My Bit of Heaven - by Kristl Walek

[Kristl Walek]

The last stop of the day was to collect Cornus canadensis, Carex eburnea, Rhamnus alnifolia, Linnaea borealis and Cornus stolonifera.

This was in a mixed forest near where I live, a bit too close to the city of Ottawa for my taste, as it is used for human activities not necessarily in rhythm with botanic interests. Notwithstanding, there are many good plants there and with the benefit of little travel time for me. It is also the forest of the beautiful black rocks I showed in an earlier spring post. And here are a few more.

The site also has more poison ivy than any other place where I gather seed and I would not dare to wander there without boots, as it is the predominant ground cover throughout much of the woods.

Cornus canadensis is a joy in flower, at the seed stage and with neither flower or seed.

And Carex eburnea (ebony sedge) is a choice little fine-textured species, ranging as far north as Alaska. It will grow in sun or shade, alkaline or acid, deep soil or on rocks. You can see it here carpeting an area in the woods, and on top of some of the beautiful black rock. The species name refers to it's black seeds--I also post a picture of the species in my rock garden, where you can see the seeds better.

[Kristl Walek]

The Linnaea grew in the same area as the Cornus canadensis, making this an easy collect, as much as the sticky seed of the Linnaea is ever easy to collect. Better just to cut off the seed stalks rather than drive yourself crazy (you will know what I mean if you have ever gathered these seeds).

Cornus stolonifera was a quickie; growing in openings in the woods.

Rhamnus alnifolia has continued to frustrate me for many years that I have tried to get it into my catalogue---but the birds love the berries so much it has been impossible to ever find more than a few, no matter how I alter my timing. Today was no different, although I did manage to scrounge a few hundred seeds after a good 2 hours of walking. This native Buckthorn is a relatively unknown, small, low and spreading shrub with beautiful, veined, glossy, green leaves. Flowers are insignificant, and you already know that the black berries are beloved by birds.

And a few species found in flower in these woods today: the tiny Lobelia spicata and the large Eupatorium maculatum.

[Maggi Young]

Oh, my word, Kristl, if I weren't already dizzy and falling over I would be now, having seen your photos of these carpets of Chimaphila umbellata ! How wonderful to see such a large colony..... deep joy!! 

[art600]

Welcome back Maggi  Don't go overdoing it, even though Kristl's images are always difficult to resist

[Kristl Walek]

Oh, my word, Kristl, if I weren't already dizzy and falling over I would be now, having seen your photos of these carpets of Chimaphila umbellata ! How wonderful to see such a large colony..... deep joy!! 

Maggi,
I am not even sick, and I was dizzy and fell over when I saw this. I literally sat on the ground and just looked at it, deer fly and all; imagining it in bloom. Just so you know- well-drained, sandy acid soil, deep layer of pine duff on top. I am doing an experiment right now. Brought home adjacent soil from the woods and will sow Chimaphila and Pyrolas in it this winter.

Also meant to say that in the picture of the 4 seed pods that I posted, the left one is last years pod. They stay perfectly intact (but empty). Only the darker colour alerts you to the fact.

[Kristl Walek]

Trillium undulatum seed was collected today. It's the only species of Trillium I have been unable to make happy in my alkaline garden; so I now just enjoy it in the wild.

It is, hands down, my favorite Trillium species in fruit. One almost hates to pick that beautiful berry perched on those luscious, large leaves.

[Paul T]

Kristl,

That is a corker!!  Beautiful!!

[Gerdk]

Kristl,
So extraordinary flowers and as a  bonus these fruits!
Do you know what special requirements Trillium undulatum has? Long ago a friend of mine imported this species from the US. While a lot of other Trillium species are happy here, these disappeared after their first winter. Our soil is limefree.

Gerd

[Kristl Walek]

Do you know what special requirements Trillium undulatum has? Long ago a friend of mine imported this species from the US. While a lot of other Trillium species are happy here, these disappeared after their first winter. Our soil is limefree.

Gerd,
It's quite a mystery to me why this species is so difficult to establish in the garden. The acidic sites where it grows in the wild are not unique in any way. Of course, I will show my bias and say that attempting it from seed sown in situ might give an advantage.

[Maggi Young]

Kristl, you are showing no bias, in spite of your profession....it is certainly true that it is easier to establish many ( most) of the tricky plants if one can have enough seed to keep trying with... eventually some are bound to decide that life is worth living.....it's why so many of us are such addicted seed -sowers, isn't it? Sometimes, tho', it can be nice to steal a few years by buying bulbs 

[johnw]

Gert / Kristl

I have dug a few T. undulatum from my forest land near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.  Curiously the bulb is in the, sometimes very dry, deep forest duff. The roots seems to go into the hard but moist soil below. I was surprised that this duff could be 12-14" deep with the bulb almost sitting on the soil.  On Yarmouth land it is very plentiful in full sun but otherwise same conditions. Its' pal Medeola virginiana does the same. How you would translate this to a garden situation is beyond me but the Medeola is no problem...peat garden perhaps?

Repotting bulbs yesterday I was just about to pull the old dry tops off Leucojum roseum bulbs when I noticed a few flower stalks coming out this dried tube. Some flower stalks were breaking out of the tube half way up. Had I cleaned the bulbs up I would unwittingly have removed the flowers too. Also a very strange long white extension from the base of a Galanthus bulb, almost like a runner and no signs of a bulb shape. Puzzling, has anyone seen this before?.

johnw

[Kristl Walek]

Ptelea trifoliata (Hop Tree) is found in the wild only in southern Ontario, and is rare in Canada. It's a lovely small tree with beautiful foliage, good flowers and interesting seeds in the fall. The contrasting reddish branches are fantastic. The picture of the flowering specimen is from the University Of Western Ontario, as I forgot to photograph it this spring. The yellow-leafed form (seed grown) is particularly lovely, to my eye- it lights up a dark corner in the woodland garden.

Part of my meadow has turned into a sea of yellow with another southern Ontario native, Ratibida pinnata, which is more common in the prairies.

Also with a narrow distribution in this province, along the Great Lakes is Carex muskingumensis---one of my favorite sedges, which has been in the trade for many years, and is likely known to many of you. It is a wonderful garden plant, even without a wet spot.

Eupatorium perfoliatum is firmly native to this area.

[Maggi Young]

Kristl, never heard of  Ptelea trifoliata before! Every day this forum reminds me of how much there is to learn.... and provides the most delightful method of gaining that knowledge 

The Ratibida pinnata is really a cheery sight, good for the grey day, which we have here.

This summer  has been a bit short of butterflies so far, though there is one dark one swooping round the garden today ( but I can't tell what it is)... so it is nice to see your handsome fellow, posing for his portrait.

[Lesley Cox]

Definitely the right way to see the Ratibida, en masse like that. I remember years ago reading about Solidago in the Jalna books and thinking how glorious it must be to see it growing in quantity in the wild.

[Kristl Walek]

Well, Lesley, I must make a determination to show you Solidagos en masse...