Mary Soderstrom's Blog, page 9

 This has been an unusually fine year for certain flowers around here.  Early on there was clover everywhere, in every lawn, reminding everyone that plain grass is just that: pretty plain.  Now as the summer fades away with unusually warm temperatures, native asters have come into their glory.  I have encouraged them for years in my little centre city garden, but I'm glad to see that they've spread, and now dot many other gardens.  Took a drive out of the city today, and saw billows of them. 

 

And then there's this highrise model. 

 This wasp nest suddenly appeared this week.  Wasn't there on Monday, I'm sure, but it was looming like a malevalent piñata on Thursday.  Wasps are really amazing in the way they can build a very sturdy shelter in no time at all.

But it's gone.  After a call to the borough, a crew came and took it down.  I didn't see that happen, but I admire the moxie that it must take to wrangle with wasps.

Of course, the beasties have a right to live among us, but just not close that our worlds collide.  Saw another nest this morning about a block away: wonder if they just moved house...

You're right: it's bird's nest.  Almost walked past it last week on the trail at the Parc des Rapides de Lachine last Sunday, but at the last minute it caught my eye.  I've no explanation of how it got there.  Certainly the breeding season is over in these parts, and from the looks of it, many birds are already preparing for winter migration.

The nest would appear to be in good shape, so I hope that it was home to a successful family of birdlings this summer.  Would that it were so easy to house the many folks who these days are having a hard time finding a place to stay. (Almost said "keeping a roof over their heads," but looks like the only "roof" was Mom or Dad's body during the nesting time.)

 

Head's up: The Atwater Library and Computer Centre's book discussion group--led by yours truly-- will be talking about Dimitri Nasrallah's Hotline at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 13. The book in audio and ebook formats is available to library members from now until then. All you have to do is follow this link to borrow a copy: [image error]https://libbyapp.com/library/atwaterlibraryThe book happens to be this year's Together We Read choice. Here's the link for more information: https://company.overdrive.com/.../hundreds-of-public.../The meeting will be for our first in-person discussion in more than three years. You don't have to sign up, just show up.

 Here are three invasive plants duking it out at Montreal's Technoparc.  The tall grass is Phragmites australis, which sets up shop at the edge of waterways  as does the purple loosestrife at the bottom of the photo.  In between is golden rod, which is a native plant and which is not really considered invasive in Canada, although in Europe and Asia it is.  

Will be interesting to see if one of these species dominates the others.  I'd like to think that the goldenrod will triumph, but we'll see.

 This is the sum total of my harvest this year-two small pears. It is a far cry from years when my two trees produced more than the squirrels could eat. But I'm not displeased because the trees were badly affected by fireblight last year, a nasty fungus disease that you can't get rid of and can only hope that the tree resists.

A few branches seem to be affected this year, but nothing like before, so perhaps next year the trees--now well over 40 years old--will again provide us with some succulent pears.

The rabbits at the Technoparc don't seem very concerned about the humans walking around.  This one just stayed there for quite a while, looking at us while we looked at it.

Despite Beatrice Potter and the Tale of Peter Rabbit, the beasties don't seem to like gardens in my part of the city.  Racoons, skunks and squirrels, yes.  Ditto the occasional marmot.  But I think rabbits likea more unkempted landscape, or one that has only been wrested from wildness (or re-wildness)

Elin reports that thre have been rabbit sightings in Cité Angus, which has only recently been built on an old brownscape that had got pretty overgrown.  Wonder how long they'll last...
 

It's been rainy and hot, but not so gloomy that the various sorts of sunflowers are not bursting into bloom. Lovely to see the yellow...
 

Maybe 20 years go when I began transforming out little lawn into a wild garden, I bought three hosta plants.  They did extremely well, and I've transplanted them to several places on our lot and given many to neighbours.  

The result is a host of hostas all around. This last week the ones in the sun have been a their peak, while the ones in the shade are striving to catch up.  What a great flower--holds its own again invasives, will survive even if not watered well, and for a couple of weeks in mid-summer it flowers are showy and abundant.