Flower power: bugs 'n blooms

I know, for those on the other side of the earth, it's winter. I happily share our flora and fauna for you!

I will look back at these images in our winter and breathe it in deeply. Enjoy each moment. It is brief and fleeting.



Here we are, selfies on the new dock.


Daisy has a horrible deerfly bite. They are awful this year.


I'm thinking that these are the first instars of the Elm sphinx. We shall see!


The 'barn cat' is happiest in and around the house. Daisy, I could smack her, has been crossing the highway for greener pastures.

Skywatch Friday

Last Friday's sky...it's clouding over today!

Click on the badges for more meme participants!

clouds dance blown by wind
skeletons sway in the breeze--
tree buds foretell spring

Lily bug beetles

Here is a photo of our old house near Ottawa. We had bought the house in 2004 from an Italian family who grew not only many flowers in raised beds, but grapes, in this heavily treed Nepean, Ontario, property.

The owner had difficulty selling, since they were in an older part of the city and were on well water with a rickety septic system. The previous owners made wine from the grapes and the basement had a wine cellar.

I adored this home, with 3 skylights. The roof needed replacing, which we completed in 2005, on this 1960s house. We lived with renovations for a long season. Hours were spent creating gardens around the back, researching for shade plants like hostas and lily of the valley. I had created a pond, built from old flagstones from the front steps, which also had needed replacing.

One of the best parts of this garden were the lilies. The owner had lovingly planted many of them in various shades. The problem was, of course, the lily bugs.

These bright red bugs ravage the leaves, leaving lovely a sticky goo behind on the leaves. I did some research and found out from my gardening magazines that the goo was, in fact, their waste product! Yuck. They suggested going around every day, squishing the bugs, underfoot if you were squeamish, or dropping them in a bucket of water. What a time consuming task.

But these bugs are bugs that are easily controlled!

I found in one of my nursery catalogues a product called Neem Oil. What a difference. You spray the leaves and this natural tree oil keeps the bugs from reproducing. (You can see them doing their dance on the right!)

When I moved here to Muskoka (with only two weeks notice) in April, 2006, I left my poor husband back in Ottawa caring for my garden.
It was his job to spritz the Neem Oil on my Asiatic lilies, to prevent the lily bugs from eating the beautiful plants alive. Not a gardener, I had to first explain what a lily was, and then hope and pray all would be well. I have no idea what happened. It is sad leaving a garden behind, but move on, you must.

I cannot help but mark the arrival of the dreaded lily bugs again this season. They are not as bad in Muskoka, as in the city. But I still keep my bottle of Neem Oil in the sun, ready for a spritz. I dodge the black flies, hope for a wind, hot too much to throw off the spray and waltz around the garden spreading the oil. What a relief. Here is a foreshadowing: Guinevere sits, in August, 2008, admiring my lilies.


Then there is my mosquito hawk, spotted yesterday, who was threading its way around the garden, looking for prey. You go!

The tulips look no worse for wear with cool night time temperatures.









More resources:

Lily Leaf Beetle Life Cycle from the U. Mass. They say, "This pest will only lay its eggs on true lilies and Fritillaria species."

Ottawa Orchid Society’s Fact Sheet on Neem

a new sighting

It was with great excitement that I spotted a bird I had not seen before.

I scrambled, on a cold, rainy day, to capture a good photo. I did not do well. No matter. Despite living here for three years, and cottaging for (lemme see 2009 - 1960... you do the math) a long time, I have never seen this beautiful creature around here.

A rose breasted grossbeak, my faithful book tells me.

It happily ate the sunflower seed that the $&*# the raccoon, Son-of-Butch, dropped after ripping my bird feeder off of the branch. The bird feeder is broken... with the cold nights (last night was near to zero C.) they are scrambling for food.

Today, the sun is out, laundry is about to go on the line, and the cat frolics amongst the moss on the tree roots. He helped me to locate and photograph our trillium plants on our back 40. Meowing to cheer me on. We have about a half dozen trillium blooming. I am hoping hat my one lady slipper will return - hope spring eternal in spring.


My bleeding heart is blooming.
















My money plant (lunaria - because the seed pods look like moons) is in bloom. I chucked some seeds into the forest last year. A spot where it was bare. They have reseeded and like wonderful.

The sumac is about to burst with leaves. They look so lovely and fuzzy!

Land, sea and air

I am a regular volunteer and advocate in Long-Term Care(LTC). Here I am visiting my friend. I have doing some work in the area of palliative care. Please visit my other blog; I hope some of this information helps.

Remember to wash your hands. Sneeze into your elbow. Please pass it on!

In the meantime, I hope we don't jinx the fine day today. I worry - since my husband took the car in today to take off the snow tires...

The Muskoka Airport thermometer was at -2 ˚C. this morning. We are by the lake, which moderates the temperature, since the lake water has temperature inertia. We were above zero.
The buds are bursting on the trees.


The wind blows waves across the lake. The water churning underneath as ducks and loons look for dinner. Squirrels frantically look for buds to chew off the branches.

Spring resprings eternal.
The neighbours cruise in and out of properties, hammering, repairing winter damage and getting ready for summer play.
They buzz around like the bugs that have now hatched - ready, nay, anxious and blood thirsty for prey.
Other neighbours help seniors with chores: raking leaves, cleaning up ditches.

The traffic increases on the highways and byways. You can hear the sound of chain saws competing with traffic noise. Wackos, in a hurry to go somewhere more important than my journey, pass two of us in unsafe conditions. Our men and women in blue are running OPP speed traps (see in the distance beyond the police car!). Bless them all who make our highways safer!

I seek the tranquility of the lake, the flowers and my birds, to rest and regroup.



The periwinkle are popping with purple power!
The lilac buds look like little grapes waiting for sun and rain to nourish them.




The miniature daffodils are mimic the sun's rays, shining with the lifeforce.







Geese, ducks, seagulls, crows and hawks, zip by, participating in the cycle of life. I saw a hawk skirt around the house roof this morning. She was cruising for food.
The finches flirt at the bird feeders, vying for position.


The setting sun's rays warm, and reflect off the rock into the water with a delightful fudge-colour.
We settled in for a gentle cup of tea. Life is good!