SNIFF THE FLOWERS

I picked up the Toronto Weekend Star recently and this is what caught my attention-the headline: ‘Six blooms that make a lot of scents’.

It was a column by Mark and Ben Cullen. ‘We’re now at mid-summer and the flowers in your garden are competing with one another for the attention of pollinators.' They tell us that’s the real reason why Mother Nature infused many garden variety flowering plants with a sweet scent.’

It’s that scent from various perennials that attract these pollinators, such as hummingbirds. That’s not to leave out we humans who breath in what these flowers are offering us.

I can't tell one flower’s scent from another, let alone not always one flower from another. I can spot lilacs, and maybe the phlox or hydrangea. Those below are among the perennials flowering right now.

Phlox: According to the Cullens, these flowers are outstanding ‘by any standard’. The blooms can be so large they can be mistaken for hydrangea. (Hmm.) It seems butterflies and hummingbirds enjoy them too.

And what about the Bee balm, which they call a magnet for many insect pollinators. It’s a native plant blooming up to six weeks through to early fall. It is also insect and disease resistant.

We’ve seen those large purple clumps of Russian sage which can withstand long periods of drought and heat. Here’s something I can spot. Delphiniums. Those large, fragrant flowers which, when you cut them this time of year, can rebloom on their own. They grow up to one or two meters ‘depending’ on the variety.

Author’s comment: It’s while researching my blogs that I learn so many things. I write what catches my attention. Not knowing a hell of a lot about garden flowers, it seemed natural for me to write about them.

ODDS & ENDS

Part One: Birthdays. I had the entire year not worrying about it, until it rolled around again. Mine’s tomorrow. I’d feel better if it only came once every second or third year, giving me time to prepare for it.

There are the lucky ones who never worry about getting old. They’re more likely to wake up one morning to find themselves dead in bed.

Part Two: We buy bird seed by the bagful, to keep the birds that stay for the winter a spot to find food. We stop filling the feeder in late April, and begin again in late October. It can get expensive, as you might know. Not that you’ll stop feeding them. It’s a guilt thing,

Along comes a friend drinking beer from a bottle. The last of my Kronenbourg 1664. He’s on the deck watching me adding mixed seed to the bird feeder. “That must be expensive,” he said, "keeping your bird friends happy."

“D ‘you know what I do?” he went on. “I save bacon fat, melt it in the fry pan and pour it over a large bowl of breakfast oatmeal. Okay, pouridge. Stir it up so it’s no longer sticky, and feed that to the birds. They lineup triple to get at it.”

Author’s comment: Part Three: Here’s what's really bothering me. Over the past two, three weeks, oak trees around us are shedding acorns that haven’t matured into a normal size. They’re tiny, tiny.

I mentioned this to a friend who who told me he was worried about finding these under-developed acorns scattered all over the downtown Toronto street where he lives. What’s gives?