My Bit of Heaven - by Kristl Walek

[Luc Gilgemyn]

always Maggi.... always.... 

[Kristl Walek]

Of all the plants shown here today, only Eupatorium maculatum is common to my area although all the others are  Ontario natives, and a few (the Liatris and Monarda didyma) rare in the province.

Cup Plant, Silphium perfoliatum is a bold plant--in my garden they tower above me, to 12 feet. The leaves are huge and way up high, large sunflower-like blooms.

Eupatorium maculatum just coming into bud and Heliopsis helianthoides going strong on five foot stems.

Monarda didyma is only found in a few spots in the province. M. fistulosa is more common, although it only occurs in one meadow in this area.

Liatris spicata and L. aspera are confined to southern Ontario.

And Cimicifuga racemosa (which has soared to incredible heights this year) is a species at risk in the province. When I pass the area of the garden where there is a large patch of it, I can hear the bees buzzing at a distance, and the fragrance is quite incredible!!!

[Kristl Walek]

What a fantastic day!!!!!!!
Always particularly special when I get to go to a brand new wild spot and have no idea what I will find there. The anticipation always makes me lose sleep the night before; and this was no exception.

Of course, I already knew about the Lilium canadense being there, which *really* made me lose sleep.
As this species tends to grow in moist areas next to water, I had some expectations, and was not surprised. The water turned out to be a large river, with marshy areas all around, then extending into moist woodlands.

First, I will show you the marsh, which was fascinating. Sadly I had to sneak peeks at it here and there where I could fight my way through the vegetation at the margins, instead of being able to get right into it, close and personal. I would have needed my hip waders for that adventure. I could see there were interesting plants "out there," so I squished my way along the wet edges until I was able to catch views of plants.

Nymphaea odorata var. tuberosa just beginning to open its fragrant flowers.

And wild rice, Zizania aquatica, in early "rice production."

[Kristl Walek]

Calla palustris and Sagittaria latifolia which I have shown you before were half still flowering and half in seed production.

This yellow creature eludes me. Not sure if it is even native or introduced.

And then I got very excited to see Cephalanthus occidentalis (Button Bush) everywhere in the marsh. This will grow in moist garden conditions- but gets very unhappy if it dries out (I have seen sad specimens in botanic gardens). It's a fantastic native shrub with fascinating flowers. Finding plants closer to the shore took almost another 45 minutes of beating my way through the bush.

[Kristl Walek]

On more solid ground along the shore, and in the moist woods were very, very happy plants.
I can only guess it is the constant supply of moisture producing such vigorous and healthy specimens. The berries of the Actaea rubra were huge and pristine, flowering was abundant, and most plants were significantly larger than average.

Clematis virginiana winding its way up into the trees.
Lysimachia ciliata, which I have shown you before, was not at knee, but at eye level here.

Apios americana (the edible Groundnut) is normally vigorous, but here it grew over everything in kudzu-like fashion.

Impatiens capensis is a showy annual of wet places, and being a moist area, Arisaema triphyllum was abundant and busy forming pods.

I show Asclepias incarnata again, just because it is so pretty.

Maianthemum racemosum was not looking tattered here at all. It will be fantastic once the seeds color red.

Along the wet margins, Sparganium eurycarpum and Carex grayii.

[Kristl Walek]

Because I was actually not far from the Quebec border, the pièce de résistance....

The plants were here. But this we already knew.
And where were they? Along the edges of the woods, but mostly further out in meadow-like conditions growing in masses of vetch and ferns and weeds of all sorts, which were at least three feet high, the flowers peeking out above.

Just look at these colours!!!!!!!!

[Kristl Walek]

And because I was so happy, I drove myself across the border to the first small town and instead of having poutine at a roadside stand, treated myself to crepes and a cappucino.

[Lesley Cox]

What a stunning red L. canadense! Definitely worth the crepes and cappucino, maybe even champagne Is the unknown yellow some kind of Mimulus perhaps?

[Lvandelft]

Kristl, you surprise me with every posting again!
So much learning about plants with your stories, like about the Cephalanthus.
You give us the opportunity to see plants in nature, so avoiding mistakes when
planting in the garden.
And seeing these Smilacina racemosum (sorry,that name I used too long )
comparing with my group in the garden where I see here and there a small
reddish berry, amazing.

I agreed with Lesley about the yellow species, but for being sure I googled a bit.
It might be M. luteus, but when I tried M. guttatus I found the following very
interesting site:
http://www-biol.paisley.ac.uk/bioref/plantae_mimulus/Mimulus2.html

[Gerdk]

From me the same as from Lesley and Luit - most beautiful sites and very informatory - as always.
The ' yellow species ' could be  Utricularia .
Believe it or not, last week I looked for Impatiens capensis too (Did not find it). It is introduced here and lives in alluvial forests near the river Rhine.

Gerd

[Katherine J]

Kristl, thank you very much again. This thread is like a fascinating book, waiting hardly every day for a new chapter.

[Maggi Young]

Kristl, those lilies are scrumptious!

[Kristl Walek]

The ' yellow species ' could be  Utricularia .

Gerd,
You are quite right!!!
And looking up the various species it could be (vulgaris, macrorhiza, inflata...), I would vote for U. vulgaris. Thank you so much.

[Kristl Walek]

What a stunning red L. canadense! Definitely worth the crepes and cappucino, maybe even champagne

Leslie,
What I neglected to mention was the mountain of ice cream smothering that fresh-strawberry crepe...

[Hans A.]

Kristl -thanks for sharing this stunning pics - especially the Lilium is breathtaking.