My Garden Beauties... and the Nasty Thing!

Last week's rains have livened up my garden. It's a riot of colour right now. After mowing what passes for a lawn (it's green, anyway) and weed-wacking the wilds around the house, I picked up my camera because I wanted to celebrate the Lovelies that inhabit my fenced garden. My garden is fenced, because otherwise the four-legged lawnmowers also known as deer would raze everything down to 3 inches off the ground.

I thought I'd share some of that beauty with you. I'll spare you the names of these flowers (and the unavoidable search I'd have to carry out in order to properly name everything... I'm feeling a little lazy this evening).

So, below, the first of my Garden Beauties, the Orange One, about to unfold.



And let me introduce you - up close and personal - to my Pink Beauty...



And isn't this Maroon Beauty exotic?



Even the tiny Yellow Beauties that survive on the rock wall have their moment of glory.



And this one, my Gorgeous Red Beauties, well, others have painted them well. I am content to just take a picture...



But let me tell you, when you are weeding, pay attention to the Nasty One below!!! This is stinging nettles, and it bears its name well... Some people make soup and such out of it. I say, "Don't touch it!" At least, not without gloves.

Road Trip to Port Renfrew

Last week, I went to the dentist, then I took off to Port Renfrew for a little change of scenery... After a few years of living on the West Coast, I had to check out a bit of Vancouver Island I hadn't seen before. Road trip to the end of that road. Botanical Beach, to be precise.

Here are some evocative pictures of that trip.

Above: Botanical Beach at low tide, near Port Renfrew, BC

I was lucky: the tide was down, the sun burned through the fog and a whole mini-world of wonders awaited me.
Above: Over time, the rock in the middle turns and turns, propelled by wave action, and grinds a hole in the flat bench of rock... And the hole becomes inhabited by a rich variety of little (and larger) beasts. Some of these holes are over six feet deep, and full of life.

In one of those, a gumboot chiton (the big red thing above) was crawling by, with passengers on his back, almost like a bus. For info on this chiton, check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium website.

Above: An assortment of limpets

On the flat sandstone, in water that was only two inches deep, a crowd of limpets was waiting for the return of high tide. It looks like they have very individual patterns.

On a more exposed rock, closer to the serious wave action, goose barnacles (above) -closely shut - also waited for the return of the high water.


And (above) this very attractive group of algae and closed-up anemones caught my eye.

Back on shore, the path was lined with plants whose bloom was about to open. Something in the pea family, I think. Very elegant and sexy, don't you think?

That evening, I stayed at the Soule Creek Lodge, in Port Renfrew. Above: the view from the main deck. The lodge is nicely located, at the end of a 2 km gravel road up a hill, like a fortress of old.

Above: An outhouse dwarfed by an old giant, Sombrio Beach

The next day, back down the road toward Victoria, I stopped at Sombrio Beach, a surfing hotspot. However, the tide was low and wave action minimal. There is a grove of old growth trees near the beach, however, that dwarfs the modern commodities...

Here's a final "beach bouquet": a bryozoan on a piece of algae. It was a magical couple of days, driving along uncrowded roads, with glimpses of the big ocean. I plan to take another quick road trip this summer, to explore another area of Vancouver island.

Rock Magic: Nature vs Sculpture

A recent hike to an amazing place on the island revealed some exceptional rocks. Here are some examples of what water, wind, and wave action can do to sandstone...

First, an arch that frames a lovely view...

Then, a closer look at what water does do to rocks, over time... Doesn' t the rock below look just like a bunch of people's knees? All lying down on a beach blanket, say? Pass the sunblock.

Saturna, like the other Gulf Islands I've visited, has a wealth of "lace" sandstone on its shores. I keep wandering around the island, marveling at these patterns. Smooth rock, alternating with ridges, lace-like series of holes.

It pays to look closely, because you'll find life in the rocks. Like the snake that was sunning itself at East Point (must have been a cool night!):

In the series of little holes below, tiny shells hang out together. Can you consider each hole a country? Or a tribe?

Sometimes, I feel that "our" world can be just as small at that of the shells above. Not a bad idea to look beyond our own borders, sometimes...

Mushrooms Identification: Whoooo Are You? Who-ooo, Who-ooo?

Escumitra or Verpa?

Whoooooo Are You? Who-ooo, Who-ooo? (CSI music theme)

The mushroom pictures I posted earlier this week forced me to study my mushroom book, look online for images that resembled the mushrooms I found, and finally, to ask for help from our local mycologist, P.

She was kind enough to answer my plea and offered this advice on mushroom identification:

"The False Morel, also know as a Brain Mushroom – for fairly obvious reasons – is properly called Gyromitra esculenta.

...It’s not always possible to tell a mushroom by just seeing one aspect of it. For example your morel, is the cap attached to the stem or is it free except at the top? It looks free, but if it’s not then it’s not a morel, but a Verpa. It works best if you took several shots, from several different angles (this usually involves picking the mushroom so you can get a shot of the gills) and send then to me for identification purposes or you could always bring it over – if I’m home.... Mushrooms get complicated once you decide to put a proper name to them."

P

Like P., I am simply curious and not looking for lunch. So I will look at the mushrooms, I will take pictures and I will cut and slice them - possibly - to identify them. But I certainly don't plan on eating any... Here's an interesting link to the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine with pictures of the Morels, real and false. Better be cautious than suffer the symptoms described there!

I especially paid attention to the following paragraph from the above website:

The primary toxin, gyromitrin (acetaldehyde-formylmethylhydrazone), is hydrolyzed easily by cooking and by stomach acid into methylformylhydrazine and then into monomethylhydrazine (MMH). MMH, a component of rocket fuel, vapourizes at 87.5°C and, while most is boiled off during food preparation, some may remain in the cooking water with the potential for ingestion unless the water is discarded. Because MMH toxin is volatile, the chef may inhale toxin during preparation and become sicker than the dinner guests. Drying the mushrooms for several days can reduce the toxin concentration.

Now, there's food for thought.

The Mushrooms of Spring

I take a walk with my dog everyday. Actually, I take two walks with the dog: a short one in the morning, you might call it a scouting walk. The second walk is longer, at least 3 or 4 km long, and I've learned to bring a camera along. You never know what you might accidentally find...

This week, I was surprised to find mushrooms on the path. I associate mushrooms with fall... Oh well, another preconceived idea bites the dust.

Here are a couple of the mushrooms of April and early May, both found in the Douglas Fir forest...

I think the one above is Early Morel, but I'll need to double check that with our local mycologist and I'll post any correction she offers...

This one is probably False Morel, but again, I am not sure. It's certainly a remarkable mushroom, you can't miss it on the trail. It has presence.

More Spring Flowers from the Coast

In case you didn't know... it's spring! Despite the large herds of deer and goats that roam around the island and act as four-legged mowers, some flowers manage to thrive...

Here's a sampling. All of these are no more than 6 inches high, some considerably lower to the ground. It pays to look closely at the ground when you walk around here... and not just to avoid tripping over rocks and things!


This little yellow one is Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus), a tiny little thing carpeting some open areas in full sun.

Then, there is the lovely Bittercress (Cardamine pulcherrima), which can also form carpets, but was found on the shady forest floor. (Thank you, H., for the identification of this flower!)




Moving on to Woodland Star (Lithophragma parfiflorum), which is one of the first flowers I noticed on the rocky bluff in front of my house, the year I arrived in BC. It glows in the sun.

And in the blue range, here is the Small-Flowered Lupine (Lupinus polycarpus - although H. tells me this is Lupinus bicolor), which flowers in large quantities on rocky sunny bluffs.

And finally, just because I got a close-up shot of this one, on an overcast day that just made the colour glow: Blue-Eyed Mary.

That's right, what a sweet name!

Blue-Eyed Mary, if you want to be formal, is known as Collinsia.

And now, I am heading out for another walk with the dog. Who knows what we will find during our roamings?

Critters in Crevices - part two

Sunday's trip was a wonderful experience. We hiked down a very steep path to a rocky beach and discovered all sorts of critters hiding in crevices.

Some of us also climbed rocks and crevices... to show off. The sandstone has been worked into a sort of lace by water and wind action, over time...

As promised, here are a few more pictures of our discoveries on the rocky shore, at low tide. I am still in awe at the very colourful creatures that inhabit this cold water.

First, allow me to introduce the Pink Tipped Anemone (Anthopleura elegantissima) above, which is an anemone that reproduces by cloning itself. It's safe to assume that all the anemones in the above crevice are clones (no relationship issues here!). They form colonies... And if different colonies are neighbours, then they try to sting each other over territorial squabbles, so there are "borders" enforced. Click on the name above for more info on this.

Then, we spotted the Leather Star (Dermasterias imbricata) below. I had never seen one before, and really enjoyed its shape. According to the information I looked at, this sea star is a predator of anemones, sea cucumbers and chitons, which were present in the same rocks... I guess it was on its way to lunch!



We also found the lovely Blood star (Henricia leviuscula) below. Although it's quite small - at about 5 inches or 10 cm - it's easy to spot because of the colour. Plus, this is an elegant little star. It feeds on sponges. Love the colour.

And for today's grand finale: a California Sea Cucumber (Parastichopus californicus). This very interesting creature is apparently dinner to the sea stars. When you pick it up, it oozes water, and goes floppy.

While looking for more information on this sea cucumber, I found a very interesting website, with a video of its escape response in the presence of a sea star. It literally swims away from the sea star that's trying to catch it! Click here to view it.

From now on, I will prowl low tide zones with an eagle eye, and a book to identify the things I find right there, on the spot...

Critters in Crevices

Today, we went on a walk to a remote beach area. Not an easy place to get to, because you can only get there via a very steep path. Also, it helps to have a friend who knows the way. We are very lucky to have just such a friend. She knows who she is...


And of course, this very long way down to the beach meant that when it's time to go home, it's a long long way up. And up some more... But it was worthwhile. Be still, my little heart. The payoff is a beautiful West Coast beach, complete with a lot of washed up lumber, an actual "beach" with sand, rocky outcrops and tidepools that reveal all kinds of interesting life forms, for those of us who are curious and childlike... And willing to peer in holes and crevices, to take a look at some creatures up close and personal.



Allow me to introduce you to the gumboot chiton, the largest chiton out there, apparently.

Below, a belly shot of the creature...

We put him back exactly where we found him...

And in another crevice, we found the lovely Black Katy chiton

And when you say tidepool, you say anemones. There were plenty of those around today, but because we were visiting at very low tide, most of the ones we found were closed for business. When anemones close up, they look like big lumps of gooey stuff... like this group below.

But we did find a tidepool with some anemones open for business, looking for lunch (to enlarge the image, click on the picture):

Lesson learned: it pays to be curious and to look in holes and crevices when you are wandering on the beach and on rocky outcrops.

More pictures from that outing tomorrow. Stay tuned.