Enchanting Essex

Tag: wildflowers

  • Lens-Artists Challenge #420 — Wabi-sabi: The Impermanent and the Perfectly Imperfect

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    Happy Hallowe’en! When we wander the quiet paths, wetlands, and creek sides, we are too often focussed on those “picture-perfect” moments—the pristine flower, the unblemished wing, the flawless reflection. But nature rarely operates in a sterile gallery. This week’s Lens-Artists challenge asks us to lean into the beauty of the imperfect and the impermanent. But,…

  • The Flower Hour #54: The Hag’s Taper

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    As the autumn chill deepens and the shadows stretch long across the edges of the woods, our thoughts naturally turn to the more mysterious, atmospheric corners of the plant kingdom. Tonight, in my edition of Haunting Hues and Shadowy Blooms, I’m taking you off the familiar garden path and into the moonlit folklore of a…

  • The Flower Hour #53 — The Architecture of Autumn

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    The path of a simple wildflower leads to a stunning, unexpected final act. Nature’s Architecture: The Cages of Queen Anne’s Lace Sometimes, even though the blossoms fade, something profoundly interesting and intriguing is left behind. We often marvel at dandelion seed heads, but another late-season transformation that entirely fascinates me is the remnant of the…

  • Making the Most of My Third Space*

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    Dedicated to the hands that tend our haven: Mary, Dan, Aase, Mark, and Susie. Third Space originally referred to locations away from both home and work — a cosy, neighbourhood venue where people could meet to mingle and chat. In the thirty-six years since the coining of that phrase, the definition and interpretation of what…

  • The Summer Crown

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    Wild Bergamot is an herbaceous, native, perennial in the Mint family. Indeed in this area, it is considered to be a quintessential Carolinian zone native, thriving beautifully in southwestern Ontario’s prairies, open woodlands, and laneways. It is a tough wildflower that plays a massive role in supporting local ecosystems. The explosive, ragged, lavender-hued crown of…

  • Cleopatra

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    Unintentionally continuing with the green pollinator theme… This eye-catching insect is the Common Green Bottle Fly (Lucilia sericata), a blowfly. What looks like a brilliant red “crash helmet” is actually her pair of massive, wrap-around compound eyes, which cover nearly the entire upper surface of her head! On this bright, sunny afternoon, her eyes gleamed…

  • The Flower Hour #51: Purple and Gold — The Perfect Royal Pairing

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    Good morning, everyone! Today, and next Tuesday, I am posting the Flower Hour prompt for Terri who is, I hope, kicking up her heels in Europe and having a grand time. In Terri’s words: For the Flower Hour, share your images of flowers, gardens, fields of flowers, seasonal leaves and plants, fungus, algae, cacti, trees…

  • The Sunshine Party

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    Today, minded by Cam this time, I wandered down the laneway to see what was happening in our community pollinator garden. I saw one, very busy, Bicolor Striped Sweat Bee, and a handful of Northern Paper Wasps — all of them dashing from flower to flower, drinking madly, preparing for the winter. It was like…

  • Courtyard Welcome

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    Look who I found this morning: Dandelions are an herbaceous, non-native perennial of the Aster family that have been used for food, wine, and medicine since ancient times. Blowing Dandelion seeds has become a common wishing ritual. In the Victorian language of flowers, Dandelions symbolise love, wishes come true, and a warm, sincere welcome —…

  • The Flower Hour #50: WXYZ – The Cheeky Yellow Quartet

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    The Cheeky Yellow Quartet I’ve skipped the rare botanical names,And played a few semantic games.For “W,” Wood-Sorrell stands,The sweetest star in shaded lands. For “X,” a xanthic Dandelion grows—A xenial welcome that everyone knows![A bit of dry and clever(?) wit,To make the tricky letter fit]. Then Yellow Archangel takes the “Y,”With cheeky charm and a…

  • Precious Gem

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    Green seems to bee the colour of the week in our pollinator garden. Today’s beauty is the Pure Green Sweat Bee which is another native bee. Earlier this week I wrote about the Bicolored Striped Sweat Bees that live in apartments. Today I’m writing about a bee that enjoys the bucolic log cabin lifestyle. True…

  • The Emerald Sentinel

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    Yesterday morning I “met” a new bee species: The Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee. She is spectacularly beautiful, she is native, and I shot 300+ images of her. “Bicolored” because her head and thorax are a brilliant shade of emerald green, whilst her abdomen is stark black and white stripes. Female because males have bright yellow…

  • The Panicled Diner

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    Panicled Asters are an herbaceous, perennial, native wildflower here in Ontario. They produce small, white, Daisy-like flowers in the autumn and provide important late-season nectar for local pollinators. Yesterday, during a very short visit to our pollinator garden, I counted six species enjoying the feast: The Panicled Diner The diner is open, the sign is…

  • The Faerie Ballet Troupe

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    When I was a tad I was faerie-mad! I “saw” them everywhere. Everything in the garden, the field and the woods was a faerie house. When the breeze made the leaves flutter, it was faerie wings. Faerie-mad! Much to Mum and Dad’s chagrin, Nana not only humoured me, but encouraged my already wild imagination where…

  • The Meadow’s Paper Lanterns

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    Bladder Campion is an herbaceous, non-native, perennial of the Pink (Carnation) family. When dried, its globes make a beautiful addition to dried flower arrangements. Fun Fact: One of its fanciful names is “Maiden’s Tears”. It is a very old, European folkloric name, inspired by the way the delicate, inflated, pinkish pods look like teardrops hanging…

  • The Little Boop-and-Bounce Blossoms

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    Due, apparently, to our soil, Essex County is p’raps the only area in Ontario where Oxeyes refuse to grow. For a Daisy girl like me, that’s a tragedy, but what does grow remarkably well — in gardens and wilded on the roadsides — is Feverfew. Not a Daisy, but maybe, in the circumstances, the next…

  • Autumn-kissed Splendor

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    This week here in Essex County, our ditches and roadsides are positively teeming with Jerusalem Artichoke blossoms — a golden resplendence to be sure! Autumn-kissed Splendour The roadsides of Essex are wearing their crown,A bright splash of gold just outside of the town.The Jerusalem Artichoke stands tall and proud,A cheerful, wild burst for the autumntide…

  • The Fairest Weed

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    Locally known as Blueweed, Viper’s Bugloss is an herbaceous, non-native, monocarpic* biennial in the Borage (Aster) family. Viper’s Bugloss is also known as Blueweed and Thistle Blueweed. Fun Fact: The ancients believed (falsely) that Bugloss was a hiding place for snakes. As a result, in mythology the plant is said to be possessed of serpent-like…

  • The Flower Hour #48: STUViewing In Essex County

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    STUViewing In Essex County The woods awake in April showers,To host a quirky hour of flowers.First Springbeauty wakes up bright,To carpet forest floors in white.Then nodding Trillium takes the cue,With triple petals, clean and true. But look! A strange, inverted sight:An “Upsidasy”—blooming, right?She grew askew, head to the dirt,A cheeky, woodland floral flirt!Thank goodness Valerian…

  • The Sapphire Tangled Ribbon

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    Bird Vetch is an herbaceous, non-native, now invasive, perennial of the Pea family. Its purple flowers have a “wing” on each side, hence its common name. Ontario farmers would combine Bird Vetch seed with hay seed, to produce a higher-protein, richer fodder for their cows, ergo its fanciful name, Cow Vetch. Hummingbirds, butterflies and bees…

  • Cheeky Usurper

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    A rogue and uninvited guest makes for the perfect poetic muse. Motherwort is an herbaceous, non-native, invasive (and very pretty) perennial plant in the mint family. Also, colloquially, known as Lion’s Tail. Originally from Central Asia and southeastern Europe, it was brought to North America by Herbalists and Naturopaths because of its supposed efficacy in…

  • Ground-Level Geometry

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    Here in southwestern Ontario, the normal blooming time for Sweet Woodruff is from May to June. The late September frost is no longer miles away, but here it is, a small four-pointed star holding onto the hem of the season. She absolutely is a little warrior! September is a massive stretch past her usual June…

  • Graceful Line

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    Goosenecks are an herbaceous, hardy, non-native perennial of the Primrose family. In the Victorian language of flowers, Goosenecks symbolise peace and tranquility. We were gifted a pot of these beauties for our new garden when we moved into our home on Frei Street. It wasn’t long ’til they filled the entire flowerbed along one side…

  • Starlight in the Shifting Shade

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    The wild or Woodland Forget-me-not is an herbaceous, non-native perennial of the Borage family. An element of Henry VIII’s official emblem, this miniature beauty was brought to North America by European (primarily British) pioneers. We’ve now lived here four full years and this week, for the first time, I caught sight of some flashes of…

  • I Love Daisies

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    I love daisies.  They’re so friendly.Don’t you think daisies are the friendliest flower?* One of the first things I noticed when we moved to south-west Ontario is the distinct lack of wild Daisies.  Everywhere else in our province, they dominate roadsides, meadows — virtually everywhere that wildflowers grow.  But not here.  And I am a…