Sunday, November 30, 2014

When Autumn Met Winter

We had snow, cold and winds 2 weeks ago.  Last week, I stopped at the beautiful Bloodgood Japanese Maple around the corner.  It's the largest that I've seen in Niagara.  The red leaves carpet the driveway when they fall.  Here they are with snow and grass below the trunk.


Saturday, November 29, 2014

Stormy Skies Up on the Escarpment

I experience a different landscape up on the escarpment in Grimsby.  There are some orchards and vineyards, but the corn fields in these pictures seem more common.  And does the wind blow!  A storm came in earlier this week with high winds.  These bold, cloudy skies forewarned us.  




Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Where the Mind Turns to in Winter


Last week was a week of winter winds and snow with chilling temperatures.  My mind turns to the beautiful flowers of spring and I found myself in Wisteria Heaven.  

This is the longest wisteria in Niagara - it's in Jordan Village and is more than 100 feet long.  This panorama was stitched together with more than 10 pictures.


One of the most famous Wisteria gardens is at Longwood, near Philadelphia PA.  The wisterias are trained into graceful trees.



Friday, November 21, 2014

Niagara's Weather


How fast things changed.  One week it is beautiful late fall with the autumn leaves in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and within days we are in blowing snow and frost. I could see the clouds changing from the outlook and gazebo at Niagara-on-the-Lake to Southbrook Winery on the Stone Road out of Niagara-on-the-Lake.  





 

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Arum Titan in Niagara

The last time I saw the Arum Titan in Niagara's Showcase Greenhouse was in 2012 and it was in bloom.  It was a sight - a really great big Jack in the Pulpit sort of plant that we can't imagine here in Niagara where ours are little guys in the forest next to Trilliums.

I didn't realize the plants have remained in the greenhouse until I looked up at the little forest of trees in the entrance and recognized those leaves right away.  Again impressive, it is as tall as a small tree.  





Here it is blooming in 2012.  It's 'fragrance' is stinky to attract flies for pollination.



Thursday, November 13, 2014

The Last Leaves are Lasting

I am so impressed with the colours of the Japanese Maples this year.  My own mature tree is a Versicolour, and the leaves range from intense orange-red to yellow to green.

Here are a few shots from this week:



Monday, November 10, 2014

Soon the Last Leaf

There still are leaves on some of the trees.  The oaks hold their leaves much longer, as do the Japanese Maples.  Here's a pair of lingering leaves from last week:


Friday, November 7, 2014

Whistling Gardens - Always Beautiful

As we move into late Fall, we think the beautiful colours are over.  At Whistling Gardens, Darren Heimbecker has over 2500 varieties of conifers, and some of them have vivid winter colour.  Here are some images from the first week of November 2014.  See more at:

http://www.whistlinggardens.ca











Monday, November 3, 2014

Leaves into November

Most of our native trees lose their leaves by mid-November.  However, there are trees that keep their autumn colours long into November.  I was reminded of this when I visited RBG last week,  and spotted the Japanese Maple Osakazuki tree in the courtyard garden at the Main Building.  It is next to the Mediterranean Greenhouse.  It is a mature specimen so about 15 feet tall and holding its leaves extremely well.  The show was extraordinary.  I visited my great nursery, Cole's, on Saturday.  And now I have one of these beauties of my own.