Invasive flora species, Alberta

Some of you will be familiar with this rather beautiful flower and its silvery seedheads. Unfortunately, despite its beauty, it is an invasive species and widespread. This is one of three species of Clematis that occur in the wild in Alberta, the other two being the native Western Clematis and the Purple Clematis/Blue Clematis. This yellow species was introduced from Japan as an ornamental garden plant, but has now spread to natural areas where it chokes out and kills native plants, shrubs and trees. This photo was taken at the Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area, not far from downtown Calgary, yesterday afternoon, 24 July 2018. It is the richest botanical area, for its size, within the city. Over 385 species have been recorded in an area of about three hectares. (All of Fish Creek Provincial Park has only about 460 species). Eighty species, however, are aliens, now occupying 90+% of the Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area. It is such a shame to see how the area is being devastated by plants that include Baby's Breath, Creeping Thistle, Yellow Clematis and other invasive species. The weather forecast for yesterday afternoon called for a risk of a thunderstorm. The sky was dark and gloomy, but we were very lucky that the rain stayed away. Our temperature at 9:00 this morning, 25 July 2018, is only 12C, which feels really good. This afternoon, it is supposed to get up to 23C.

A very quick grab from the archives, as I was beginning to feel the need for some colour in my photostream! I had hoped to make a start on Day 11 of our trip to Ontario and Quebec in May 2018, but I had things to get done today. Tomorrow, I have to go and get a cortisone shot in my left hip, so will need to rest for a couple of days. I was thinking they would do both hips in the same appointment, but I was told they only do one at a tme - which does make sense. Second one will be in about 12 days' time. The shots I had in both knees a few weeks ago had no effect on the pain level, so I am really hoping that tomorrow's shot will have a better result. This is the seedhead of a Nodding Thistle, taken on 25 July 2017. These are my favourite thistles, but unfortunately, it is an invasive species. The Alberta Provincial Designation for Nodding/Musk Thistle is Prohibited Noxious. "A native of Europe, nodding thistle has a long history as a rangeland pest. The invasive nature of this aggressive plant can lead to severe degradation of native grasslands and meadows because grazing animals focus on native vegetation giving the thistles a competitive advantage." From invasiveplants.ab.ca. www.invasiveplants.ab.ca/factsheets/FS-NoddingThistle.pdf en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carduus_nutans