Canada 150 special – Page 3

Viking maples invade Canada

November 5, 2020June 21, 2017 by Stephen Westcott-Gratton

sugar maples have three lobes (like the flag) while Norway maples have five lobes with pointy, tapered tips.

The widely planted Norway maple (Acer platanoides) is native from Scandinavia to Turkey, but imported to Canada and now an invasive species.

Mayapple and maidenhair fern flourish in woodland garden

April 29, 2021June 14, 2017 by Stephen Westcott-Gratton

The native mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum is the last spring ephemeral to bloom, but sometimes lasts all summer. (Photo by Stephen Westcott-Gratton)

Stephen Westcott-Gratton enjoys a large, robust mayapple colony and maidenhair ferns in his woodland-style front garden 100 kilometres north of Toronto.

“Canadian Wild Flowers” book: a labour of love 150 years ago

February 18, 2021June 7, 2017 by Stephen Westcott-Gratton

Illustration from 1868 Canadian Wild Flowers by Catharine Parr Traill : Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) Wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum) Showy lady’s slipper orchid (Cypripedium reginae)

Catharine Parr Traill, Canada’s first popular chronicler of native flora and fauna, published Canadian Wild Flowers book with hand-painted images in 1868.

A gift from the West: The prairie crocus

May 31, 2017 by Stephen Westcott-Gratton

The prairie crocus (or “pasqueflower”) often bursts into bloom before the last traces of winter snow have melted. It bears sumptuous cup-shaped lavender-purple flowers held above finely dissected fern-like leaves

The prairie crocus (or “pasqueflower”) often blooms with sumptuous cup-shaped lavender-purple flowers before the last traces of winter snow have melted.

Purple pulpits and trilliums

April 23, 2021May 24, 2017 by Stephen Westcott-Gratton

Jack-in-the-pulpit-arisaema-Stephen-Westcott-Gratton

Appreciating native plants in Stephen Westcott-Gratton’s garden: Jack-in-the-pulpit and trilliums. They take years to bloom, but are worth the wait.