May Was Actually the Start of Summer
Article and photos by Monika Smith
I’ve been tending my native plants since May 10. I’m not an early bird, as a matter of fact, I feel late this year! My pin cherries are flowering, and I saw a smallish bumblebee flitting about. Whenever I think of bumblebees, it’s as slow flyers and that they even like to be admired. This quick lady blew by me. It was orange on the bottom end, but that’s about it.
My golden flowering currents (Ribes aureum) are blooming and releasing that glorious, spicy scent. My wild strawberries (Fagaria vesca) are thriving and quite a few are in bloom. My yellow twig willows (Salix alba vitellina) are just full of big, bushy catkins and look like a full shrub; my adorable lodgepole pine has nice, tall candles! Sadly, my beaked hazelnuts barely came through and it looks like they just don’t like where they are.
I had to take a pruning saw to my male silver buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea); it no longer has the tidy oval shape I’m used to and looks more like a regular, scruffy one. My ‘Waterton’ maple and yes, Waterton does have a native multiple-trunk species that has candy apple red leaves in the fall. In Calgary? My hybrid (Acer ginnala) is hit-and-miss on the colour, but it’s a fine, very tall shrub that also lost multiple branches. High winds just broke them off.
I have been carefully taking down the tall stalks of the perennials I left over winter; and there are still a lot of leaves that I left from the fall. It’s free mulch, so removing and uncovering the ground means a lot of light, and the ground warming up and drying out. As a result, I’m delicately moving things aside to see if there’s some greenery peaking through. I am trying not to disturb any insects and bugs that shelter.
The giant hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) looks like it wants to blossom soon, and the Rocky Mountain bee plants (Peritoma serralata) are all over the place. The sticky purple geranium (Geranium viscosissimum) looks like it came from a garden center in a two-gallon pot. But, amidst these, I found some paintbrushes, hopefully red (Castilleja miniata)! Maybe, I’ve actually planted them in a good spot. My lesson learned is that planting native plants in a one-foot square is too small for many plants. Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) is popping up everywhere!
It’s also time for everyone to patrol for and pull or dig out the creeping purple bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides)! Note that it is officially a noxious weed. Get the t-shirt and carry a shovel. Check your back lanes, as they love to huddle against the fences, and once they bloom, they occupy, and this deadly beauty can take over a yard. Of course, they are so hardy, no herbicide works, and the seeds can stay dormant for years.
Though self-inflicted, I’m still giving myself a shake for encouraging the mountain bluet (Centaurea Montana), which just showed up one day. As I’m curious, I let the leaves grow out and saw the wonderful blue lacy buttons! Absolutely a lovely plant, tidy round mound, gorgeous summer-long flowering, and the bees love it. But it spreads as aggressively as creeping bellflower, and also colonizes and chokes out neighbouring plants. This plant also has lots of seeds that spread easily. Even dandelions must be in awe. Deadheading might help.
Although not a native plant, my white clover which did nothing last year, is popping up all over the place in cute mounds. I am looking forward to the flowers and bees and having them rejuvenate the soil.
If you wish to add native plants or are knowledgeable about biodiversity and would like to help our community association’s native perennial garden grow, please contact me. You are welcome to give a talk on Glendale’s natural world. Contact me about topics.
Until next time,
from Monika’s Grove
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