My Bit of Heaven - by Kristl Walek

[Kristl Walek]

Since I have recently taken you on my Symplocarpus foetidus seed collecting outing, I thought you might find a repeat of the entire "life cycle" interesting.

In very early spring, the wonderfully variable spathes emerge along with a basal rosette of leaves, which will enlarge to about 60cm by early summer.

Inside the spathe is a spadix which is covered in all directions with small perfect flowers, with sepals, no petals, and the reproductive organs. The inflorescence develops during early spring, before the leaves unfurl, at which time the small flowers bloom. They emit a carrion-like odor that attract flies.

The spathe soon withers away, while the spadix becomes enlarged into a compound fruit (the seed pod).

By autumn, the foliage has mostly died back, and what remains is a grey-coloured overwintering "shoot" and the seed pod (hopefully). These are quite large and contain marble sized seeds encased in the fleshy pod and are quite colorful once washed.

Ideally the seed should be either sown immediately or kept from drying out by being moist-packed in zip-lock bags in vermiculite. They require cold to germinate.

Emerging seedlings in mid summer the winter following sowing look just like mommy. Go figure!!!!!!

[Kristl Walek]

A bit of autumn miscellany...

Nyssa sylvatica and Lindera benzoin berries ready to be collected, with Acer pennsylvanicum not far behind; much of it's foliage already yellow.

Parthenocissus vitacea is always the earliest to give dramatic colour, and hedgerows and farm fences are full of the fire of deep red and this good maroon right now, with the Rhus thyphina coming on strong in the wings.

Cornus alternifolia is that wonderful mix of early colour at the moment and the white Pines are dropping their old needles, with the trees a mellow mix of gray-green and yellow.

In the midst of the early autumn transformation, the very-rare-to-Ontario Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum is looking at it's freshest at the moment, glossy, actively growing and perky. In fact, the spores are just being collected now.

[David Lyttle]

Hi Kirstl,

I have appreciated and enjoyed your postings on this thread very much. I spent three years in Canada in Saskatchewan which has fewer species and consequently a much less interesting flora than eastern Canada so you have shown me a lot of plants I have not seen before.

In appreciation here is a plant growing in my garden that is no doubt very familiar to you.

[Kristl Walek]

David,
With winter knocking at the door here, it is wonderful to see the promise of spring right here again.

[Kristl Walek]

It's now cold (around freezing at night) unpredictable during the day (anywhere from +7C to +13C average) following two weeks of sun, in fact the best weather we had all year.

I am still waiting for a return to some warmth (and a proper Indian Summer).

The vegetable garden is, of course, finished for the year- the last of the squash, beans and green tomatoes were collected some time ago with seed saved for next year. The herbs have been dried or frozen for winter.

Most of the farmers fields are either empty and already plowed for next spring, or the machines are busy with the harvest each day there is sun. The only crops still noticeably standing are the huge fields of feed corn, which are often not cut down until much later. The maples in the distance behind the corn is my property.

The last time I wrote there was only the early hint of colour in the landscape. This has changed dramatically over the past week. Here is what the sides of the dirt roads leading up to my land look like right now; a wonderful tapestry.

[Kristl Walek]

And this is the entrance to my house (the first driveway on the left, with the real-estate sign) where the textures get even more interesting with sugar maples, black walnut, pines, spruces, larch, willows and others intermingling.

The willows frame the largest of my three ponds, near the road. Beyond the pond, there is a large ornamental grass area.

At the other end of my land, is the road entrance to my nursery and another mixed area of woody species and ornamental grasses.

[Kristl Walek]

My house on the hill is surrounding by mature sugar maples---and autumn is the best time of the year on that hill.

No matter where I stand on the large deck, no matter which window I look out of, the colour is all I see...

[Gerdk]

Just overwhelming - especially at a wet and gray morning her!
Thank you, Kristl!

Gerd

[Brian Ellis]

Kristl I have to agree with Gerd, the colour is wonderful, here we are drenched after heavy rain and the colours are just beginning to come.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wonderful shapes and colours Kristl !
Marvelous ! 

[art600]

Kristl

I echo the comments above - always great to see the Autumn colours.  We are a little behind you, although some plants have changed colour.  My best colours in the garden are provided by a large spindleberry and Cotinus.

Hope the winter this year will be kinder to you - Iran needs the snow to provide more flowers for the tourists next year. 

[Kristl Walek]

As I had too much happening on the home front, I was not keen to head out into the wild today---but the seeds needing collecting could not wait. So I admit I dragged my weary and hesitant bones out early this cool, sunny morning--and headed off again.

By early afternoon I was very happy to be out on such a glorious day---made even better by the fact that I was in an area where sugar maples are the predominant tree. Everything I saw was light and colour-almost hard on the eyes in spots. I knew the colours were at their peak now, and from here on in, all that remains is for a hard storm to bring all the leaves down. So, if you can stand a few more pictures of maples, these were taken on the highway, from the car as I headed to my first spot to collect Gentianopsis crinita, Gentiana andrewsii, Tilia americana, Thuja occidentalis and Tsuga canadensis.

[Kristl Walek]

The first batch of collecting took place on yet another alvar---with large populations of eastern Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and Arctostaphyllos uva-ursi as the predominant groundcover.

There were wild turkeys everywhere, but too fast for me to photograph.

The cedar was at the perfect stage for collection- with the cones open, but not yet spilled.

I have shown you the beautiful Gentianopsis crinita before. There were some huge clumps here where I counted 62+ seed pods (flowers). There were a few tiny plants still flowering here and there among the arctostaphyllos.

Quercus rubra is the only native oak that gives some colour in the fall--but it's "red" is normally a brownish-maroon colour. This specimen was quite unusual in it's good red colouring.

Tsuga canadensis (Canadian Hemlock) which I came here to collect as well had no current year cones.

[Kristl Walek]

I had a lead on a pretty site en route to my next collection spot where I decided to stop and have lunch.

The spot was more than pretty ---the rapids on this local river were wild and wonderful and the woods surrounding the water were pristine and full of wonderful species that I must come back and see next year.

I sat on mossy earth next to the water, ferns spreading down the cliffs in front of me to the water and blissfully ate the last of my left-over birthday cake.

[Kristl Walek]

My last stop of the day was at the edge of another river, to collect one species only: Parnassia glauca.
 
This is very rare in our area, growing only along the edges of two rivers, one of those being almost entirely inaccessible. If you like this genus, you might want to try this species in the garden. I have found it very difficult to establish the better known P. palustris- but P. glauca is indeed garden friendly, as long as it is grown in soil that does not dry out, in light shade. It's a very pretty little plant, very floriferous, and with larger flowers than P. palustris.

Here it grows on the slopes of the river, facing south, with some overhead protection from woody species. It never ventures far into the woods behind it. Neither does it venture down the slope into the wetter spots.

The picture of the flowers belongs to my friend Majella Larochelle.

Along the water I also found seed of Gentiana andrewsii and Lobelia cardinalis.

And as I walked through the woods back to the highway I happily ran into Tsuga canadensis with a small number of unopened cones. This is a graceful and fine-textured native conifer. Older trees have a wonderful plated bark.