The Canadian Cottage Garden

Everything is the best ever this summer; I am referring to the garden. I have never seen the garden so full of flowers as this year; I keep saying to my wife that it is paradise out there, it is the Garden of Eden. 

The Canadian author, W.P. Kinsella, who wrote Shoeless Joe, from which the film Field of Dreams was adapted, wrote something like, "if you build it, they will come." Of course, it is true, including in gardening. If you want birds to visit your garden, have a bird feeder; better yet also have a bird bath with clean water in it every day. If you want insects, butterflies, bumble bees, honey bees, have a lot of flowers and the insects will come. If you want life, then plan ahead and make your backyard inviting for living beings. 

Your backyard, which was barren, just a lot of half dead grass and dirt, desolate and uninviting, can be transformed into a place that is full of life and activity, as I have done with our backyard. Yesterday, I sat in our backyard with my son who was visiting; right away he knew it was a cottage garden that I had aimed for (he hadn't visited for almost two years due to Covid-19). The work I put in for the last five or more years was finally evident. You can transform just about any piece of land into your own Garden of Eden. If you work on it, flowers will grow, the birds and insects will return. Even urban wildlife will stop by and visit; in the middle of last night I woke up to the smell of a skunk, but there are other nocturnal animals making their way through the garden, including raccoons and ground hogs. 

Here are some photographs taken this week of honey bees on echinacea flowers, cone flowers, that I planted a few years ago. Having been a beekeeper many years ago I always love to see honey bees in the garden, not because they are important pollinators, which they are, but because I have a lot of affection for honey bees; they're busy working, they won't sting you, it is live and let live in this life.

Notice the bee's back legs, the pollen sacs are for collecting pollen which is protein for honey bees

Mid-October and out for a walk

It's the Canadian Thanksgiving and we're headed into a federal election, the choices are minimal and not too exciting. So far it's been a lot of promises paid for with taxpayer money, endless speeches, scandals that blew over, and the whole thing descended into a comedy that is not funny or even entertaining.

Winter is not far off, this is the last chance for honey bees to stock up on pollen

Concordia University has made this mini-park just outside the rear gates of Loyola Campus 

Also at the mini-park

The baseball diamond is in the rear, at Loyola Park between Fielding and Somerled

Home sweet home... 

Gardening, Mid-September in 2019

I've added a new section to the garden, as seen above

And now planted, cone flowers, bee balm, irises, day lilies, mint, and by the path raspberries. I planned this last summer, that's what gardening is, other than work in the garden, it's thinking and planning what you're going to do next year...

Final three photos, honey bees in the garden. It wasn't always this way, only for the last three years or so, but now honey bees are common in the city.

Peace and Quiet at the City Farm Garden

This part of the City Farm is located behind Hingston Hall on the Loyola Campus of Concordia University. This is what it was like in 2018-19; by 2020 it had been destroyed to make way for a new building and other construction...

This is the solar house; April 2018, demolished in the fall of 2019 or early spring 2020

Same place but in May 2018

Bee balm, cone flowers behind; photo taken in July 2018; most of this was ploughed under or other wise destroyed

City Farm, July 2018; none of this exists now

City farm, July 2018

Now it's August 2018

Honey bees at the City Farm, August 2018; in fact, I saw only one or two honey bees, summer 2020

Honey bees, August 2018

Honey bees, August 2018

Honey Bees in Flight

Photos taken in mid-August 2018 at the City Farm garden on the Loyola Campus of Concordia University in Montreal. One of my favourite activities, watching honey bees in flight collecting nectar and pollen.

Honey bees at hydrangea flowers, July 2016

A favourite activity, watching honey bees foraging for nectar and pollen in flowers... here is the latest video on that.