More wows were uttered as I noticed the northern lights were back just as I was about to go to bed…and later I fell asleep to the flashing light show through my bedroom window :)
Suddenly, a powerful burst and all the colours were there,not often I see red here!
The big dipper is top left
Big dipper and the Aurora
Enhanced (brightened) image! Reflection in the fjord!
The next garden I visited in Victoria BC on 1st April 2017! The Abkhazi Gardens were created by Prince Nicholas Abkhazi from Georgia and his wife from 1947, taken over by the Land Conservancy to protect the garden against property development.
With Kelly Kerr
I think the garden was on the hill?
Pachyphragma macrophylla is a beautiful woodland edimental in the cabbage family which is one of the earliest flowering woodlanders. I had it for a number of years, but for some reason didn’t make notes of tasting it…I lost it unfortunately…replanted it last year and lost it again..
Pachyphragma macrophylla is from West Asia, N.E. Turkey to the W. Caucasus. It’s naturalized in Britain. Have a taste and let me know!
Trachystemon orientalis in flower
Polygonatum odoratum
Primula and Podophyllum
Petasites palmatus: the leaves and young stems were a vegetable for native american tribes
Ingerid Angell-Pedersen holdt et kort innlegg om kvann (en fast “månedens art” innlegg) under kveldens medlemsmøtet hos Trøndelagsavdelingen av Norsk Botanisk Forening i Trondheim! Ingerids onkel, hagebruker Jens Roll-Hansen på Kvithamar forsøksgård i Stjørdal, var utgangspunktet for Markusteigen linje av Vossakvann som dyrkes på Landvik…og nå er også dyrket og distribuert i høst gjennom “foreningen” KVANNs høstkatalog av Karl fra prosjektet archangelica.no! Ingerid har fortsatt Vossakvann i hagen som bildene viser…
Etter foredraget begynte møtelederen faktisk å fortelle forsamlingen om at det var til og med dannet en forening KVANN…før jeg kunne fortelle dette selv… Jeg kunne derfor sto opp og fortelle at jeg var faktisk KVANNs leder og jeg fortalte litt om oss….
Dette bildet viser Ingerids mann og en kvannplante i hagen
Forskjellen mellom vanlig fjellkvann og nesten fylt vossakvann (nederst)
The owner of the Airbnb I was staying at in Victoria, BC kindly took me on a tour of gardens on 2nd April 2017! This was the first garden, a lot which was donated to the city and maintained for native plants by volunteers!
Thanks once again Kelly Kerr!
The year’s first flowering Trillium!
Erythronium oregonum (white fawn lily)
Mahonia aquifolium, tall Oregon grape
Mahonia nervosa, dull Oregon grape
Maianthemum
Sword fern? (Polystichum munitum)
Viola spp.
Indian plum or osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis)…the plums were/are eaten fully ripe by native peoples of the west coast!
There are many Asters that are foraged and cultivated in the Far East. This includes Aster scaber (Korean Aster) which is one of the 80 in my book Around the World in 80 plants. I’ve blogged a lot about this fantastic edimental. See http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?s=aster+scaber. In my book, I mention 4 other Asian species that are used as spring vegetables and in my most comprehensive Japanese foraging book there are 8 species mentioned. I’ve now finally flowered two other species, both mentioned in my book, so maybe there’ll be a taste in the spring…they are all late flowering. Here they are at the end of October 2017!
See on FB here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155527725545860.1073743046.655215859&type=1&l=7a796be893
My oca (Oxalis tuberosa) plants (grown in large pots) have now been moved inside to be finished off for Xmas. A couple were still in flower!! It should be a good crop!
Oca are difficult to get a good crop off in the north as tuberisation doesn’t start until days are short…and early frost /cool weather can stop development and lead to almost no yield!
I’m full of hope!
The autumn songs of the European robin (rødstrupe), heard in the video from the garden this morning and wren (gjerdesmett) always puts me in a good frame of mind despite everything
It’s still very mild here and still no proper frost (just a slight ground frost one morning) and no frost forecast either in the next 10 days! Just as well as I’ve hardly started harvesting and preparing for winter! On my bike ride to town yesterday I heard 4 singing robins, and in Bakklandet (central Trondheim) a singing wren on my way into town and with the full moon accompanying me on the way home, all the signs are good!
A common sight on warm autumn / winter days are the swarms of what I’ve always called winter gnats…however, I know little more about who they are or their life history..
If you know more, please enlighten me!
…and a closeup with double reflection :)
