Milkweed - Asclepias Syriaca - Herbe à la Ouate

Here's a common, easily recognized one: common milkweed (fr: herbe à la ouate), Asclepias syriaca. It's very attractive to butterflies and as such is wonderful to have around, but it's important to keep it out of pastures as it is toxic to a number of grazing animals.

A. syriaca on the shore

There's a hint of red clover and some grasses and hawkweed in the bottom of this image, too, but the focus is on the milkweed. Quite a dramatic plant. I like the effect of the milkweed against the backdrop of the rapids.

Ants collecting nectar from the flowers of a. syriaca

Not only does this flower appeal to bees, it also appeals to ants. I hardly ever see them blooming around here without ants crawling around on them seeking nectar. I like the umbrel shape of the milkweed inflorescence.

A. syriaca inflorescence

I love how thick the flower is. The petals are proportionately extremely thick for their size, giving this flower a stiff, chunky appearance that I find really cool and unusual in a flower. It's quite a dramatic flower even up close. There's a drop of dew visible between the two nearest petals of the flower in the centre here.

St John's Wort - Hypericum Perforatum - Millepertuis Perforé

St John's wort, hypericum perforatum (fr: millepertuis perforé) is another introduced species which now flourishes at the lake. It is a fairly well-known herbal antidepressant. It's worth noting here that herbal antidepressant just means it contains neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitors and it's an herb, not that plants are magical and better than proper pharmaceuticals. Dosage is inexact with herbs (as opposed to pill-form SSRIs, which have dosage controlled) so I wouldn't recommend that everybody go running out to make St John's wort tinctures. At least in Canada, measured doses of St John's wort extract are available over the counter anyway, so if you want to try it go try that. Disclaimer: talk to your doctor, St John's wort interacts with a number of common medications (eg oral contraceptives) in ways that can be extremely bad for you. Self-medication is dangerous, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about this option.

H. perforatum inflorescence

This flower isn't always easy to spot; it tends to grow close to goldenrod at the lake, and the two have a very similar colour while goldenrod is generally taller, making it a tough spot at the lake. The plant itself is very easy to identify, however; I've never seen anything else that looks like it growing at the lake, so if it looks like this it's probably St John's wort.

H. perforatum inflorescence up close

I love the form of the filaments & anthers on this flower. It's like a koosh ball cut in half. It's a very wibbly (I swear that's a word) sort of flower. Pretty and delicate, with the perfect rich golden colour that I'm glad has come out here very well. It's not a very large flower, at least at the lake; usually 1-2 cm across.

I'm making big changes to my life right now. My anthem right now is Chris Hadfield's rendition of Space Oddity because to me this is an incredible symbol of the triumph of the human spirit and human innovation. Decades ago, this song was sung looking up at the stars from Earth; now Chris Hadfield has sung it back to Earth from the stars. That's so incredible I have a hard time believing it sometimes. Also, I've never gotten over the childhood hero-worship I had for astronauts. Astronauts are incredible people; if my eyes didn't suck I would have tried to become one myself (but you need to be not totally useless in an emergency if you can't find your glasses, and my eyes suck without some form of intervention; I discovered the hard truth at 12 years old and I still wish I were eligible for laser eye surgery). Anyway, this song makes me think of just how incredible humanity can be. Steels the guts for hard work.

Oxeye Daisy - Leucanthemum Vulgare - Marguerite

L. vulgare inflorescence

Lovely flower, isn't it? I love the double spiral pattern in the heart (spirals in both directions). This species is invasive and is considered problematic in may parts of North America.

I'm remembering and nurturing childhood dreams today.

Cow Vetch - Vicia Cracca

V. cracca flower stalk and fern-like leaves

This is my specimen photo of cow vetch (fr. vesce craque, pois à crapauds), vicia cracca. It is a very hardy, invasive plant, considered a weed where it isn't native. Though it isn't native to Canada, in this environment it isn't particularly problematic. Cow vetch, being a meadow flower, has limited scope in a mostly wooded area like the one where I photographed this plant. It can be problematic as an invasive plant, but it is an excellent fixer of nitrogen, so it's not entirely bad, either. The difficulty with this plant is in its tendency to spread aggressively, choking and eventually squeezing out other plants.

V.  cracca flower stalk

I love the shape of the flower; it looks a bit like a rabbit's head to me. I love the way the deeper purple veins in the upper petals are clearly visible here, in their double-loop pattern. Cow vetch is particularly attractive to bees and butterflies, so sticking around these for a while results in quite a show.

I took a stroll this morning with my father to identify two shrubs, the berries of which seem to be particularly attractive to birds; yesterday, we spotted a cedar waxwing on one of them. This area is mostly too dense and forested for cedar waxwings, so it was a nice sight. The plant that attracted it was a red elderberry (fr. sureau rouge), sambucus racemosa.

Also, my parents adopted kittens recently. They're brothers, and close to 4 months old now. Here's a picture of them spooning. Just for the cute.

Leo (orange) and Noirot (black)