Creeping Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides)

Creeping Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) has arrived in our yard. Which is not surprising since down the street the plant is being encouraged in a flower bed. Hopefully they will not cause too much trouble. Thankfully it was around the lilac tree in the lawn and not the flower bed.

Note to fellow gardeners: please pull out this notourious weed and don't be tempted by NEW and exciting exotic flowers that are the potential next invasive weed for us to deal with. Focus on native or near-native species where possible.

More info:

http://www.invasiveplants.ab.ca/Downloads/FS-CreepingBellflower.pdf

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Parks/Pages/Planning-and-Operations/Pest-Management/Creeping-bellflower.aspx

Black Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) - Alberta Invasive Species Series

Catching up on some contemplated summer posts that never materialized, the following describes my encounter last summer with the intimidating (cue scary music): BLACK HENBANE (Hyoscyamus niger), also known as Stinking Nightshade . Both names sounding quite ominous. And for good reason.

I encountered a patch of these evildoers in West Nose Creek Park. Not knowing what they were at the time, I took some photos and did some research. The plants were hard to miss, standing up to four feet tall!

As someone who grew up on the prairies and never having seen this plant before, I figured such a large and obtrusive plant must be an invasive species. This narrowed my search considerably. Once identifying the plant, I washed my hands after learning of its toxic nature.

Black Henbane is classified as "Noxious" by the Alberta Invasive Plants Council [1]. Some interesting characteristics of the plant are summarized below (from [1]):

• Annual or Perennial
• Reproduces by seed only (see photos below of seed pods)
• Native to Eurasia
• All parts of the plant are poisonous to animals (including humans)
• A single plant can produce up to 500,000 seeds per season
• Seeds are typically viable for up to four years
• Prefers sunny areas

Proliferate Seed Pods (above)

West Nose Creek Park (natural area), above

I notified the City of Calgary about the weeds presence and offered my volunteer labour to help remove them. Being such a large bushy plant, I envisioned that hand removal would be quite easy with a pair of rubber gloves and garbage bags. But then what to do with the remains to prevent further spread?

I received no response from the City, but a few weeks later the plants had been removed and the City had done some spot spraying for invasive weeds, primarily Yellow Clematis (Clematis tangutica) which has really taken hold in the park. I'll be keeping my eye out for their potential return.

[1] Black Henbane - Alberta Invasive Plants Council

August Garden Update

My neighbour called this a Himalayan Orchid but a web-search suggests it is more likely a Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera), also known as "Policeman's Helmet". This eager volunteer plant migrated over the fence from the neighbour's yard.

Considering that it's growing in a pile of rocks, I suspect this may be a good candidate for the next revision of the undesirable Alberta invasive species list. A brief web-search confirms its invasive nature including seed pods that explode, spreading seed several meters! OK, I'm going outside to pull it right now. It has an attractive flower that belies its evil intent to take over the world.

My guess: Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis) caterpillar. Found August 21 on an apple tree leaf 2 blocks from our home. This seems late in the year to find this caterpillar, since this reference mentions "This species has only one generation per year, usually appearing in mid-May and flying to late July depending on latitude." Maybe they are trying for a second generation? Or wrong species? The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail apparently goes for 2 summer generations in the warmer eastern climates.

The annual Zero-Mile-Diet-Applesauce-Making-Festival gets ambitious this year. A little too ambitious for one weekend in retrospect, but it's satisfying to survey the full freezer afterwards. No canning this year, too busy with baby to take care of. Our favourite tree is about a 5 minute walk from the house. It's one of many to choose from within similar range.

This time we also picked some sort of prairie cherry (with pits) from the neighbour's yard. It looks and tastes somewhat like a Nanking Cherry. It is likely one of the fruit bushes listed on this page. The bushes had no thorns, which I thought the Nanking Cherry has, but I could be wrong.

The Utrecht Blue Wheat heads are now turning blue (though it's hard to tell due to high exposure and contrast in the photos). Due to wet conditions this summer and possibly for want of a longer growing season, the wheat is still quite green. I've started to cut it and hang it in the garage to ripen and avoid possible frost tonight.



The "West Central Garden", showing marigolds, beans, cilantro and carrots.

Bean harvest is turning out really well this year. The carrots that did germinate are doing well. We will start harvesting the potatoes soon. We have virtually no raspberries or strawberries yet; not sure if it's the variety, weather or improper care. They are not very established yet, so we will see if they improve yield next year.