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Vacationing in the Kootenays

My wife and I just returned from visiting my parents in the Kootenays of British Columbia. Of course, I kept my camera handy and although these pictures aren’t exactly “Alberta Home Gardening” – I thought I’d share them with you.

One of the things that really struck us was how beautiful their road ditches are! They tell me they are all weeds, but man, oh man – they sure look nice! Take a look for yourself…

Nice weeds, eh? Another little bit of nature was this little green itsy bitsy spider that I found on one of my mom’s peonys. Looks a little ferocious, doesn’t he? I’ve never seen any like this in Alberta – and I’m kinda glad.

The last thing I want to show you I think I’ll save for another post. It’s worthy of a whole separate post. So stay tuned…. Especially you entrepreneurs….

8 replies on “Vacationing in the Kootenays”

That lily looks a bit like Lilium canadense and a lot like Lilium superbum. They’re both native to eastern North America so it probably isn’t.

If you’d like, I’ll harvest some seeds from a Lilium canadense in the wild part of our property.
[img]https://www.albertahomegardening.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P1070129.JPG[/img]
[img]https://www.albertahomegardening.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P1070130.JPG[/img]

We live about 30 miles south of where you were. The weeds are truly gorgeous around here! Another benefit to these so-called invasive weeds is the wonderful honey that our bees make from them! Delicious!

The pretty orange flower at top, Orange Hawkweed is one I recently noticed in places north of Edmonton and since found its on the Alberta prohibited noxious weeds list. Pretty yet considered a bad introduced species, sigh!
I photographed the same type of pretty little spider on our peonies and other flowers this spring, and always on the lip of a pedal, they must sit and wait for a meal to buzz past for pollen. Nature is amazing.

That spider, if you haven’t found out yet, is a fairly common crab spider. They actually will colour change depending on the flower they’re on. They hide inside flowers and ambush insects that get too close. Nothing too worrisome for humans though. I find them quite fascinating. They will usually stay pretty still and allow some great photos. Just discovered your website tonight, and am really enjoying it. Great stuff! Planning on trying the hoop greenhouse this spring – not just for the added growing season, but to keep the deer off my plants!! There’s an urban herd in our area that is the bane of every gardener in the area. They’re pretty and all, but a menace! 🙂

You have beautiful shots of flowers! I’m already getting excited with the Spring and Summer season. I love roses and I bet this summer they will look at their best. Great post! 🙂

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