Emerging

Reader Rock Garden 1

"William Reader, Superintendent of the City of Calgary’s Parks Department from 1913-1943, was a garden innovator. He was responsible for all of Calgary’s parks and cemeteries, the municipal nursery, the first municipal nursery and the first municipal golf course. His personal passion, however, was creating the “rockery” on the steep north slope of Cemetery Hill (just south of the Calgary Stamped…  (read more)

26 Aug 2009

206 visits

Orange ruffles

When I saw this almost perfect flower blooming in a friend's garden, I just knew I had to photograph it, LOL! I love those petals : ) Our weather has been beautiful for the long weekend - though it is rain that we need! This afternoon, the Weaselhead Society held its annual Volunteer Thank You Barbecue in North Glenmore Park. A very enjoyable afternoon, with great food provided by the same gentleman as previous years - it felt so good to have a proper meal for once, LOL! Afterwards, I went to the Reader Rock Garden which wasn't all that far away, to take a few photos of bright, colourful flowers. It was horribly windy, so a real challenge to catch any flower head in the viewfinder, LOL. Have a bad feeling that I'll find a lot of blurry shots when I get them on to my computer. Hope you've all enjoyed a great long weekend!!

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07 Sep 2009

175 visits

Out of the darkness comes light... in memory of 11th September 2001

Somehow, this image caught my eye, as I thought of this day eight years ago. I decided to post it simply to say - "We remember ...." It was an horrendous day that affected not only Americans but everyone around the world. We all wondered if the world, especially the US, would ever recover from such terror and horror, but here we are eight years later - strong, even if more fearful! To all those who suffered during 9/11, who lost their lives or lost a loved one, our hearts go out to each of you on this anniversary.

12 May 2007

85 visits

Manitoba Maple

Seen at the Reader Rock Garden, Calgary. "Acer negundo is a species of maple native to North America. Box Elder, Boxelder Maple, and Maple Ash are its most common names in the United States. In Canada it is known as Manitoba Maple. In addition, there are other English names such as Ash Maple, Ash-leaf Maple, Black Ash, Boxelder Maple, California Boxelder, Cutleaf Maple, Cut-leaved Maple, Inland Boxelder, Negundo Maple, Red River Maple, Stinking Ash, Sugar Ash, Three-leaved Maple, and Western Boxelder. In Russia it is called American Maple (Russian: американский клён)." Taken from Wikipedia website.

04 Jun 2008

129 visits

One among many

Seen growing at the Reader Rock Garden.

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29 Sep 2010

119 visits

The queen of fall colour

Peking Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster acutifolia) leaves turn such a wonderful, vibrant mix of colour in the fall. Photographed these at the Reader Rock Garden. This woody shrub was introduced from Asia and can be found everywhere, either individually or planted as a hedge. It readily escapes from gardens and can now be found in many of our natural areas, unfortunately. Beautiful to look at, but it is preventing our native plants from growing. This shrub should not be being sold at Garden Centres.

25 Jun 2008

144 visits

Iris

I kept putting off uploading this because it was taken in low light and you can see the noise! A rather weird colour for the background, too. Taken at the Reader Rock Garden towards the end of June. Just needed a splash of colour to brighten up yet another cold, grey, sun-less day, with fog moving in (unusual here).

29 Sep 2009

159 visits

Chinese Lantern

This needed to be posted today, as our world is white. An amazing hoar frost has covered everything, turning everywhere into a winter wonderland. Unfortunately, the sky has been dull gey and the light has been dreadful all day. However, I decided to drive some of the backroads south of 22X this afternoon - just got home - but I haven't gone through my photos yet. I'm hoping that at least one photo will turn out OK, despite the awful light. This Chinese Lantern has yet to turn bright orange, but I thought it was quite pretty in this mid-stage, too. This species of plant was, in fact, first discovered in Japan. Seen at the Reader Rock Garden at the end of September.

29 Jul 2009

161 visits

Poppy with bokeh

Taken at the end of July at the Reader Rock Garden. Poppies are one of my favourite garden flowers, and I love them in all their stages. A change from mushrooms, LOL. However, I did spend a bit of time in a local park today, looking for mushrooms. I saw a lot, but many were the same. In one little spot in the forest, I just had to stop and watch the birds. I couldn't believe it when I saw not only a family of Blue Jays, but also a Sharp-shinned Hawk (or a Cooper's) and at least two Pileated Woodpeckers and they all seemed to be chasing each other from tree to tree. Actually, the Pileated Woodpeckers kind of kept me company for a while, when I searched for mushrooms, but gave me no chance to get even one shot - same with the other birds. Oh, and I also heard a Great Horned Owl "hooting" nearby. The only thing to "spoil" it all was that I knew that I had to keep an eye on the time as I had to get my hair cut.

29 Jul 2009

202 visits

Curled

Another vivid orange Lily at the Reader Rock Garden, taken at the end of July. Another long day of botanizing today! So enjoyable, and we found a few new fungi. The trail we took today at the west end of Bragg Creek Provincial Park (over the bridge, so north of the river) didn't have as great a variety of fungi species as the nearby trail that we botanized two days ago, but it was still good. I think it took the five of us around six hours to cover about three kilometres, LOL! And now I can barely stay awake!
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