We are Blessed.
This land is alive. Through every season there is movement, colour and song. Even now, in late winter the Aspen are photosynthesising through their bark, and their branches are speckled with hardy chirping Chickadees. I love winter, what better season to rest and relax…and look back at all the photos taken during the warmer months!
The area Cass and I will be moving to is called the Aspen Parkland Ecozone and is characterised by vast stands of Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides) mixed with shrubs like Saskatoons (Amalanchier alnifolia), Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), Red Oiser Dogwood (Cornus sericea), and Woods Rose (Rosa woodsia).
Beneath the shrub layer is a wild landscape of herbaceous perennials: Wild Violets (Viola spp.), Sweet Scented Bedstraw (Galium triflorum), Wild Lily of the Valley (Maianthemum canadense), to new a few.
And lurking beneath all of these aerial layers is a vast network of plant roots, insects, soil microbes and fungi! The fungi we find leave us distracted for hours, taking photos and hunting down specimens. One of my greatest hopes is to learn the language of the mycelium and one day identify them confidently.
For now I am more than happy to indulge in the boisterous bloom of Wild Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus populinus) that illuminate the wet forests in springtime.
Wild plants excite me. Wild plant feed me. Wild plants speak to me. They show me where they like to grow, how much sunlight they like and who they are friendly with. The more of these observations I make in the wild the more native plants I can bring to urban gardens.
Natives flowers like Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), Smooth Aster (Aster laevis), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Goldenrods (Soldiago spp.) and Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) all adapt well to urban life and bring a multitude of pollinators into the garden.
Many of the plants I meet in the wild are meant to stay right where they are, and even if they would make a good addition to my urban garden, I never dig from the wild but choose to support a native nursery like Prairie Originals or Blazing Star Wildflowers
We were blessed to have access to this land..and that goes for all of us. There are wild places all around us, both inside and outside of our city perimeter. I want to inspire you to explore your landscape. Explore wild foods and herbs. Meet new species, make new friends. Climb, crawl, walk and run! Nature is open and accepting and waiting for you to connect. Come home with fresh air in your lungs, bird song in your ears and photos for you to look back on, to invite you again and again.
I'll see you outisde :)
Genevieve