A Woodhaven Phenology

My family went for a walk in the Woodhaven Nature Conservancy Park in the Okanagan and I recorded the phenology of some of the plants. The wild roses were blooming profusely and most of the bumblebee action was happening at the forest edge, just outside the chain link fence that encloses the park.

This little bumblebee was buzz-pollinating the roses.

 Even more popular than the roses were the tiny cup-shaped snowberry blossoms.

I love the fuzzy texture of the beaked hazelnuts.

It's a park with diverse biosystems, and trails that lead through different flora.

Hello! This is the sign that I followed, of course.

You know, I was lucky enough to see a flash of a daylight flying owl and I'm pretty sure it was one of these screech owls. It was squat and fluffy.

 It's on my bucket list to see the Okanagan sunflower in bloom. Although I did see some from the bus window  blooming at higher elevations, these had already gone to seed.

Apparently squirrels love the seeds, so it's tricky to get a few to germinate. Anyway, they are best left where they are, so the population can regenerate.

 I didn't realize Douglas asters bloomed so early.

 Excellent signage regarding habitat logs or snags.

 

 This is goat's beard--an introduced species also found widely on the prairies.

Most of the Saskatoon berries are green, but I did find a few ripe ones--in May!

 I believe the trees below are pin cherries, another great bee plant.

 The nettles are blooming.

 The whole floor of the park is covered with Oregon grape, which along with the Saskatoons and arrowleaf balsam root must be essential food for bumblebee queens here.

You can see how the snowberry is a great companion for the Oregon grape.

And now for three mystery flowers I couldn't identify. One. ETA: It's spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium).

Two. ETA: Threadleaf phacelia (Phacelia linearis).

Three. ETA White campion (Silene latifolia). This was ID'ed with the help of posts by Lori Mairs on the Woodhaven Project Blog.

Back in the cosy Woodehaven Eco-Retreat, we saw cranesbill geranium in bloom.

And a bumblebee queen enjoying the perennial sage in the garden--this is obviously a great long-blooming perennial to add to these Okanagan native plants for bees in your garden.

So this is a garden escape on the road by the park. It's Italian bugloss. This is an example of a plant that one should not grow in a garden next to pristine wilderness because it could creep in and become invasive, so a word of caution on this plant to Okanagan gardeners and of course Viper's Bugloss is invasive, and would be a potential problem here as well.

Thanks again to the Okanagan team of Border Free Bees  for a lovely experience.

Beautiful Okanagan Bees

While on holiday to the Okanagan I saw this  beautiful bee in the garden at Poplar Grove Winery. Wineries that plant pollinator and/or insectary gardens are my favorite because it breaks up the monoculture of the acres of grape vines. These gardens also provide beneficial insects that help make healthier grapes, even though they are pollinated by wind and gravity. As I guessed, there was an abundance of ground-nesting bees.

A highlight of the trip was the Summerland Xeriscape Garden where we made mental notes on which plants were functioning well with minimal water while feeding the bees. This is a cuckoo bee on Heliopsis.

Golden rod and milkweed make good companions and attract beneficial wasps.

In other gardens, spirea supported bumblebees.

There were many turquoise sweat bees, especially in this weed. The bees circled round and round the stamens collecting pollen.

Syrphid flies also visited these small white flowers.

 Gaillardia is an important drought tolerant flower and Perovskia is used in many gardens as well.

We'll need to continue to look to the Okanagan to choose hardy plants that perform well in dry summers.

Perovskia on Holiday

Whenever I go to the Okanagan for the summer I am enchanted by the patches of perovskia that provide important forage for bees in this hot, dry period. Look at the way the plant glows in the bright sun at the Quail's Gate Winery. This is a good plant for those who go on holiday in July because it will thrive in a xeriscape garden. I can see this interplanted with teasel, echinops and sea holly.

A big thanks to those friends who watered my garden while I was on holiday!!!!!!!

Linden Gardens

Eight kilometers south of Penticton we discovered the beautiful Linden Gardens. I was inspired by the seamless landscaping, with a real vision towards integrating native plants with perennial cultivars.

I love the way these agastache plants compliment the currant bush behind them.

It is a dense, compact garden with contrasting and complimenting textures and hues. There is only one tiny part of the garden that is devoted to a lawn for wedding parties and other events. The site has a new tea room and dining hall which caters for these occasions. They make a very refreshing cup of homemade iced tea! Check their web site for the hours of the café, which is where you pay for the garden entrance fee.


I like a garden that is roomy enough to have mass plantings like this fireworks display of echinops. I pursued the largest bumblebee queen I've ever seen, over two inches long, but alas I didn't get a good photo of her majesty.

The garden in on a bench overlooking the lake shore and although we are nearly dipping into the dessert zone here, an intense irrigation system keeps the plants lush. We had to run through a few sprinklers on our walk through the garden paths.

The Oregon grapes were chalk full of berries.

The palette of the garden changes as you move through the space. This section was very painterly.




The edible berries attract a healthy bird population including these cute California quails.




The sumac berries are beginning to ripen.

There are a few ponds in the gardens as well, which are quite charming. I just read about a gardener named Roy Diblik who believes in getting to know which plants belong in communities, so that you can plant them in relationship to one another. It's an enlightened approach to companion planting. Linden Gardens is a living example of plants that have been chosen in this way and are flourishing because of it. I was inspired and uplifted by this Okanagan oasis. Hats off to its creators!