red admiral butterfly on golden currant
red admiral butterfly on golden currant
[PHOTOS: CWF]
I’ve been seeing red admiral butterflies these past few weeks but today managed to get a few shots of one on our golden current (Ribes aureum). This photo shows it having a drink with its proboscis. There were other butterflies about, on this shrub as well as the neighbouring serviceberries…and the odd dandelion! While our little yellow friends have been flowering for a couple of weeks now, it seems they are at their peak right now. Many natives in our garden are still in bloom this week, such as hepaticas, pasque flower/prairie crocus, bellwort, prairie smoke, Virginia bluebells, bearberry honeysuckle and western bleeding heart.
serviceberry

The serviceberries are in full bloom, but the petals are starting to drop in the wind. It’s quite fun having a springy shower of petals gently blow around me on my walkabout!

red trillium

Red trilliums are blooming in our woodland area, just off the path from the parking lot.

white trillium

So are our white trilliums.

sensitive fern

Sensitive ferns are now opening up. They are tiny and delicate at the moment, with a reddy-brown tinge to them. Only 3 or 4 stems seem to come up per clump.

willow

With our fluffy pussy willows finished the other week, another sort of willow begins to flower this week.

golden currant

Here’s another shot of the golden flowering current. This is an all-round winner of a bush, with attractive fruit that birds just love and then brilliant fall foliage in the autumn weeks.

barren ground strawberry

Barren ground strawberry is now flowering. It is a pretty clumping plant that can make an attractive ground cover.

green frog

Melissa, our gardener extraordinaire, noticed a green frog lazing about the pond this week.

red berried elder

And we found another red berried elder in the woods, a litte one that is blooming before the more established bush from across the path.

Stay tuned for more visitors, blooms and other happenings at our wildlife-friendly demonstration gardens!