Andrew Trundlewagon's photos

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia Virginica), Belleview woods, upper Don Valley, Toronto. There is a good patch of them growing in the woods just off the bike path and we try to find them if we are visiting at the right time of year. These are a little over their prime, the younger flowers have a dark pink hue that turns light blue as they age. It's said that the colour change tells the bees which flowers are worth visiting and which to skip, although I am not sure how reliable that information is.

A large white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) which, confusingly, in this case is pink. The normally white flowers turn pink as they age, but there is also a rare variety that is pink from the moment it blooms. A woodland plant that flowers in mid to late spring. The seeds have an oily attachment called the elaiosome that ants find irresistible. The ants carry the seeds back to their nests, feed on the elaiosomes and abandon the rest of the seed near the nest where some will sprout. The white trillium is the floral emblem of Ontario.

Wild black currant flowers. They are part of the gooseberry family and were used by indigenous peoples to make pemmican, a mix of dried meat, fat and sometimes berries. Apparently the currants are not very palatable unless cooked with sugar, although I have not tasted them to find out. These were growing on the side of a path in a wooded urban area, the Upper Don Valley Ravine in Toronto. They are related to the European black currant (famed for cassis), both being in the genus Ribes.

Snow bells (Leucojum).

Spring flowers. We have a squirrel problem in that they systematically behead our tulips. This is one of the few that survived the onslaught.

People in a park. Toronto (photo taken by my wife)

A lick of paint, new tires and an oil change, and she's as good as new. (Maybe not). Near Toronto airport.

The wonder truck. (Dixon road, near airport, Toronto)

Spring flowers

Creature in the woods.

Someone got creative in the woods. A well balanced piece of rock pile art.

Round- lobed hepatica, one of the first woodland wild flowers to open in the spring.

The same heron as in the previous photo, taken as the sun was starting to go down.

A heron that has taken up residence in a local park.

Spring has arrived, the snow has melted, the frogs are out of hibernation, making noise and feeling frisky..

Spring has officially arrived. The robins and geese are back.

Last week we had an ice storm that covered everything in ice. This is a detail from the “La Foule illumine” (Illuminated crowd), a sculpture outside an office tower in downtown Montréal. It consists of 65 figures looking variously worried, dejected or utterly miserable (it’s art, what do you expect). Being coated in ice probably did little cheer up this poor character.

Last week we had an ice storm that covered everything in ice. This is a detail from the “La Foule illumine” (Illuminated crowd), outside an office tower in downtown Montréal. It consists of 65 figures looking variously worried, dejected or utterly miserable (it’s art, what do you expect). The ice coating probably did little to improve their mood. Who knows what our man is pointing at. Is it "Over there, go forth you huddled masses and conquer," or "Holy crap Batman. What is that coming our way?"