Out walking the other day, C spotted proof positive that blackberries are tenacious – – check out this pic:
This blackberry has taken root in the little nest between a branch & trunk of a garry oak tree!
It must be 7 or 8 feet off the ground!
My guess is the seed got there via the digestive tract of a bird. I wouldn’t have expected that seed to sprout & survive in this location. Perhaps that bird wanted his very own berry patch?
-30-
© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2013
Yes, this title is cheeky, but it’s true. It’s no secret I like Naked Ladies. Last fall, I admitted it. At the time, I was referring to Colchicum. The common name made sense to me because the flowers & stems appeared so naked without the leaves as to clothe them.
Recently, while travelling in northern California, I learned that the common name Naked Ladies can also refer to Amaryllis belladonna. Through the countryside, even in ditches & deserted farmyards, these Naked Ladies danced happily. Everything else seemed to have died back from dehydration. Wow. I figure they’re very sun & drought-tolerant to thrive in those places.
There’s a very similar pink flower that also blooms in the fall: Nerine Lily. Apparently, it’s also part of the Amaryllis family, but the flowers aren’t naked; the leaves show up along with the blooms. I thought I’d identified some Nerine Lilies in our neighbourhood last year, but now I’m not so sure. Some leaves are showing, but not many. Nerine? Not So Naked Ladies? It’s tricky.
This lovely patch of pink blossoms is in a yard along Mayfair Drive on Mt. Tolmie. What’s especially impressive is how well they’ve stood up through the torrential rains of the past week! Wow! Sun & drought-tolerant… deer-resistant… and downpour-durable!
Just imagine: Naked Ladies– dancing in the rain. Woo hoo !!
🙂
PS – Last night chatting with a couple of Garden Club ladies, a couple other fall-blooming, pink flowers were mentioned.
SK recommended Schizostylis (Kaffir Lily) from the Iris family. (aka Hesperantha)
JJ recommended Crinum from the Amaryllis family.
-30-
Here are some other pink autumn bloomers:
© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2013
An early summer adventure when I was a kid, was picking tiny, wild strawberries. They were packed with incredible flavour. We would forage for ages just to bring home a small bowl full, but it was always worth it.
More recently (2 years ago), at a ‘Gardening with Native Plants’ workshop, I learned those very same plants will happily grow in the urban landscape. How cool is that? Plants that provide an opportunity to forage in my own yard AND do double duty as a ground cover! Bring it on!
I’d never seen thick mats of strawberries like those in the photos at the gardening workshop, but Pat Johnston really knows her stuff, so I totally believed it was possible. I immediately formed a plan.
Pat explained the 2 kinds of local wild strawberries to take into consideration. The coastal strawberry is a tough, full sun, drought tolerant workhorse. The woodland strawberry also works great as a ground cover, but performs much better in more shady parts of the garden.
After running across a bed of wild strawberries growing prolifically in a curbside city garden – – and looking like they were about to take over the sidewalk, I was even more encouraged. Who knew wild strawberries would grow so well in town? I set about planting coastal strawberries in our sunny garden bed.
The landscape trend was spreading. A new native landscape area at the college down the street was planted with wild strawberries, too.
The other day (2 years later) I walked by the spot and was impressed by how well that area had filled in. Perhaps the Camosun groundskeepers fertilize a little more than I do?… or maybe they water the area more? or maybe they originally planted more starts?… I’m not sure. But it looks great, doesn’t it?.
I reckon our strawberry patch will catch up in another year or two. In the meantime I’m enjoying watching my own little community of strawberries send out their ‘runner babies’.
The birds are more vigilant than I am, so I don’t expect to ever have enough harvest to make jam or pie. I figure the occasional berry is a reward for getting out in the garden to water or weed.
-30-
© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2013
Garden Variety Life 