Vestigial Us

The towel act described briefly in yesterday's post can be seen on youtube.  While it is another comedy team, it is the same fun.  This is thanks to Marina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5411cS2P43E I wondered yesterday how we still have so much hair on our bodies - 5 million hairs. This seems like a lot of follicles that aren't of use anymore.  It is considered one of the aspects of human evolution where there are DNA 'leftovers' - vestigial structures. These include wisdom teeth, hiccups, the pink tissue in the eye (leftover from a third eyelid), ear wiggle, lip twitching (left over from when we would bare our teeth), the human tail bone, and goosebumps - when we had hair this made us look bigger.  The list and description of twelve of these can be found HERE and the Wikipedia article is HERE.  There are many items listed in the Wikipedia article. It was thought that the appendix was vestigial, but it now may be considered to have a purpose in our immune system to protect good bacteria in the gut. I thought there must be some funny evolutionary jokes - that is jokes about evolution.  But I found only one article with satirical evolution jokes/cartoons - a bored panda article HERE.  Otherwise, there seem to be few evolution jokes, but there are lots of Easter Bunny jokes:  How do you know the Easter Bunny is really smart?  Because he's an egghead.  How do bunnies stay healthy?  Eggercise  What do you call a mischievous egg?  A practical yolker  What's the difference between a bunny and a lumberjack? One chews and hops, the other hews and chops. Why didn't the easter egg cross the road? Because he wasn't a chicken yet!

March Ending

A rainy day is forecast for us today.  So I brought out the conservatory flowers to remind us that rain is good in the spring. These are Cineraria, a pot plant traditionally grown in the spring here and showcased in cool conservatories.  A native to the Canary Islands, one can imagine these daisy bushes in spectacular blues, whites, pinks and purples growing everywhere. I can always count on these at Sunshine Express Nursery and  at the Niagara Falls Floral Showcase Greenhouses during the Easter display.  View this email in your browser

Wishing for Wisteria

Wisteria has captured the imagination for many years.  The oldest wisteria is 144 years old and is in Japan.  It is located in Ashikaga Flower Park and here's the link for the amazing pictures.  If you are interested in the biggest wisteria, it is in Sierra Madre California and here's a youtube video of it. It takes up an acre.  Lucky Californians as it says its blooming period is 5 weeks.  Ours in Niagara is very short - 2 weeks on average, and then the leaves take over and the blooms fade. We are lucky in Niagara. There are many wisteria - often trained as shrubs.  The bottom picture is a shrub version at the corner of my street.  The top two pictures are of the White House in Jordan, about 100 feet long - from end to end, and then it goes around the fence as well, so a lot of wisteria to enjoy.

We Are Grimsbarians, are we?

If we were in Grimsby, England, the weather is 6 degrees with clouds, sun and rain.  Here in Grimsby Ontario, the weather is going to be 7 degrees, cloudy and rain with sun peaking through in the afternoon.  If we lived in Grimsby in England, we'd be called Grimbarians. There would be about 88,000 of us.  Grimsby is located on the east coast - it has a port that has been in use since the medieval period. Today in the news of the Grimsby Telegraph in England there is a plan for new homes off Humberstone Avenue,  and the promise that Euromillions can be won in the lottery. There are seven things to do this coming May Day Bank holiday weekend. Being on the water, Cleethorpeks Beach, with its miles of golden sand, will have some visitors, although it might be brisk like it is here. Here is what the Grimsbytelegraph.co.uk has to say about us on January 28 2016:   "IT'S far from a secret that Grimsby has a namesake on the other side of the Atlantic. On the shores of Lake Ontario, Canada, lies a small town populated by barely more than 20,000 people which, more than 200 years ago, took its name from our Lincolnshire original. Being in the centre of one of Canada's main tourist areas, many Grimbarians have made the trip there to see what it's like. Last week, we waxed lyrical about what makes Grimsby great, so what is it that makes the other Grimsby great and how much does this little outpost in the world's second largest country have in common with our town aside from its name?" View this email in your browser

The Pink Haze of Spring

Once Spring starts to bloom, we are aware of how lovely it is but often miss individual flowers and plants, as there is so much in bloom.  These are Azalea flowers - close-up and in the garden in waves of pink. These bloom mid to end of May. The first to bloom are the early cherries and the Magnolias.  My Star Magnolia opened yesterday.  The pink Saucer Magnolias are showing colour on their buds.  Perhaps later this week we'll se them blooming.

Primula Power Grimsby's wonderful garden centre/nursery is Cole's - it is located just up the street from me.  And aren't I so lucky that they have a love of primulas.  I went in last week just before Easter and found a poly house full of primulas and smelling of spring.   There are always new hybrids of everything these days.  This beautiful blue/purple primula with the delicate lines is the most recent novelty that catches one's eye.

Impressions of Spring

Impressions of Spring

Thinking of Spring The spring garden isn't showing yet.  I would like to see the snow drops that were poking out before Christmas and the heather that was in full bud, ready to bloom too. So I did a tulip study yesterday using French Kiss textures to create the different backgrounds for this pretty tulip.

Painting with Tulips

Spring Tulips

Royal Botanical Gardens Rock Garden These pictures are from 2013 and are taken in the RBG rock garden. The rock garden was closed in spring 2014 for the big renovation. I looked in before Christmas and there was still a lot of heavy work in progress.  The opening is planned for this spring, but doesn't have a date yet. One can look at the RBG Site and see a map with the major features highlighted. The RBG rock garden has always showcased Tulips. Tulips are one of the great spring flowers for us - their colours range from soft and delicate to fiery and intense.  The shiny petals seem to make the colours stand out even more.  They are a perfect flower for the landscape painter.  The RBG mastery of colour combinations is enchanting.  But the result is so fleeting. In only a short time and the canvas changes and the artist starts anew.

Niagara's Continuing Blossoms…June Flowers

I walked about my neighbourhood earlier in the week and took some photos of the lilac tree next door.  While it is shaped like a bush, it is the size of a lilac tree - more than 10 feet high.  Here's a multiple exposure of the blossoms.

Then I returned to the Vineland Research Station to check on the Paulownia Tree, also known as Empress Tree, but it isn't going to bloom, given the difficult winter we had.  I got a big surprise, as the Cherry Grove was in full bloom - with the leaves out.  I had seen it 2 weeks ago and there was sporadic blossoms, so I had assumed it was winter damage as well.  

The Vineland Research Station was originally a gift of Moses F. Rittenhouse in 1906, and has been contributing to the development of tender fruit varieties for decades.  It has turned its attention to include the wine and greenhouse industries in the last 10 years.  Today, there's a winery located on site - Foreign Affair.