Rondeau Ric

Overcast, below freezing, snowing. Some colour for your day.  

It has been raining since 6.00 am, it is now 5.19 pm.  I might build an ark.  Here is a touch  of colour for a very dreary day

Don't know what it is but it looks nice. Our yard, Aug 1, 2021.

An icy morning at Rondeau.

One of the trails at Rondeau Provincial Park is named the Tulip Tree Trail. Oddly enough there are tulip trees along the trail and right now they are blooming. As you can see they come by their name legitimately.  Liriodendron tulipifera The tulip tree is a large, fast-growing tree, up to 35 metres tall with a trunk up to 160 centimetres in diameter. As its name suggest, the tulip tree produces beautiful yellow-green flowers that are about 5 centimetres long. They have 6 petals and are shaped like tulip flowers and bloom in the spring. Its leaves are 7 to 12 centimetres long and are straight across the top, with 4 lobes beneath. They are light green and turn yellow in the fall. The tulip tree's bark is smooth and dark green when the tree is young, then turns brown and ridged. source -Ontario.ca

Our ironweed plant is finally starting to bloom. It draws in lots of butterflies and occasionally a hummingbird. Not being a fan of manicured lawns our front yard is tall grass prairie.

Sitting on top of a cone flower in the yard. Just chillin'. I suppose I should know what type of frog this is but I'm having a senior moment.

I have no idea what type of bee this is but it is busily doing its pollination work. If you look closely you will see aphids on the stem of the flower going about their business of sucking fluids from the plant. Beneficial and harmful, it's all nature.

Let's talk spring , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Enough winter for now. This is the bloom of the tulip tree,and is native to the deciduous forest of eastern North America which extends into Canada in southwestern Ontario in the region called the Carolinian zone or Carolinian Canada, which is where we live. It can grow to over 100 feet tall and in excess of 5 feet in diameter. The wood of tulip-tree is commercially valuable and is used to make furniture, musical instruments, plywood, and pulp. Some Aboriginal peoples and early European settlers hollowed out the large, straight trunks to make canoes, and the roots were used medicinally. Liriodendron tulipifera

Candelabra , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Half the bulbs are not turned on. I think this is a type of prickly pear cactus. We saw them with red or yellow flowers. We have a yellow variety in southern Ontario, probably the very edge of their range. The Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa) is what we get. While looking for information on the plant I came across this entry - How to Eat Prickly Pear Cactus The answer is obvious - very carefully. Odd fact - like all true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the Western hemisphere

Bed of nails. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. As long as you spread the pain around people will tolerate almost anything.

Butterfly and bee balm , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Another name for bee balm is Monarda. It attracts bees, butterflies and insects to it's nectar. A quick look at the butterfly field guide didn't This photo was taken in our front yard which we turned into a tall grass prairie years ago. I'm not good with butterfly id,however, I feel I should know this one. Can you help with the id?

A natural explosion , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. My wife Anne, took this photo of a plant growing next door to us. It is yellow salsify, tragopgon dubius. It produces a solitary terminal flower head on each stock. The fruiting heads are large balls of single seeds, each one a feathery parachute, similar to dandelions.

Coming soon to a meadow near you. , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. These are purple cone flowers growing in our yard. When we moved here we took out all the grass in the front yard and planted a tall grass meadow. I don't have to water it, cut it or fertilize it and it's great for birds and small critters. Later in the summer we get numerous species of butterflies feeding.

Busy bee , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. The yard is full of interesting things this time of year. Bees,wasps,skinks,salamanders, snakes and more.