Primrose Fields

Saturday, last June, at the Wagner Natural Area

Posted on November 29, 2012 by gtsds

Here are some pictures from our annual walk around the Wagner Wilderness Area (aka Wagner Bog, though not really a bog, more a fen). Best time to see the orchids, for which the area is famous, is about mid-June, but every year is different (wetter or drier, spring coming earlier or later). It is a beautiful place any time. And hardly anybody goes, because there’s no shopping or fast food, so you can feel you have the place to yourself.

First, read the signs. They pay a sort of tribute to some of the people who have come here before you, and, if you’re lucky, won’t come back today. (Click to enlarge.)

The yellow lady slippers (Cypredium calceolus) were abundant this year, in light forest cover (young aspens) a little way off the path at the beginning and end of the circular trail. Getting good photos is challenging, as often the view from the path is obstructed by other plants (which is why there are so many pictures of signs here and not nearly enough of plants, sorry).

Is this the biffy? Looks like it. And it’s right next to the picnic shelter, good place for a biffy.

Nope.

Much of the signage here is aimed at idiots, or the thoughtless. See also the note at the very bottom. People, eh. (Honey wagon, ha.)

Next comes the meadow, and today it was covered in Northern Blue butterflies. You could hardly walk without stepping on one.

Saw a few specimens of Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium montanum) among the vetches and grasses. I have seen this plant in the city, in unmown grass or on an “undeveloped” lot, and ordered seed to grow some, and then it appeared on its own in (what I call) the woodland garden.

At the end of the meadow, you enter the forest, mixed aspen-poplar and white and black spruce, a changing variety of trees and shrubs as you hike toward the pond.

Here is one of a few marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris) still in flower on this day.

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As you approach the marl pond, the orchids become more frequent on the spruce forest floor. These two are spotted round-leaved orchid and pale coral root.

The shooting stars (Dodecatheon pulchellum) were thick in the marshy areas around the pond. Our only native primula, if you don’t count the dodecatheons (some do, some don’t) is Primula incana. I saw one once, a few years ago, on the Wagner trail, but only one, only once. There must be more around, as this is good habitat for them.

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A dwarf raspberry, Rubus acaulis.

Finally, near the end of the trail, we spied a lively, wonderfully mobile cluster of baby spiders. Click to enlarge.

Posted in in and around Edmonton, native and wild plants, plants in my neighbourhood, wildlife | Tagged Alberta wilderness, Alberta wildflowers, Edmonton nature walks, Edmonton parks, orchids, Wagner Natural Area | Leave a comment

Primula Revue

Posted on November 28, 2012 by gtsds

Going through photos from the past two summers, I picked out a few I thought were worth a good look, even if some of the plants may have appeared already in earlier posts.

This auricula is ‘Arundel Stripe.’ It is different from many striped auriculas in that its stripes are a feature of uneven pigmentation, not an effect of farina overlaying the petals. It is only lightly dusted with farina. This plant has done better for me than other named auriculas. It is tough and vigorous enough that I can treat it as a border auricula and stick it in the garden. I saw a big mound of it at the Devonian Botanic Garden, so it must be hardy. Click the picture to reduce it, and click again to super-enlarge it.

This is a boldly coloured Barnhaven border auricula that flowered in 2011 and somehow escaped the blog. Being free of farina, it could be classed as a gold-centred alpine, but there is not a clean line between the gold and the red, so not show quality. It will look good in the garden.

White-edged auricula ‘Silverway.’

Also from 2011, a richly coloured Barnhaven border auricula that has appeared here before. I bought the auricula named ‘Purple Velvet,’ but I think this one deserves the name more.

Seed pods from the same plant in 2011 (left) and 2012. Not only more pods in 2012 (thanks to better root run in the rebuilt alpine garden), but two full trusses (one shown).

And these are pods on Primula denticulata. I saw several little seedlings in the wet shade bed this summer. Looks like next year there will be more. Self-sown seedlings are a sign the plants are in a good place. These seedlings grow into stronger plants than seed-tray seedlings. Best of all, they take care of themselves, while seedlings in pots require regular attention.

Primula alpicola violacea returned in 2012, no bigger than in 2011 but in this tough environment survival is all you hope for.

Likewise, Primula vialii, here shot from above. I started P vialii from seed this spring and set some of the small plants around this established one. Hoping one or two make it through the winter.

From 2011, this is the green-edged auricula ‘Marmion,’ opening and, in the second photo, open (but what happened to the middle bud?). The second image shows why these pasty-face flowers have to be kept under cover. A drop or two of rain will smudge their complexion.

And here is a tray of well-grown seedlings, if I say it myself.

Posted in auriculas, primula | Tagged auriculas, Edmonton gardening, primula cultivation | Leave a comment

The End of the Affair

Posted on November 26, 2012 by gtsds

Cruelly, perhaps. Unromantically, for sure. Killing slugs is never more satisfying than when you catch them two at a time. Dead slugs don’t lay eggs.

Yes, the singleton (top left) is coming to join in. I did not wait, with my camera, for herm to reach hir goal. But I have seen them at it in threes. If any polyamorists out there want evidence that nature does not abhor a threesome, look to slugs.

There were a lot of them again this year. (Does anyone else in Edmonton have slugs, or do I have them all?) Maybe it’s one of the downsides of an organic(ish) garden. Mulching and composting, leaving leaf litter on the ground, not keeping the veg patch separate from perennials and shrubs, never using a rototiller — all mean there are places for slugs to hide and lay eggs that will not be disturbed before ideal hatching weather (be it next summer or three summers later).

It would be nice if the magpies would make themselves useful and eat some of them. Slugs are easy pickings. No need to tear open a garbage bag and strew litter around to get at them. Come on, you hungry birds. The internet says you are natural predators of slugs. Help out. I think they enjoy too much watching me crouched over slug-hunting.

Garden scissors are best (after boots). I tried bran for bait, and it did attract some, but relatively few. A trap crop works, if you have room to spare. Lay out pieces of cardboard for them to hide under, and then scrape them off. Also, leafy crops (lettuces, brocs, chard, spinach) planted out as seedlings in late summer grow well in cool weather, and the slugs tend to be fewer and less voracious.

Look, their engorged stroker organ thing COMES OUT OF THEIR HEAD. (Click to enlarge.)

Posted in how-to, vegetable gardening, wildlife | Tagged Edmonton gardening, Edmonton wildlife, garden pests, slugs, vegetable gardening | Leave a comment

White Monday

Posted on November 26, 2012 by gtsds

It has been a true November, if vember is Latin for reasonably decent weather. We have had no vember. Winter, after only a few days, can feel like it has always been here; will be with us always. Elsewhere, gardeners can talk about winter interest. When nothing changes for days and weeks, it’s tough to sustain interest in dead sunflowers. Winter can feel like time stopped. This will never end….

Let’s look at some pictures. The first is 2011’s tomato crop, the ripe and ready portion of it. It was a good year. The second is all of 2012’s tomatoes (not eaten or spoiled by the late-August hail) spilled over the dining-room table. Both years, unusually, we did not have frost until well into October, and the tomatoes had time to ripen on the plants. Oh, they were good. We have had these past two years the best tomatoes of our lives. Still a few little wrinkly ones in the box, to throw on soup or pizza.

Next, below, is the vegetable garden last May, before planting. (May is not too far away. Six months. That’s not really long, right?) The lower-level greenery is purple-flowered chives, walking onions, self-seeded cress, fava beans, and violets, and a blue-flowered aquilegia. The wire mesh (left) was to support cucumbers. It worked well, except that the hot wire scorched the tendrils. We had a great crop of cucumbers until the hail shredded the plants. The short stakes (right) were for peas. We didn’t have good peas this year. Don’t know why. And the long poles (centre) were for tomatoes. They may look too tall for tomatoes, but before the hail knocked them back, the plants were better than two-thirds of the way up and some of the cherry types had reached the top. The poles were planted around a pit I had dug in early April and filled with the winter’s kitchen garbage and then covered with old corn stalks and pea vines. The tomatoes did really well. I planted them close together, around twenty plants, so they’d support each other, and when they needed more support, I tied them to the poles. This year, the slugs stayed off the tomatoes (and ate everything else).

Nothing in the summer garden grows and changes faster or more strikingly than poppies. There is a new show every morning in poppy season. The first picture is an Oriental, ‘Allegro.’ It grows right against the north side of the fence and leans out to feel the sunlight. I moved it to a sunnier spot but it came back. The rest are Papaver somniferum. Hardly any doubles, this year, as the seed I saved in the garage was discovered by a lucky mouse. But the singles hold light like nothing else. And those photogenic faces.

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And this is now:

Forlorn lettuce in the winter garden. Interesting? Okay, maybe a little.

Iris wands make winter magic.

Posted in how-to, poppies, vegetable gardening, winter | Tagged Edmonton gardening, Edmonton winter, heirloom tomatoes, pepperbox poppy, poppies | Leave a comment

Late Spring Primula Watch part 2

Posted on July 2, 2012 by gtsds

Following on from this morning’s part 1, another bunch of this spring’s primulas.

To the auriculas first. Among the last to flower this spring was this red one grown from American Primrose Society exchange seed.

Auricula grown from American Primula Society exchange seed

This plant, and several similar ones, came from a cross between the small white auricula (SWA) that has appeared previously on the blog, and a light yellow garden centre auricula. I suspect SWA has some P marginata or P allionii in its heritage.

Seedling from a cross of a small near-white auricula and a pale yellow garden centre auricula.

The two flowering plants are from Thompson & Morgan’s ‘Viennese Waltz’ seeds. They are not much to look at, and while you can’t judge a whole pack of seed from two plants (or can you?), I won’t be taking this dance again.

Two flowering plants from Thompson & Morgan’s ‘Viennese Waltz’ seeds.

I haven’t been impressed with Thompson & Morgan’s ‘Douglas Prize’ mix either. This white-centred bright purple flower is the best so far out of that packet. Quite unusual and a definite keeper.

A white-centred purple/pink auricula from Thompson & Morgan’s ‘Douglas Prize’ seed

Three of the best of the Barnhaven seedlings now, and what a difference. If you want to try growing auriculas from seed, I say don’t waste your time with Thompson & Morgan’s mixtures. Go straight to Barnhaven. Your second best choice, from my experience, would be the American Primrose Society seed exchange.

The best of the Barnhaven auricula seedlings

I grew some very interesting plants from seed I bought on ebay from a man who raises and shows auriculas in England. Several of these plants appeared in earlier posts. Here is the last of them to flower this spring. Many others hadn’t reach flowering size in May but could still flower in September. Young auricula seedling will sometimes flower in late summer if they miss the spring.

A heavily farinose fancy Auricula seedling

These next three are purchased plants. ‘Parakeet,’ a fancy show auricula, is the first named show auricula I bought. I paid $17 at a famous garden centre outside of town. I now know that $7 would have been pricy, and $5 or $6 reasonable. It was a big, crowded plant, and after I got it home, I found botrytis in the middle of it. I removed the soil and washed the roots, cut away the diseased parts, and ended up with several small pieces. A couple of them eventually reached flowering size.

Fancy show auricula ‘Parakeet’

This double-flowered show auricula ‘Fred Booley’ put out a single flower, as well. Of course, I went straight in with a paintbrush. I see there is now a small seed pod. Maybe there’ll be something inside.

Double show aricula ‘Fred Booley’ with one single flower

And this is one of several vigorous and healthy garden-variety auriculas I bought at a non-famous garden centre for $4 or less (some pots having more than one plant in them). (Really, famous garden centre, $17 — seventeen dollars — for a pot of leaves and botrytis? This blog does not name and shame, but sometimes it is sorely tempted.) Also in this artistic photo, stems and seed heads of Androsace carnea and purple flowers of a Primula allionii hybrid whose name I will have to go outside and read off the tag — ‘Clarence Eliot.’

an arty shot

Most of these auriculas are from seed off my old plants. I looked at them in some detail in a post last year.

Auriculas thrive in the thin strip between the sidewalk and the north side of the fence.

And here, on my old yellow species auricula, are next year’s seedlings. I don’t need any more, or have anywhere to put them, but how can I not try a few seeds?