A noun. A verb. A blog.
Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name? Of course, I was talking to this beautiful tree in its red cloak, spotted in an East York garden not far from home. Every step slowed as I walked towards it and looked way up. Was it a Freeman maple (Acer x fremanii)? More and more are appearing along Toronto’s […]
Doug Tallamy knows the importance of small things, like caterpillars. Doug’s a writer, entomologist, and is an expert on biodiversity and wildlife. His talk at the Toronto Botanical Garden was entertaining and informative. It was also heartbreaking. Nature lovers (like me) love feeding the birds. I buy those big bags of birdseed. It’s fine to […]
A hedge of Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) near us used to look absolutely show-stopping in late summer – a time when flowering trees and shrubs are rare, and rarely so generous with their flowers. Tired of being stopped by people asking what it was, the homeowners resorted to posting a sign: It’s called Althea!* Althea is another of […]
We should be grateful to Philippe Kahn, credited with inventing the camera-phone, back in 1997. (Or not, according to C-Net.) Whomever the mastermind, he (or she!) ensured we could have a camera, all the time and everywhere. So as we walked briskly past this fence near Woodbine Park one evening this May, I could follow up my double-take with the […]
I think these lovelies might be the turkey-tail fungus (Trametes versicolor). You’ll correct me if I’m wrong. There are many (many!) things I don’t know, but I know what I like. Something that falls into both categories is tree fungus. Despite the damage they cause to the forestry industry, I find tree fungi to be […]
Beautiful Crothers Woods will now be an official environmentally significant area in Toronto. Our beautiful ravine systems are one of the best things about Toronto, counteracting the concrete and condos, right in the very heart of the city. We are fortunate to have so many stunning, wild areas in Toronto: places where nature does the […]
Walking in the ravine today I noticed quite a few acorns and picked up about six or seven. I’d recently listened to an interview with wildlife and biodiversity expert and entymologist Doug Tallamy where he talked about growing an oak tree from an acorn and thought, yes, I would like to get on that bandwagon. Trees […]
No, it isn’t snow. It’s the fluffy seeds of the eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides). A row of mostly cottonwoods sits on the horizon at Tommy Thompson Park on the Leslie Street Spit. Walking on the Spit last Saturday, my friend Sharon asked, “What is that white fluff, Helen?” I was so glad she did. Because […]
An eye-catching swathe of red haws (hawthorn fruit) on Lake Shore just east of Leslie (taken Dec. 6, 2013) This stretch of hawthorns I often walk past keeps the ruby-red fruits well into winter. Have you noticed them? They’re well placed for show against the dark brown SolarWall on the City garage next to Loblaws. […]
On their dark twigs, the green and yellow leaves of the grey birch (Betula populifolia) look like floating daubs of paint Some autumn leaves are show-offs. You know who I mean. The big reds and oranges that stand out in a crowd. Now that the early winter storm has blown many of the leaves away, […]
The nose knows the “ripe” aroma of the ripe fruit of Ginkgo biloba An early morning walk brought me nose-to-no! with a delightful (not) smell – the slightly sulfurous stench of the ripe Ginkgo fruit. This is the one real problem with this otherwise interesting tree. While not natives, ginkgo trees are great in cities […]
Cutleaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum) Even at dusk. Even with a shaky phone camera. Even in November. The multilayered fall colour on this cutleaf Japanese maple is just otherworldly, like a picture by the Hubble space telescope. I wonder if it might be Acer palmatum ‘Seiryu’ which, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden, […]