FATHER'S DAY RAMBLE

      I spent a few hours of my father's day rambling over 300 or so acres of park known as Heritage Ranch. I've spent many hours in this area cycling, cross country skiing and leading my bird watching group through the are. I have spent much time in the area and know it well.

     Yesterday , I wanted to check on a patch of tiger lily  (western wood lily) or (Lilium philidelphicum) and brown eyed susan  (wild gaillardia) or (Gaillardia aristata).

     I was a few days too early as I only found one tiger lily in full bloom 

     However thee were other plants in bloom such as the wild rose. 

     It was a windy day so some of the smaller plants I photographed and not in focus but worth a look.

My Canada Day

      Yesterday was Canada Day and a day for all kinds of public events and interesting activities. These events were all in the name of celebrating our country's 147 birthday. We live in  beautiful land and wonderful country. There's lots to celebrate. I have been with this country for over half of it's life!

     Now , I'm not big on public celebrations. I'm happier to go off by myself and wander through an area that still has the native habitat. So yesterday, the Micro manager and a friend went to the local celebrations and I went off for a walk through the local nature sanctuary. Don't get me wrong. I like my country and think I'm most fortunate to have had my family make the choice to live here.

     I took my camera and knew what I was looking for but thought I was too late as the flower I was looking for bloomed about mid June. I thought I might as well look. I did find Lady's slippers. The first find was of very brown and long past due bloom. A little while later I found a lady slipper in full bloom. It made my day. I took many more photos of flowers , but I dumped most of them as they were not in focus.

The faded lady slipper

The lady slipper in full bloom

I'll leave this one for you to identify!

Common Wild Rose

The trail I spent my time on.

A really healthy wetland. Well maybe not. It's choked with reed canary grass.

A Walk in the Woods

     On Sunday I went for a walk in the woods as I really wanted to see some Wood lilies.

    There are wood lilies here . Sometimes you have to look pretty hard and at other times you get lucky. The time they bloom seems to vary a bit. I came up empty on my wood lily search.

     After I got through the woods trail I walked up a trail which follows the escarpment. It was an old utility road but when the sanctuary was established In the late 1980's it made an excellent trail. The road has grown in and you can find a number of wild flowers at the edge of the trail.

    I was quite surprised to find an abundance of yellow lady slippers.  They have been planted but the area would have had lady slippers. The lady slippers appear to be doing well.

Yellow lady slippers doing well.

    Then I found a blue flower that I had heard people talking about on other field trips. So what I found was blue eyed grass. I see why people rave about it as the blue color is spectacular. The stem is flat like a shoe lace.

Next time remind me to get on my belly to take a photo of blue eyed grass.

    The roses are just stating to bloom. Soon all the edges of woodlands will be decorated with roses.

These are very common at this time of year.

    So I didn't find my wood lily and I will have to go for another walk and I'll probably find a few more things I wasn't expecting.

                                                                                

A Rose in the Woods

      I went for a short walk in the woods this weekend and found two things I was looking for.

       First, I found the Common Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii). This plant grows abundantly around the edges of native habitat. It blooms in early June . These flowers certainly brighten up the woods. Going for a walk can make you very cheerful and hopeful.

      The second plant I was looking for was the Yellow lady slipper (Cypripedium calceolus). They grow widely here and appear to like areas of soil that have been disturbed as they like to grow in ditches. The ones I was looking for had been planted in a sanctuary. We took them from an area that was to be developed
Apologies for not having a photograph . I took pictures and when I came home I deleted pictures  that didn't turnout well. Only now did I notice that I deleted all Yellow Lady Slippers.


     Blooms are coming quickly now so the next flowers I will make sure that I keep some photos