I had a few aphid skeletons in my closet. Well in my greenhouse actually. These are the little white skins shed from aphids as they grow. They are more obvious than the aphids themselves. It’s all my fault really because I had a big plan to bring in some strawberries from my garden last fall and keep them alive in my greenhouse so that when they started growing I would have the first crop of aphids – oops I meant strawberries.
As a gardener, I was thrilled that a combination of plants I had put together a decade earlier still looked great. This happens sometimes when you look through a closet you haven’t sorted lately and find a fabulous “outfit” but it doesn’t often happen in gardens. Plants usually grow tired or die or outgrow their spot.
Perhaps I am a slow learner or maybe I just haven’t taken the time to look around before now. Yesterday I realized anything blooming and thriving in a public space in Qualicum Beach is – by definition- deer proof.
On June 21, 2013 the Elbow river breached it’s banks and began flooding into the lovely inner city neighbourhoods of Calgary, included my previous residence. Water and mud were up to the middle of the garage doors in the back alley and residents were evacuated.
I contacted independent tree assessment specialist and Registered Consulting Arborist, Anita Schill to sort out the trouble as soil piles up on trees. As well as being qualified to assess tree damage, Schill teaches soil science at Olds College so she understood my concerns.
Does this mean it is the end of winter? No – there is plenty more time for that but for Hepatica it is fine even if it snows and freezes for weeks to come.
