My Bit of Heaven - by Kristl Walek

[Ragged Robin]

Thanks for the advice and link with detail on 'how to' - now to find the 2 x fine sieves

[cohan]

the lonicera caerulaea looks really nice! more reason to grow it--the hybrids (haskap/honeyberry) are available from specialist hardy fruit plant suppliers here in the west, but i think the species would be more fun..

i agree the coastal 'barrens' are a wonderful place... i've been dreaming of the arctic lately (summer only, please!)

[Maggi Young]

I am constantly amazed and delighted by just how rich in flora these "coastal barrens" are.... a revelation and delight!

[Stephenb]

Some fantastic pictures, Kristl! Nice to see Sanguisorba canadensis in the wild - I actually took a picture of this in my garden last night although the flower details are a bit different (picture below)...or is this an impostor?

Re-Trientalis: I remember a botanist showing me the seed of this back in the 80s and he likened them to miniature world cup footballs (at least as they looked at that time) - I guess the surface of the seed is divided into segments like old footballs (difficult to see this in your picture though)...must get out in the woods and have a look (I'd forgotten about this...)

[Kristl Walek]

Stephen,
I think your plant is S. tenuifolia---which is almost finished flowering in gardens in Nova Scotia.

The seed of the Trientalis is SO TINY (collecting any reasonable amount, even less than one gram) is *very* time consuming. I think I would have to find my microscope to be able to see if it has segments.

[Kristl Walek]

It is extremely helpful to know a plant well (especially its seed receptacles) when later returning to collect seed. It often *appears* that it will be obvious, returning to a wild site months after flowering---but this is not necessarily the case, for various reasons, including the fact that the site will have changed dramatically from flowering to fruiting time.

For instance, I am confronted in the wild by a number of grey-foliaged woody species in the same moist location. Does anyone want to take a guess before I show you the seed receptacles? Species 4 is quite different and more obvious.

[Onion]

A try,

Picture 4 Ledum or now again rhododendron
Picture 3 Vaccinium or Myrica
Picture 2 Kalmia
Picture 1 ??

[Kristl Walek]

A try,

Picture 4 Ledum or now again rhododendron
Picture 3 Vaccinium or Myrica
Picture 2 Kalmia
Picture 1 ??

Uli,
Except for picture 4, I don't think I would have done as well as you, if I
didn't know what they were.

Picture 4 Ledum or now again rhododendron (Ledum groendlandicum)
Picture 3 Vaccinium or Myrica  (Lonicera caerulea)
Picture 2 Kalmia     (Myrica gale)
Picture 1 ??            (Rhododenron canadense)

There could easily have been 2-5 other native look-alike shrubs to add to this post.
With the seeds present; the id becomes significantly more straightforward.

[Kristl Walek]

It has again been a hectic and exciting few weeks since I last posted; including a more-than-exciting close and personal encounter with a lightning strike, which did not hit me directly outdoors; but instead, in my basement, as I sat at the computer. The actual explosive strike was near my house; travelled through the ground, it seems, and along the cement foundation/floor of my basement and straight through me, from my feet up. There was damage in the house to electical circuits, plugs etc. I appear to be ok; however am being watched, as I seem to have suffered some (slight and temporary we hope) psycho-neurological damage which presently manifests itself in difficulty thinking, writing, spelling, thinking clearly. Needless to say, I have also become a bit neurotic about thunder storms (infrequent in this province)---something to add to my "bog-o-phobia"  

On the tail end of the lightning episode, my book co-author and friend, Graham, flew in from Ontario for a 7-day plant blitz --our goal being to locate and photograph a number of very specific species, some quite rare in the wild, one endangered globally; a few on the list of Coastal Plains species, which is one of the botanic features that makes Nova Scotia particularly unique. As I find a moment here and there, having just recently returned Graham to the airport,  I will begin to tell you the tales.

[Maggi Young]

Kristl, my very best wishes to you for a full and speedy recovery form the effects of the lightning strike. An extraordinary occurrence, both frightening and dangerous.

It is our good fortune, as well as yours that you live to tell that story to us and to follow on with more tales of plant hunting dering-do.   

[Brian Ellis]

Goodness me Kristl, how frightening, thank goodness you are alright.  I trust that these will be temporary after effects and that you will be feeling none the worse for wear very soon.

[Kristl Walek]

Thank you Maggi and Brian.
Getting old is bad enough without the interference of extraordinary events 

Initially more of a fright than anything else. I remember my first thought being "ok. i am alive" but not being really sure what had just happened; thinking a bomb had gone off in my back yard. It was only post-event  realizing it had been lightning and then noticing I was more than the usual foggy-minded, had difficulty writing sentences, spelling, walking a straight line.

But I think being out in the wild with Graham each day of last week from dawn to dusk, hiking many  km, I am already clearer-brained, walking more or less straight. Certainly happier. Words and sentences are still problematic. I think, ultimately, whatever my condition; my need to be in the wild and close to plants is too powerful to stop my forays, until a time comes when it is no longer possible. That makes every outing even more precious.

[Kristl Walek]

Graham's visit was primarily to photograph plants in situ and seed receptacles of species I had already found (Houstonia caerulea, Lonicera caerulea, Primula laurentiana, Iris setosa canadensis, Hudsonia ericoides,
Corema conradii, Sanguisorba canadensis).

Additionally we were searching for the following species:

The common Nymphoides cordata in bloom in an accessible, close-to-shore site

The following members of the Atlantic Coastal Plains Flora, ideally in bloom:

Sabatia kennedyiana (Plymouth Gentian)
Coreopsis rosea (widely known in the horticultural trade)
Rhexia virginica (Meadow Beauty)

and just for me, as I have tried to find this species for the past year:
Betula michauxii (a tiny dweller of bogs)

Not on our list, but found entirely by happy accident were
Mertensia maritima
Geum peckii (globally endangered with only two extant populations- one in  New Hampshire, the other here in Nova Scotia).

I am happy to report we were 99.9% successful, and the flowering failure on Nymphoides cordata may be remedied by the piece that Graham took  home with him to Ontario, put into a bowl with water, and which has, since  this mornings' report, begun sending up a flowering stalk.

[Ragged Robin]

Kristi, I so admire your courage and determination after such an extraordinary incident with lightening.  Wishing you well and hoping you make a full recovery. What providence that Nature is your healer.

[fermi de Sousa]

Kristl,
we've always known you are extraordinary but now we have proof as you've been struck by lightning!
All the best for a quick recovery and as you say the best place to be is amongst your favourite plants!
cheers
fermi