July 10 2022 - Gardens

 

A garden walk is a non-curated garden tour.  It means the gardeners self-select, volunteer, their gardens.  All kinds and variations get volunteered.  Some exquisite, and others less so.  They may be close by or farther away to reach. Each typically comes with the gardener available for conversation and questions or to relay the history of the house and garden.   A garden tour is curated - a committee decides the number of gardens, their style and size, and location is a consideration, seeking clusters of houses so that it is easy to get around. The Niagara-on-the-Lake Horticultural Society had a garden walk yesterday - over 30 gardens volunteered themselves.  I saw less than half of them.  It was the distance to get around to them all that took the time.  It would have been a full and packed day to get to all 30.  That's part of the enjoyment - to see as much as one can. It is immediately clear  how much more diverse the gardens are than on a curated garden tour.  What the public might want and expect given the've paid some money.  This  is in the forefront of the organizers' minds.  When that's not the case, we can welcome all manner of gardens -  smaller and larger houses and gardens - some starting out, others mature..  Two were on the lake-front street and one on the water with its huge boat, swimming and infinity pool.  The view across the river is wonderful as the river narrows there. So we have the contrast of  what was Niagara-on-the-Lake and what is now.  The first picture today is a picture one might have taken 75 years ago. A screen door with a view of  the stained glass transom windows.  These were the houses of Niagara-on-the-Lake back then. Seaside/lakeside cottages and homes.  It wasn't the pretty town it is now.  The next porch - this is a new house only a few years old.  It is built in the style of the grander stone cottages. It has a contemporary interior.  Its porch looks like a luxury hotel to me.  It is beautiful and elegant.  This represents the town of today - a destination location for the rich who are attracted to the restored architecture set in quaint streets meant for walking and biking.

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Feb 6 2021 - Two Pairs and Get One Free

 

And in a bound, a pair of Bernie's Mittens are free if you buy two pair - and on sale!  Go to the Jen Ellis website HERE.  It is jenellis.co rather than .com  Oh oh...Right away this doesn't look right.   If she's having a Vermont Teddy Bear company making the mittens, then "Fully Authentic Made by Jen Ellis"  would be incorrect.  vermontteddybear.com is going to be the maker. So it isn't actually Jen Ellis - it is nasmas.com  and also appears as Tysica on some pages. This is "The Home of Plush Toys" with a mailing address listed as Express Lane, Casper, Wyoming.  No such street shows up on the google map - not the company, the address - nothing. Reddit was on to this scam before February with this post HERE on Fake Bernie Sanders mittens scammers.  Scroll down through the post and it is full of demented postings - I've warned you...   So I get my accelerated education on scamming: I hadn't realized how many scammers there are in online shopping.  An Australian government website at https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/buying-or-selling/online-shopping-scams.  explains this.  One can find out the top 10 Canadian Scams, or look at the Little Black Book of Scams which lists all the varieties out there. I reformulated the search and found vtdigger.org i-dentifying the scam sites of  Bernie Sanders mittens. Here's the article on the scams HERE.  There just seem to be so many. I am amazed at where the trail leads some days.  All I wanted was an update on the total $ raised for charity and I find out that according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, fake cottage rentals, puppy sales, online loan fraud and a host of other scams have cost Canadians at least $37,447,790 by October 2020.   A project I am working on right now is an explanation of the criteria for judging front yard gardens.   People have asked for comparisons of excellent gardens and lesser ones.  But whose gardens can you use for the "poor" gardens?  That is a delicate and difficult area.   So I'm looking through Buffalo Garden Walk front yards to get the comparison images.  It is always fun to find the outstanding examples - like this one - a wonderful focal point on a Summer district cottage front door. It is beautifully framed by symmetrical pots of red coleus plants, matching the red flowers in the basket on the door. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

A New Month, Really!

The start of October is so different than the start of September.  September is the month of a new grade for students and new projects and activities for adults.  October is the month for Canadians to celebrate thanksgiving, for the annual plants to demise with the first hard frost, and then it concludes with the time change to EST and the escapism of Halloween.  Lots happens in October, after all.   October is the eighth month in the old Roman calendar so its name comes from the Latin word 'octo' meaning eight.  It is now the 10th month of the year.  Perhaps that leads into October being National Sarcastic Awareness Month.  "October is a month for us to pause and be aware of the growing trend of sarcasm. Really. It’s become an epidemic and if we’re not careful, we’re going to have a situation on our hands that we won’t be able to control. We’ll end up with squirrels in charge. On second thought, maybe that’s not much worse than what we’ve got now." One has several chances during the year to be sarcastic.  June 14th is National Sarcasm Day, according to one site:   "How Is The Date For Sarcasm Day Calculated? The day shown for 'National Sarcasm Day' is based on how much chitter-chatter and buzz there was on June 14, 2015 across social media making references to 'Sarcasm Day'. Our algorithms examine all of the references to National Days across social media and updates whatnationaldayisit.com hourly, with our homepage displaying the current national day. This crowdsourcing of data method to assess the National Sarcasm Day date is used as opposed to being connected with any Government sanctioned lists :D Hurrah for democracy by consensus!"

Beware the Giant Hogweed!

Beware of Giant Hogweed! That's the sign at Grimsby Beach where Dezi runs around chasing squirrels or the scent of squirrels.  Yesterday we were right up close to giant hogweed along the path at the water.  There it was among the giant Japanese Knot Weed.  Both are invasive, but giant Hogweed is a hazard to humans when the sap comes in contact with human skin. When the skin is then exposed to sunlight, severe burning and weeping blisters can result and cause lasting scars.   Hogweed is part of the carrot and parsley family.  I have some brown-leafed cow parsley 'Ravenswing' in my garden and it is a decorative plant.  Queen Anne's Lace is another relative we see everywhere.  And the magnificent giant Angelica can be mistaken for Hogweed. Angelica is an herb.  I expect that when you see giant Hogweed, you'll recognize as I did.  It is massive even now so early in the season.  Today we're looking at Wisteria - there's a variety blooming now - Wisteria frutescens and it can be identified easily as it blooms later than the one shown here.  Its leaves are fully out and the flower clusters are smaller like bunches of grapes.