Here in Ottawa, April weather was very rainy, May was dry and uncomfortably warm, and June has been smoky because of Quebec forest fires. All in all, it’s been a challenging time for gardening and taking photos of garden activity.
Butterflyway kits being distributed (June 9, 2023)
I’ve been potting up and distributing free Butterflyway garden seedlings in my neighbourhood. The Butterflyway Project, an initiative of the David Suzuki Foundation, encourages communities across Canada to plant 12 pollinator gardens creating native plant corridors for butterflies, bees and other wildlife.
I grew all the plants for these kits from seed, occasionally giving the seedlings Alaska Fish Fertilizer for a boost. For the most part, the seedlings are a good size and ready for planting. I used the 3 x 3 x 3 formula to create the kits: 3 plants of 3 species for 3 growing seasons. This is a short, sunny garden kit that includes Prairie Smoke, Hairy Beardtongue, Heart-leaved Alexanders, Butterfly Milkweed, Black-eyed Susans, Dotted Mint, Aromatic Aster, Silverrod, and Old Field/Gray Goldenrod.
Although I originally sought 12 participants, I found 16 people who wanted to join my neighbourhood Butterflyway. Fortunately, I had enough plants for everyone.
I expected most people to want shade plants because there are so many trees and houses surrounding urban yards. However, 2/3rds actually requested plants for sun.
Also, I expected most participants would be novice gardeners. In fact, most already have gardens but want to add native plants to them to help pollinators and support biodiversity.
So far, my little Butterflyway pilot project has gone well. I’d like to try it again next summer in an adjacent neighbourhood.
Sneaky Magnolia Warbler hanging out with Goldfinches (June 9, 2023)
This spring, I’ve spent a lot of time finishing outdoor projects and getting the garden ready for tours. Between that and caring for native plant seedlings, I haven’t had much time for backyard birdwatching. I still managed to see some amazing avian visitors at the stream.
I’ve said before that you shouldn’t assume a yellow bird is a Goldfinch, even when there are already Goldfinches at the stream. I should follow my own advice.
Yesterday, a ‘Goldfinch’ was hopping around the lilacs like a warbler. Of course, since I was just taking a break from potting up seedlings, I didn’t have the camera. The bird turnout out to be a beautiful Magnolia Warbler.
By the time I did get the camera, I wasn’t able to get any good photos (dark and not quite clear). At least I can tell what the bird is. I’ve included 2 other Magnolia Warbler photos:one from August 2022, and the last is from May 2021. Coincidentally, they’re all facing the same direction.
Blackburnian Warbler (June 2, 2023)
During the hot, dry weather we had last week lots of birds visited the stream — including this beautiful Blackburnian Warbler. The bird came to the stream for a bath and a drink before searching the surrounding trees and shrubs for insects to eat.
Cardinal sweethearts (June 7, 2023)
To show that he’ll be a good dad and be capable of feeding their offspring, a male Cardinal will feed its mate. Here, a male Cardinal went back and forth to the feeder, shelled seeds, and brought them to his lady at the stream. She seems pleased with her choice of mate.
For 3 years, I’ve been trying to get photos of this Cardinal courting behaviour. In the past, I’ve been too slow, not had the camera, they’ve been behind leaves, or at the wrong angle (last photo where you can’t even really see the female Cardinal). I’m glad I finally captured this sweet moment.
Cardinal looking for insects in the Red Osier Dogwood thicket (June 6, 2023)
It’s now June 7th and I still haven’t seen fledgeling Cardinals in the yard. Mom and Dad have been hunting for insects, so maybe they have babies in their nest still.
Both a male and female Cardinal were looking all over the Red Osier Dogwoods for insects. I don’t know if they were looking for caterpillars or eating bees that were visiting the flowers.
I’m not sure if we have one pair of Cardinals that visit or several, but they certainly are entertaining visitors. I planted 5 Red Osier Dogwoods between the shed and the pond so we could observe the activity in these shrubs from our seating area. They provide me with lots of lazy birding opportunities.
Grey Squirrel visits the stream (June 10, 2023)
It’s been a long time since we’ve had significant rain. Perhaps that’s why we’re still getting an interesting variety of birds visiting the stream.
Other creatures visit the stream to drink too. Here an Eastern Grey Squirrel stopped by.
Look out for sick milkweed (June 5, 2023)
Milkweed Yellows Phytoplasma is becoming an annual problem for me in my garden. This bacteria causes milkweed plants to be stunted with yellow edges around the leaves. Then, it eventually kills the plants. Unfortunately, the virus is spread from sick to health milkweed by leaf hoppers.
The only solution is to dig out sick plants. I also bleach my shovel with a 10% strength solution, and avoid planting new milkweed plants in the same spot. This was the recommended procedure for Hosta Virus X when I had affected plants long ago.
The 1st photo shows healthy Butterfly Milkweed on the left, and sick ones on the right. The 2nd photos is a healthy patch of Common Milkweed, and the 3rd is sick Common Milkweed.
I’ve started growing more milkweed plants for myself each year anticipating that I will have to dig out a bunch, and then plant new ones. What a pain!
Bees drinking nectar and collecting pollen from Virginia Waterleaf flowers (June 8, 2023)
There’s non-stop pollinator activity at the Virginia Waterleaf flowers. I’ve seen both bumblebee queens and workers, as well as solitary bees, and others that I can’t identify.
Some bees go inside flowers to drink nectar (1st 3 photos), but others collect pollen from the ends of the long anthers (last 3 photos).
I bought my first Virginia Waterleaf plants from Beaux Arbres Native Plants, and have let them self-seed wherever they like. My attempts to grow them from seed failed.
When the plants get direct sun, they wilt terribly, but perk up once the shade returns. Their flower colour varies from bluish-purple to white.
Resident American Toad (June 11, 2023)
This American Toad lives behind the greenhouse near pots that I water often. It is certainly well camouflaged in the leaves. Whenever I move pots around, it jumps away. Otherwise, I don’t think I ever would have noticed it, or know it was even there.
A yellow underwing moth (June 11, 2023)
I saw one of these moths in the backyard, but it had its wings closed and it looked kind of boring brown. I didn’t even bother to get the camera. However, when it flew away, I regretted that I hadn’t taken a photo because it looked orange. Without a photo, I had no hope of figuring out what it was.
Later I saw it, or a relative, on the driveway under my neighbour’s car. According to inaturalist, it’s some kind of yellow underwing. I’ve never seen an underwing moth before.
Now I need to knit a pair of “Underwing Mitts” (patten by Erica Heusser). They’re stranded, fingerless mitts with an underwing moth and moons on them. This moth is obviously active during the day though.
Beware of plant gifts (June 8, 2023)
A couple of years ago, I was given some seeds for purple ‘phlox’. The plants that I grew from those seeds flowered for the first time this spring, and turned out to be Dame’s Rocket. The flowers are pretty and I’ve seen bumblebees visit to drink nectar.
However, I’ll be digging them out before they go to seed. Dame’s Rocket is invasive — meaning that it spreads out of control in natural spaces crowding out native plants. They’re also allopathic, secreting chemicals that inhibit growth in surrounding plants and eventually killing their neighbours. Not something I want in the garden. Dame’s Rocket is pretty, but it’s gotta go.
The Corner Pollinator Garden and Wildlife Habitat 