to back and when i saw the entry, i recognised it right away, and thought: 'oh! thats what that is!' and i had noticed the variegated forms too..
my feeling is that the veining is always there, , but the variegated, fungus form makes it much more conspicuous..
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still the same date, end of may 2008, and just a bit farther afield, a short distance from my acreage on the main farm which belongs to my uncle;
Corydalis aurea
a not uncommon plant, and very widespread, yet not major visual player in the landscape--does most of its work early, while it can get the sun--you see it here growing at the base of a poplar, with a Ribes (gooseberry) bush overhead, besides, and in the open soil of a mound made by a pocket gopher-these little bits of disturbed soil are very popular with early colonisers, such as this, a chance to get some sun and growth free of competition--for a couple of growing seasons at best! these little plants will be very shaded by grass, other forbs and trees, shrubs by midsummer, so you can see one of these already has seedpods at this time, which is early for here, where many perennials arent even emerged yet in mid-late may!
Ribes
with an ant, pollinating? or just plundering?
Glechoma
the same colony i showed flowering right out of the snow; after a few warmer weeks, it shows itself to in fact have colonised a number of metres in every direction, not just the few stems i saw at first..still welcome colour for early in the season..
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Nice little Corydalis - like the colour of the flowers and the foliage!
Gerd
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Nice little Corydalis - like the colour of the flowers and the foliage!
Gerd
thanks, gerd--i really like this plant, especially because it overwinters little rosettes (usually biennial, i think) which are among the few green things when the snow first melts, and i like that glaucous foliage, also..
i'm going to try moving some to my garden, where i think they should do very nicely, not having to worry about being outcompeted by grass etc..i'll try those overwintered seedlings, and if they dont move well, there will be seed later anyway..
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Carex sp
this one growing in full sun, in a spot at least seasonally wet
i've just started to get an appreciation for Carex and similars, of which we have a lot, you need to get close to enjoy the flowers, but you can see the surrounding structures are dark, as are seed heads often--brown nearly black, reddish on some, and swathes of these make wet 'grassy' areas very pretty in summer; wisely, they do their flowering early before grasses etc have grown much, the mature height of 'grass' in these areas varies from knee to shoulder height or more by midsummer; most of the carex are flowering at a foot or less in height, though most continue growing after
Caltha
in the sun, they put on a much better show than in shady spots
Brassicaceae
havent sorted these out yet, but this would be one of the plants that showed a tiny colourful overwintering rosette; probably annual/biennial
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if i remember correctly, these shots are from right in my yard/'lawn' [lawn= areas which are regularly mowed to keep the forest at bay]
the everpresent
Fragaria/wild strawberries
--plants and flowers are abundant, berries less so, but still common, needing the right coincidence of factors/conditions for fruit development..
i noticed in the photos a big difference between the flowers, if it were only the stamens, i'd have thought it was maybe the age of the flowers, but sepals are also very different; leaves seem different too(first has longer leaflets), but that could be natural variation, or age of leaves....any thoughts?
and, for Gerd, a
Viola adunca
these are all over the yard, a most happy 'weed' :)
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note: message edited to correct viburnum name, so viburnum photo will now probably be at the botttom.. cohan
Viburnum edule
this a planting by nature, just at one edge of our mowed area, semi open woods, it would get sun part of the day; its a really nice grouping with some other shrubs--ribes, i think, i forget what else, now..
Carex sp
forming seeds; now we are just over the fence into my uncle's land
Amelanchier alnifolia
saskatoon berry; a young shrub, just a couple of metres tall; they are quite showy, though flowers are very short lived..
Antenaria sp
they prefer sunny spots, though this species does well in semi-open areas, with a more open mat than those in exposed places; all the species here do well with grazing by cattle, as the plants are too low to be eaten, it just removes competition/shade; not sure if cattle eat the flower/seed stems..
view
of the general area, artificially open woods, gradually growing back in; grazed, but not heavily; by mid summer the grass and forbs will be at least knee height
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same day as last set, end of may, 08;
here's a spider doing ballet on the end of grass stem..
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Cohan,
it is possible that the Viburnum opulus is Viburnum erosum. Species from America. See it two years ago in the Forest Botanical Garden of Tharandt near Dresden. Think at the first moment it was V. opulus.
Looks the same way as V. opulus but with larger leaves than V. opulus. They build a new collection of north american plants and collected seeds in different parts of north america in the nature.
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It seems that Viburnum erosum is an eastern Asian species (China, Japan), rather than an American one. The viburnum species that occur naturally here in Alberta are limited to V. opulus ssp. trilobum (high bush cranberry, which is circumpolar) and V. edule (low bush cranberry).
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This site gives Viburnum edule as the HIGH bush cranberry : http://www.cwnp.org/photopgs/vdoc/viedule.html I'm confused..... again!! :-\
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Hmm, probably the usual common name problem... Just to add to the confusion, here's a site that refers to V. edule as both high-bush AND low-bush cranberry. ;D
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/range/RangeID/Plants/VibuEdul.html
(The common names I quoted in the previous post were those used in Flora of Alberta, Moss and Packer. Heights are given as 1-2m for V. edule and 1-4m for V. opulus, so neither is exactly tiny!)
Hmmm, that made me start to wonder if the species had been "lumped" or otherwise fiddled with, unbeknownst to me, but it seems the USDA still lists both as unique species:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIOPA2
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch
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Hmm, probably the usual common name problem... Just to add to the confusion, here's a site that refers to V. edule as both high-bush AND low-bush cranberry. ;D
(The common names I quoted in the previous post were those used in Flora of Alberta, Moss and Packer. Heights are given as 1-2m for V. edule and 1-4m for V. opulus, so neither is exactly tiny!)
Hmmm, that made me start to wonder if the species had been "lumped" or otherwise fiddled with, unbeknownst to me, but it seems the USDA still lists both as unique species:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIOPA2
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch
Diabolical, isn't it, all this name fiddling ? Is there any wonder I'm confused?? ;D
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And, looking more closely at the photo, I believe it's V. edule.
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i was by no means certain of the names on the Viburnum, and was going just by the one photo of mine, with flower cluster not fully open, and the one reference i have, which does not have full views of the leaves; i was thinking that in the royer/dickinson book, the leaf of edule did not seen lobed enough, although their description does say lobed. but the photo looks quite oval, which mine did not...
and since the flowers were just opening, i was unsure about the seemingly larger flower cluster in the picture of opulus..
(the dangers of trying to name with limited references...lol)..all that being said, it is quite possible that it is V. edule...i was hoping to come across photos from a bit later with the flower clusters more fully open, but havent yet;
certainly there are no plants of the species here that reach 4 metres, but then both species list a lower range of 1m--id say most plants around here are well under 2m, though many may be in a grazed area, this one in the photo is not..
on the common names--here we refer to whichever it is that we have (i doubt we have both; by range maps, we more likely have edule, though those maps are not exact) as highbush cranberry--not contrasting it with viburnum, but with vaccinium--'bog' cranberry, which is a very low bush indeed!
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Sorry Lori is right. :-[
I mean V. edule and not V. erosum!
That's the problem after 55 hours of work in the last week. At Friday a lot of names running across your head and changed the names of plants without controll.
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Onion, you had it right all along! :)
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thanks uli and lori for the input: i corrected the original message and the file name of the photo to reflect the correct name;
what i should have been looking for all along were the the large sterile flowers on the outside of the flower cluster of the V. opulus...
here are a couple of more images-- the flower cluster a bit more mature, and an overview of the self planted grouping at the edge of my yard--Viburnum, Ribes, etc; the tallest stems--supported by the poplar trunk are no more than 2m, probably less;
if your eyes are sharp, you may see the back end of a cat to the right of the photo...
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Cohan, that's the problem with the books that show one picture of the flower and minimal to no description... what do you do if it's not in flower? (Drives me crazy! >:() So, anyway... V. edule and V. opulus, when not in flower, are distingished by the depth of lobing of the leaves (deeply lobed on most of the leaves on V. opulus), and that V. opulus has stipules at the base of the petioles. Also, apparently, (something I'll have to look for), V. edule has 1 pair of leaves on the inflorescence branch, while V. opulus has 2 pairs.
A book I'd recommend, since it is readily available (though not comprehensive), is Plants of Kananaskis Country by Hallworth and Chinnappa.
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i'll watch for that book, i haven't seen it around here, but that doesnt mean i wont run into it somewhere..
it would be nice to have one book with good images of leaves AND flowers, lets throw in seedpods, and maybe preflowering rosettes, while we are at it ;) and ALL species, please...lol
i had originally said opulus, because the leaves in my photo DID seem more lobed than those in the photo of edule; just the natural variation, i guess--and i was just id'ing it now from my photos, not last summer from the plants: i didnt have even this book yet then! (i had a few old books: a 'rocky mountain wildflowers' with drawings/paintings, a waterton lakes book etc, but havent found my 'alberta wildflowers' from the old days...)
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I'd love to have that book too... though it would hardly be a field guide, LOL! (More like something you'd need a dolly to lug around... even given the relatively few species we have compared to elsewhere in the world.)
Flora of Alberta is the best reference and is only verbal description... and can be pretty heavy-going - I have to refer to the glossary for every second or third word, LOL!
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Flora of Alberta is the best reference and is only verbal description... and can be pretty heavy-going - I have to refer to the glossary for every second or third word, LOL!
good education..lol---useful to learn all the technical characters..of course, i am far from that...
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Cohan, I enjoy your wanderings very much indeed thanks for taking the time and the trouble to post them.
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Cohan,
Just returned from a 10 days trip to Spain and found your ' happy weed' - thank you!
Gerd
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tks, gerd and david, glad you are enjoying..much more to come-
including, gerd, Viola canadensis, our largest violet! hope you had a great time in spain!
now, to get ready for work :(
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still around the edges of my yard, end of may, 08;
Mertensia paniculata
a super common plant here, one of the earliest colonisers of open areas-maybe not out in baking sun (though we really only have that in cultivated areas/fields or roads) , but certainly around edges of woodlands, dry or wet, roadsides among grasses and other forbs etc....in bloom for most of the summer, though probably not the same plants
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the foliage of
Maianthemum canadense
a really decorative species at all times! leaves are very pretty as they unroll in spring, then the foliage is very shiny, and there can be large patches of it--from deep shade(where it flowers less) to roadsides where it flowers a lot even though foliage can look a bit faded; then later in the summerberries are pretty too, though it seems not that many flowers fertilised; i think locally the berries are mostly red with some speckles, populations i have seen in the foothills/mountains seem to have more green with red speckles.
Rubus pubescens
one of our several raspberry species, i think this is the right id for this one; longish creeping stems in open woods, not very showy flowers, and not too many fruit produced, unlike the regular raspberry bushes which are superabundant here and produce quite a lot of fruit
Viola canadensis
our largest violet with white flowers tinged pink or purple, and flowering later than adunca and renifolia; these plants can be 20-60cm tall according to my book..probably usually around 30cm here, and they can form nice patches in rather open woods..
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Interesting Viola canadense - never saw such a pink form.
Cohan, has your Rubus upright woody stems or is it more like Rubus arcticus ?
Gerd
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Interesting Viola canadense - never saw such a pink form.
Cohan, has your Rubus upright woody stems or is it more like Rubus arcticus ?
Gerd
i think, gerd, that i may have just happened to take these photos when the flowers had first opened and appeared pinkest, though there is some variaton anyway...
this rubus is much lower than the regular bush raspberries (which have biennial stems, upright, but weak), but has more conspicuous sprawling stems than R arcticus, and of course not nearly such nice flowers as arcticus;
my reference says 'stems 10-30cm tall, trailing stems 10-100cm, base becoming semi-woody' sounds about right; it has generally weak, thin trailing stems, and is fairly common, but does not form very dense stands
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Thanks for the information Cohan! I don't know why, but I like the smaller Rubus species - especially when they are suited as a grownd cover.
Gerd
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Thanks for the information Cohan! I don't know why, but I like the smaller Rubus species - especially when they are suited as a grownd cover.Gerd
i especially agree on R arcticus--big deep pink flowers, really pretty leaves, and it can form nice dense clumps; its one that i definitely intend to introduce to the garden and see what it will do for me..
here it grows mostly in damp areas, on raised hummocks in wet spots, or just next to wet ground; similar to Vaccinium, Ledum etc, though i think it prefers, or at least tolerates, more sun..
are you growing any small rubus, gerd?
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That's certainly the pinkest Viola canadensis I've ever seen too. It's mildly spreading in the garden, beautiful in spring when its in bloom with the epimediums and primroses; usually gets tired-looking and mildewy later on though (hard to understand what stress it is reacting to, i.e. the mildew, as almost nothing else is affected by mildew in the yard). Mertensia paniculata is rather spreading - in the garden, other mertensia species are showier and better-behaved. I absolutely love seeing it in the wild though. (And, having said that, I wouldn't actually kick it out of the garden either... hmmm, I find it very hard to get rid of anything!)
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That's certainly the pinkest Viola canadensis I've ever seen too. Mertensia paniculata is rather spreading - in the garden, other mertensia species are showier and better-behaved. I absolutely love seeing it in the wild though. (
interesting to hear your input..
i will keep an eye on that stand of V canadensis --its only maybe 10m from where we park.... i still think its likely that they just looked that pink at that time--since i was a bit surprised going through the pics now too... IF if turns out that they really are that pink, i could see if they set seed for those interested.... i havent noticed mildew on it here, which doesnt mean it doesnt get it--its in a natural area with a lot of grass and other plants, so i dont pay much attention to it when not in flower..
of course at this point i dont really have a 'garden' in any usual sense... the Mertensias are growing all over my yard on their own, and while i might plant them in particular spots with particular other species--i feel sure i have seen them flowering with wild roses, but havent found a photo of it, so i might plant them that way, mostly they would be in 'natural'/naturalised areas so spreading wouldnt be a problem--i'm sure they will be seeding themselves into any disturbed soil anyway, though the native asters do that more agressively!
as to other species, i did have my eye on something alpine at beavercreek, though i havent decided if its my best choice right now when i have to keep my order small, and i have mertensias all over already...lol
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are you growing any small rubus, gerd?
Cohan,
Please accept my apologies for the delay in answering. I didnīt find the label (as usual) of the species mentioned first and so had to look into my files - in this case back to 1992.
I grow Rubus nepalensis - a real beauty. Easy and hardy here but seldom fruiting. Another species is Rubus arcticus ssp. stellata, which is grown in a trough.
Gerd
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Cohan, I see the Crassula species offered on the Beaver Creek site now (that I think came up in a different thread). Sorry, I didn't see it (or perhaps notice it) when I looked a few weeks ago, but there it is again now. A few other things on the site have changed since I last looked... I wrote a couple of things down to order that aren't there any more!
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gerd:
dont worry about any delays in answering! sometimes i am on a lot, other times i am not, so no problem..
i dont know much about rubus species other than our natives, and a few from british columbia, i will have to look up nepalensis...
the smaller species here dont fruit nearly as much as the large species...
lori:
i also checked the crassula when we spoke about it, and it wasnt there, so he must have updated; hopefully nothing is gone that i wanted...lol--you may know it doesnt hurt to ask--he could have a few of something but not enough to offer--that was the case with an enquiry i made before about something that was there and then wasnt...
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now in early june, 08; this set again is right on my acreage, or just at the edge
a couple more shots of the
Viburnum edule
the larger view shows the same naturally planted cluster at the base of a poplar that i mentioned before; growing with a Ribes sp
more strawberries
Fragaria
Mertensia paniculata
flowers are commonly pink when they first open, but this one seems to be staying that way...
one of our chickweeds, presumably
Stellaria
dont ask me which one; i'll have to get pics with leaves, this year..
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i discovered last year, tons of
Corallorrhiza trifida
presumably...there'll be more photos of this; saprophytic orchid; this was not so abundant in the old days around here...maybe the last couple of wet years have been good to it? i was surprised to see it growing even on soil that i would not have thought to be very organic--mostly clay, on the banks of a sewage lagoon (far from the waste water..) as well as in more expected wooded soils ..
Cornus canadensis
the super common but still charming bunchberry; just beginning to flower in this shot;
Equisetum
one of several types..