Squares and Rectangles

I experience our industrial and post-industrial society as having an orientation towards squares and rectangles.  These are prevalent around us in every day things - mores than circles, ovals, and waves.  Our houses, tables, pictures, paper - all kinds of things are square and rectangular - so many things come in those shapes.  The folders on my computer and the window I am typing in - these follow the pattern.  What makes this predominant? The predominance of the right angle in architectural plans is the topic of Why are most buildings rectangular?  by Philip Steaman.  He answers the question: "A geometrical demonstration comparing room shapes and room arrangements on square, triangular and hexagonal grids indicates that it is the superior flexibility of dimensioning allowed by rectangular packings that leads to their predominance".  His article is HERE.  So rectangular it is for many things - efficiency.  There might be more than this.  In a tutorial on how to use shapes creatively at visme.co  the ideas and feelings of shapes are outlined : Squares and rectangles are reliable, give stability and suggest order Circles represent completion, wholeness and harmony Pentagons, hexagons, octagons give designs a unique feel.  They can also be used to portray an already known use of the shape.  So in addition to efficiency, we get reliability, stability and order.  Squares and rectangles seem to be our chosen sensibility. I would think this has been the case since ancient Greece and Rome when geometry was explored and recorded.  I wonder what would change this progression? Can we evolve to another set of shapes?  I don't see easy answers in my search, so will pursue this in the future. We move to our pictures today -  taken in the Niagara Street arboretum where the weeping cherry tree is located. It is the subject of the last picture.

Rocket Launch

It is today - rockets are launching into space! "Early Wednesday morning, rocket enthusiasts will have the lucky experience of being able to watch two launches at roughly the same time. Around 7:30AM ET, SpaceX is slated to launch one of its Falcon 9 rockets from the California coast, while European launch provider Arianespace will send up its Ariane 5 rocket from its South American spaceport in French Guiana. If all goes according to plan, the vehicles will launch around 15 minutes apart. The SpaceX launch will be the seventh mission the company does for long-standing customer Iridium. SpaceX has a contract with Iridium to launch 75 satellites for the company’s Iridium NEXT constellation, which provides global telecommunications coverage. SpaceX has been launching these probes in batches of 10 (except for the sixth mission, which sent up five satellites). After this seventh flight, SpaceX only has one more group of satellites to launch, and then its job for Iridium will be complete. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is slated to take off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California at 7:39AM ET. Following launch, SpaceX hopes to recover as much of the rocket as it possibly can right now. The rocket booster will attempt one of the company’s signature landings on a SpaceX drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. And a little while afterward, SpaceX will also try to catch the Falcon 9’s nose cone, or payload fairing, the bulbous structure that surrounds the satellites at the top of the rocket".   This is quoted from theverge.com - there is more at Spaceflightnow.com with live coverage. I wondered how many people watched the last one?  Over 3 million. This seems like great news to know there are scientists and astronomers out there.  Last week I visited Brian's Lilycrest Gardens hybridizing field, and as I drove along 3rd Avenue Louth I found myself in the midst of hundreds of thousands of roses.  It is the Bakker's rose growing field between 5th and 7th Street.  Here's a partial view of it - this is 8 photos together in a panorama. It only covers a portion.

Exploding Art

The news this week included the following headline: Rotting Fish Art Explodes, causes Fire in London Gallery "The installation — a piece called "Majestic Splendor" by Lee Bul — was part of an exhibition of the Korean artist's work, scheduled to open at the Hayward Gallery on May 30. Then, hours before the show's first preview, the gassy art blew up, causing a fire that damaged part of the gallery, artnet News reported. Even though the exhibit was not yet open to the public, gallery officials had already decided to remove "Majestic Splendor" from the show for safety reasons. They had learned earlier that a chemical added to the fishes' bags to dampen their smell could become flammable after combining with gases released by the decomposing flesh, and art handlers were taking down the art as a precaution when it suddenly combusted and sparked a fire, a gallery spokesperson told frieze magazine. This experience had occurred at MOMA in 1997 with the same installation.  Dozens of small, transparent bags were fixed to a wall; each contained a rotting fish decorated with stitched-on sequins and beads, representing Bul's scathing commentary on the fleeting nature of beauty for highly ornamented women.  At that installation, the special refrigeration failed, and the smell was so bad that it caused the display to be removed... Then subsequent showings included an odour-reducing chemical. When combined with combustible material, the chemical is known to trigger violent explosions." All of this comes from the Livescience story HERE.  This is a site that covers science news so the rotting fish story appears under strange news of the week. Another story was about the eruption of Hawaii's Mount Kilauea causing the largest freshwater lake to evaporate because so much boiling lava poured into it.   Garden tour season has begun, and we're looking at this perfect garden in St. Catharines on Henry Street in 2017.

Stupid House, Smart House

Last week's Globe and Mail had an article about the stupid home vs. the smart home.  The writer was pleased his home was still stupid. I have a 'stupid' stove  it only has knobs.  It is without a digital clock, timer, read-out of oven temperatures, etc.  It had some catastrophic failures - there still are electronic components. So I was most intrigued with a smart house, and how that might be going. How do we know a smart home? It has a Nest Thermostat.  What a wonderful name for a company that makes smart home products.  What about a Wink home automation hub?  That's also a catchy device name. And then there is the Amazon Echo that controls other devices. Don't leave out the If This Then That Rules - another control device. The headlines that appear from a google search are also an entertainment: Don't bother trying to make your dumb house smart What smart homes are still so dumb Are smart homes just stupid? Will smart homes make us stupid lazy? The dumb state of the smart home My vote is cast without any experience whatsoever - smart homes are about witty names and clever ideas. I found a patch of mascari (grape hyacinth) on Ninth Street on Saturday.  And the second collage is last year and this year's Niagara Street cherry tree. What a contrast of blue sky vs gray sky.

Beards on Parade

We can all think of a few famous historical figures with beards,  What is a beard?  Little did I know that it is a 'collection' of hair that grows on the chin and cheeks of humans and some non-human animals.  What I wondered about is the driver for the popularity of male beards. Were these famous men with the trend at the time or against it?  Beard popularity has waxed and waned a few times in my own lifetime. So beards have been linked with notions of masculinity and male courage, and cultures have mandated it or on the opposite side, considered it uncivilized.  It comes and goes. Trends have swayed back and forth over the centuries.  In modern times, there have been prohibitions of beards - in jobs where breathing masks are required - airline pilots, firefighters, etc. And sports has some traditions that are interesting. The Playoff beard is a tradition common with teams in the NHL.   The story of beards os extensive and one can read it in the book "Of Beards and Men" by Christopher Oldstone-Moore.   The link provides a summary of the book. Today we look at two more barns in the St. Catharines area, and the last picture is an abandoned house on Sann Road at the Lake, which is clearly about to become a mansion near the lake.

The Stratus Sphere

I do mean into the "Stratus"- sphere.  I had thought that the clouds in today's pictures were likely the stratus type of clouds on the horizon yesterday morning.  They were vast bands of whipping cream slathered across the sky. Or perhaps snow drifts.  It was like looking at the gills of a mushroom and seeing an ivory silk-pleated dress.   How many kinds of clouds can be in the sky at one time? It looked like Stratus and Altostratus all together.   But when I read this article with pictures, this is likely incorrect.  Because of the format of Mailchimp, the pictures are small.  If you look at the lower left above the 'w' in the first picture, there's a taller tree. That's the microwave tower at Brian's Lilycrest Garden hybridizing field.  I was at the Seventh Street exit of the QEW, looking across the wonderful orchards on Niagara.  And then they continued on their journey and flew away.

One Single Tree

We wouldn't see this tree if it weren't on a busy street.  And being on a busy street, the setting is a mismatch for its glorious shape and intense floral display.  It wants to be in a rural setting or on the escarpment. The lone Cypress tree on the Monterey Coast near Carmel is an example of perfect alignment.  On the other hand, this tree on Ontario Street near the QEW is easily accessible with hardly any travel involved.   Here are the 10 most magnificent trees in the world - the only dilemma is that to see past the Lone Cypress you have to answer a survey.  This is the first time I've experienced this. So I'll send you to Wikipedia instead - here.

Exam Question: Calculate Easter

Perhaps Spring is early this year because Easter is early - on March 27th in just over a week.  The garden centres in Niagara sell a lot of potted flowers for Easter.  Sunshine Nurseries on Carlton Street on the NOTL side of the canal is full of blooms.  Pot plants, perennials, and annuals are on show.  You see the 'sea' of flowers in the top picture and an interpretation of the pretty flower Ranunculus in the bottom picture. There was a question the other day on how do we calculate Easter.  I gather from a search that there are dozens of ways of calculating Easter. This link to  the U.K. Independent Newspaper article describes the Easter calculation.  Here are two of the key calculations. "For most of its history Christians have calculated Easter independently of the Jewish calendar. In principle, Easter falls on the Sunday following the full moon that follows the northern spring equinox (the paschal full moon). However, the vernal equinox and the full moon are not determined by astronomical observation." "In 325CE the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox. From that point forward, the Easter date depended on the ecclesiastical approximation of March 21 for the vernal equinox."

Lilycrest Gardens - The Hybridizer's Harvest

Lilycrest Gardens is my brother, Brian Bergman's lily hybridizing field on 5th Street near the QEW in St. Catharines. It is transitioning from its glorious floral display into its crop of hybridized lily seeds.  Here is one of the pretty crosses from previous years.

Lilycrest In Bloom

Brian's Lilycrest Gardens hybridizing field is showing great colour and beautiful blossoms.  But yesterday I was there to pick  beans.  Brian had a little extra space and planted potatoes, beans, tomatoes and zucchini. Just like the lilies blooming profusely, the beans are producing profusely.  Zucchini seem to be like balloons and just expand.  The area's soil is very fertile with Bakker's nursery stock fields all around.  This year's crop is small trees rather than roses - I wonder where the blooming roses are this year.

Wisteria Starting in Niagara...

We haven't left Mother's Day yet.  We found out about Mother's Day in the US. It is very different from Mothering Day in England.  In England it is celebrated far earlier in the year.  From Wikipedia: Mothering Sunday is a holiday celebrated by Catholic and Protestant Christians in some parts of Europe. It falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent (For Orthodox Christians in Europe and elsewhere, the fourth Sunday in Lent remembers St. John of the Ladder). Secularly, it became an occasion for honouring the mothers of children and giving them presents.  During the sixteenth century, people returned to their mother church, the main church or cathedral of the area, for a service to be held on Laetare Sunday. This was either a large local church, or more often the nearest cathedral. Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone "a-mothering", although whether this term preceded the observance of Mothering Sunday is unclear. In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with their own mothers and other family members. It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, since on other days they were prevented by conflicting working hours, and servants were not given free days on other occasions. By the 1920s the custom of keeping Mothering Sunday had tended to lapse in Ireland and in continental Europe. In 1914, inspired by Anne Jarvis's efforts in the United States, Constance Penswick-Smith created the Mothering Sunday Movement, and in 1921 she wrote a book asking for the revival of the festival; Its widescale revival was through the influence of American and Canadian soldiers serving abroad during World War II ; the traditions of Mothering Sunday, still practised by the Church of England and Church of Ireland were merged with the newly imported traditions and celebrated in the wider Catholic and secular society. UK-based merchants saw the commercial opportunity in the holiday and relentlessly promoted it in the UK; by the 1950s, it was celebrated across all the UK. The Wisteria are showing colour on Yates Street in St. Catharines so will be blooming in the 2 weeks.

Squirrel House Visit

I visited some of the Squirrel House Gardens images from this past summer, enjoying Elisabeth Hilton's beautiful garden compositions, including this wonderful statue in the garden and the winding path leading the eye out to more garden treasures.

I hope Elisabeth is enjoying warm weather compared to us here in snowy Niagara.

Charles Daley Park Winter Fun

Charles Daley Park is located in St. Catharines and is one of the best beaches and dynamic lagoons along the south shore of Lake Ontario.  It also has excellent hills for tobogganing in the winter. so is a great place to visit when there's snow.

Today's images show some of the  winter scenes of tobogganing and play.  

Signs of Winter

This is Charles Daley Park in St. Catharines.  It has the distinction of a long shoreline with dynamic lagoons at each end.  This gazebo stands at the edge of the high embankment between the shoreline and the parking lot. Because of its height, the parking lot has excellent views of the lake. People come by in their cars and have a coffee overlooking the great expanse, or just stop by to take a look at what the lake is up to with its waves and changing shoreline.  You can stop in any time and there will be at least a car or two.  People do get out of their cars.  In winter there are families tobogganing down the slopes on the sunny days.  And there are usually dogs - they have a great time on the beach and trails, so there is a dog or two to meet and greet. 
This is the moment in the year when we welcome snow.  Christmas and snow seem to be the perfect match.  Our image today shows the two sides of snow -  the windy stormy day and then what typically follows for us in Ontario - a blue sky and sunny day for tobogganing.

Bicycles in the Garden

Redbubble is an art site that provides printing and shipping of art work.  It 's an Australian company so has a most interesting personality and attracts artists from all over the world to sell their work here.  It started as a fine art site, but has shifted to a graphic art site, and there are many more young people who sell t-shirts, stickers, etc.  Recently they have added tote bags, pillows and duvet covers for sale.  

The site provides community functions in the form of creating Groups based on themes and interests.  I host two groups - All Glorious Gardens and All Glorious Lilies.  This picture today is from the latest All Glorious Gardens challenge.  The Group features images on the home page and offers challenges to submit entries and vote for their favourite image.

I ran the bicycle challenge recently as there are many uses of bicycles in garden decoration all over the world.  You can see here for the top ten that the gardens range from Niagara, to France, England and Australia.  

I enter the challenge to keep track of the time - there's a little clock on one's entry when voting starts - it shows the number of votes and the relative amount of time left on the clock.  There's no alert for the host, and I've found that I've run challenges and then forgotten about them until days later.  

You can see the challenge by going here:

http://www.redbubble.com/groups/all-glorious-gardens/challenges/60824-all-glorious-gardens-bicycles-in-the-garden

My image, The Bike Stops Here - Niagara, was the winning image.  It was taken 2 years ago while on the St. Catharines Garden Tour.  

Lilycrest Gardens - Lilies and Lilies

There's such a variety of lilies - size, colour, form, texture and shape.  My brother's lily hybridizing field, Lilycrest Gardens, is in St. Catharines Ontario.  He has more than 100,000 plants, so I can see all the varieties in profusion, which this first image illustrates - masses and masses of flowers.  By using textures I can disguise the paths and soil that would be distracting from the flowers.  When we're in the field, we really don't see the backgrounds as we are so drawn to the flowers and their intense colours. 

Lilycrest Gardens - Prime Time

My brother, Brian Bergman, has a hybridizing field in St. Catharines where he grows his hybridized lilies.  I was in the field last week, and took these pictures.

All The Thyme in the World

There are lots of alternatives to grass for ground cover with a nice appearance.  I found a beautiful sample in St. Catharines, Ontario.  One of the gardens on the St. Catharines Garden Tour had a front yard of thyme.  It was interesting and arresting - so much more to look at than a normal grass lawn.

This last image is my interpretation of the thyme landscape.