Climbing in the rain
Insects for his babies
The oh-so-necessary splash of colour
Not all flies are dull : )
Pink perfection
Paintbrush / Castilleja sp.
Little buddies
House Finch
Multi-coloured Saskatoon berries
True cuteness
Guardian of the fence
Bracted Honeysuckle
Paper Kite
Red-leaf Rose / Rosa rubrifolia
Large, urban fungi
What a way to botanize!
White Camas / Anticlea elegans, formerly Zigadenus…
Fritillary
Taken from a canoe : )
Milbert's Tortoiseshell
Tranquility
Took my breath away
Wild Edible Berries of Alberta cover
Police Car Moth / Gnophaela vermiculata
Insect paradise
A close look at an Elegant Stinkhorn fungus
It takes two to tango
Glorious gills
Blue Giant Hyssop / Agastache foeniculum
Parasitic One-flowered Broomrape / Orobanche unifl…
Poppy in the sunlight
My first glimpse of a Hoary Marmot
Endless alpine meadows
Colours made for each other
Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park in the rai…
Those early days
A beautiful little family
Heads or tails?
We spotted a Spotted Towhee
A sense of mystery on a gloomy, rainy day
Life amongst the leaf litter
Dahlias are always so perfect
I did it ... I finally did it!
Lady of the mountain top
Wild Bergamot / Monarda fistulosa
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Showy Milkweed, loved by Monarch butterflies


You don't usually see Milkweed in Calgary. I've only ever seen it in two places, in someone's garden and once growing wild. I was thrilled to see Monarch caterpillars on these beautiful garden flowers on July 15th. Usually, it is very rare to see a Monarch butterfly in my city, but for some reason, we have been seeing a few of these spectacular butterflies further north in Alberta this summer.
"Pollination in this genus is accomplished in an unusual manner, as the pollen is grouped into complex structures called pollinia (or "pollen sacs"), rather than being individual grains, as is typical for plant pollen. The flower petals are smooth and rigid, and the feet of visiting insects (predominantly large wasps, such as spider wasps, which visit the plants for nectar) slip into notches in the flowers, where the sticky bases of the pollinia attach to the feet, pulling the pollen sacs free when the pollinator flies off. Bees, including honey bees only gather nectar from milkweed flowers, and are generally not effective pollinators despite the frequency of visitation.
Species in the Asclepias genus grow their seeds in pods. These seed pods contain soft filaments known as either silk or floss. The filaments are attached to individual seeds. When the seed pod ripens, the seeds are blown by the wind, each carried by several filaments." From Wikipedia.
"Pollination in this genus is accomplished in an unusual manner, as the pollen is grouped into complex structures called pollinia (or "pollen sacs"), rather than being individual grains, as is typical for plant pollen. The flower petals are smooth and rigid, and the feet of visiting insects (predominantly large wasps, such as spider wasps, which visit the plants for nectar) slip into notches in the flowers, where the sticky bases of the pollinia attach to the feet, pulling the pollen sacs free when the pollinator flies off. Bees, including honey bees only gather nectar from milkweed flowers, and are generally not effective pollinators despite the frequency of visitation.
Species in the Asclepias genus grow their seeds in pods. These seed pods contain soft filaments known as either silk or floss. The filaments are attached to individual seeds. When the seed pod ripens, the seeds are blown by the wind, each carried by several filaments." From Wikipedia.
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