My Bit of Heaven - by Kristl Walek

[Kristl Walek]

This is what I will miss most in the Ontario woodland; and last year I did not have a chance to photograph the drifts of Trillium grandiflorum that fill our maple woods here; something I will not see in Nova Scotia, where white Trillium is uncommon to rare.

Graham has gotten a new camera---a higher end Nikon with a better lens than mine--and as the time is drawing near to finishing our book he has been busy photographing the natives to accompany our words. Most of the following pictures are his.

[Kristl Walek]

Trillium undulatum must be searched for, and grows one here, one there....
And one is lucky to find T. cernuum at all.

[Kristl Walek]

Primula misstassinica is also very rare in Ontario---we have only found it in one wet spot on the shores of a lake quite far from home.

And Epigaea repens is a rare dysjunct here---although it is very abundant in northern Ontario.

[Kristl Walek]

In the opposite, we are too far north for Phlox divaricata, and must drive south for about one hour to find this lovely woodland species growing in rich woods, fields and along streams.

[Kristl Walek]

Pedicularis canadensis grows in open woods, thickets and clearings.  The foliage emerges a wine color in early spring, later turning the grey-green you see here.

While many species in this genus are parasitic on the roots of grasses and possibly other plants, P. canadensis is capable of normal growth and development even when suitable host plants are unavailable.

[Brian Ellis]

Wow, I am totally bowled over by those Trilliums in the wood Kristl, I'll have to go and have a lie down

[annew]

The Trillium grandiflorum seem to be all single stemmed, unlike clumps that occur in cultivation. Is this so?

[Rodger Whitlock]

Wow, I am totally bowled over by those Trilliums in the wood Kristl, I'll have to go and have a lie down

I'm sure many of us have seen something similar, evidence that Mother Nature gardens with a lavish hand, making our own gardens look rather hum-drum in comparison.

In fact, Ma Nature can use the most ordinary of plants to achieve stunning effects no gardener could manage. At the University of Rochester (New York), some unbuilt land (now, alas, a parking lot) were heavily infested with dandelions and come spring, they all bloomed in unison, the field turning brilliant yellow for a day or two. A sight for sore eyes, as the saying has it.

By comparison, we gardeners - esp. we rock gardeners - tend to have dog's breakfast gardens with one each of a thousand different plants. Most of us, I suspect would do better to grow a hundred each of ten plants instead!

One might say that if a plant is worth growing, it's worth growing a lot of it.

[Brian Ellis]

One might say that if a plant is worth growing, it's worth growing a lot of it.

Indeed true Rodger, if only we had the room! 

[Kristl Walek]

The Trillium grandiflorum seem to be all single stemmed, unlike clumps that occur in cultivation. Is this so?

Anne,
Graham and I talked about your question today---and agree that 99.9% of the plants we have seen growing in the woods are single-stemmed. One occasion one can see a two or three stemmed plant, but normally out of it's ordinary habitat and receiving dissimilar conditions (at the side of the road, by itself, in more light) instead of in the woods.

[Kristl Walek]

Portraits of another of my favorite woodland species: Polygala paucifolia--uncommon in this area; growing in open shade in acid conditions.

[Kristl Walek]

Trientalis borealis is actually a member of the Primula family.


And here is Uvularia sessilifolia, the rarer of the two species in my area.

Lastly, a mass of Maianthemum canadense.

[Kristl Walek]

I showed you most of the native Cypripedium last year---except the very rare
C. arietinum.

[Kristl Walek]

Cardamine are well known plants---C. diphylla being the most common woodland species here, although it is not widely seen. The rarer C. concatenata, has toothed foliage. I have never been able to collect properly developed seed of either species.

Waldsteinia fragarioides (Barren Strawberry) is an adaptive groundcover with glossy foliage resembling strawberries. The evergreen leaves turn bronzy in cold weather. Although it can grow in heavy shade (including dry shade), it can also deal with almost full sun. Many groundcovers do not produce seed at all---having adapted to more efficient means of survival. Waldsteinia does produce seed in good years, but it is such a pain to collect,  I often don't bother.

[Kristl Walek]

Thug or not, I love every stage of growth of May Apple, Podophyllum peltatum.