Blessings. The darkness is falling back now. The sun is coming back. Look who showed up today in Penticton. What ancient symbols of renewal! A pigeon and Russian Olives (a kind of […]
Pigeons and Dates under the Rising Sun
Canada: Country of Weeds
Seriously. Here’s an image of the Grey Canal trail in the Okanagan Valley, the syilx homeland that Canada claimed as its own in 1871. Every single plant you see in this image, […]
One Bird Can Make Your Day
When is an invasive species not, well, an invasive species? Chinese Elm Fooling Around With Light and Shadow Because it Can I mean, a really invasive species, with a kazillion seeds that […]
Noxious Weeds? Don’t be Silly.
The scotch thistle is listed as a noxious weed in the Okanagan. The image below shows it after the first year of is growth. Now it’s ready to grow a tall stalk. […]
Robin Meets a Landscaping Mistake And Makes the Best of It, Gasp
So, plucking the haws, that’s the easy part. But they’re freaking ornamental haws, right, and they have weird stem bits. And even without stem things they’re too, gasp, cough cough, wheeze, big. […]
Beautiful Starlings
Isn’t it a bitter irony that these beautiful birds, starlings, an invasive species here, are called pests and are electrocuted for it by the hundreds of thousands … … by that other […]
Please, Please, Please Don’t Plant That Lavender!
If you plant that lavender, the crab spiders will have nowhere to go, and they are the wolves of this ecosystem. Removing the top predator from a chain, in this case a […]
So Many Shades of Green!
Sumac turning before its time, in the smoky sun. I’d say she’s done this before.
Pick Your Camoflauge!
Blend in. Or look like you blew in on the wind. And hang on. That’s the way.
Don’t Be a Settler!
Shrimp skeletons on Okanagan Lake, eh. The little buggers were introduced to the lake over 40 years ago. Pretty sci-fi. Don’t worry. That sand is imported too. Oh, and the water? Aha. […]
