Je Vous Presente Pissenlit

Dandelions are popping up through cracks in cement parking lots relieving the monochrome green of monoculture lawns. Boys and girls wear soft grey baseball uniforms, and everyone else sheds layers of clothing in the sun.

Currants bloom on a St. Catherines Street curb.

A variety of Mahonia blooms at the upper corner of North China Creek Park, its imitation muguet de bois fragrance attracting common houseflies to sit a spell and preen.


Gaffer's tape marks a plot of future spinach watched over by leeks.

Trees drop some of their spring party favors on the ground.


Cherry blossoms everywhere.

Currant Events

The red-flowering currant blossoms are opening at the MOP just in time for bee-foraging weather. I saw a few honey bees out yesterday and at least one kind of syrphid fly. Oddly, I haven't seen any bumble bees out yet. I saw a dead queen on the sidewalk. Be very nice to bumble bees at this time of the year! Almost every bumble bee you see will be a queen. The species depends on the queens working alone to start her nest over from scratch.

The Oregon grape is opening up nicely too.


I love the living willow fence that volunteers built at the learning party. The catkins are putting out pollen. Bees are very dependent on pollen sources for their brood at this time of the year. Wouldn't it be great to have living willow fences all over the city to provide pollen for bees? These days I have been creating a speculative city in my mind: a Vancouver designed for pollinators. How do you think Vancouver could look if it was designed in collaboration with ecological entomologists and ornithologists?


Soon the chives will be blooming too.

Three daffodils soak up the glorious sunshine.