Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Sunflower family

My daughter and I had a such a great day on 5 September 2017. She had a free day, so we decided to drive north-east of the city and visit the Pioneer Acres Museum. The day started off with seeing three perched Swainson's Hawks, which were a bonus. We had passed the colourful old truck and tractor displayed on tall posts, to indicate Pioneer Acres, on various occasions and this time, we actually went to the museum. What an amazing collection of old farming equipment, some standing outdoors and many others in large sheds. Have to say that I am always attracted to old, rusty things, and there was no shortage of these, either. "Pioneer Acres is operated by a team of volunteer members who, in many cases, have extended their golden years of retirement, performing the duties necessary to meet the club's objectives. These include work to collect, restore, maintain and demonstrate the artifacts which were used by the pioneers of early Alberta. The end result is that present and future generations have the opportunity to glimpse into our pioneering past through the artifacts on display and demonstrated. Younger members of the club also learn the care, maintenance and operation of these living artifacts." From link below. www.pioneeracres.ab.ca/member.aspx While we were walking round the grounds, visiting each massive shed in turn, my daughter spotted a Plains Garter Snake, and waved me over to see it. She also saw several birds running round behind one of the sheds, and when I went to check, I found there were four Gray Partridge running off in the distance. A distant Jackrabbit completed our wildlife sightings, first noticed when it was standing tall and upright on its back legs in 'freeze mode'. My mind wandered to Alice in Wonderland : ) Though we did not do a tour of the inside of the "Long" House, we found it an impressive building, complete with a few Sunflowers, Hollyhock and other flowers in the garden, and a tall, metal windmill. "The "Long" House was built in 1914 by John Thomas on a farm just northwest of Irricana, Alberta. It has been lived in by three generations of the Long Family since 1914. The house was donated to Pioneer Acres, moved to our location, and restored to 1929 status." From the Pioneer Acres website. There is also an old schoolhouse on the Museum site. "The Crown School, built in 1905, was located west of Three Hills on Highway 583. It closed in 1953 and was bought by the district of Allingham for use as a community league. In 1996, the building was relocated to Pioneer Aces of Alberta Museum." From the Alberta Teachers' Association website. After spending a long time walking round the grounds, we decided to drive through Irricana itself in order to get back to the highway. I had seen photos on the Internet of three murals there - sunflowers, crayons, and a view of the old grain elevators that had once stood nearby - and I wanted to go and see them. All near each other, as this town only has a few streets. I had never been to Irricana before and I was impressed with what a delightful place it is, full of brightly coloured murals, and well kept. One of the outer roads had many flower beds along the edge, watered with well water, looking most attractive. I had asked my daughter if she was interested in calling in at the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens in NW Calgary, if there was time after our drive east. I had planned the drive ahead of time, partly because I had also seen a photo somewhere on the Internet of a rather nice old barn that I really wanted to see. We were not disappointed, though it was a shame to see that the cupola had fallen from the roof since that photo was taken. I had never driven through the town of Airdrie before, but did the "drive" on Google Earth the night before and it looked straightforward enough. Returning to the city via Cochrane, my daughter told me how to get to Silver Springs. I had never driven there before, but I had been there with a friend last year, I think on 1 October, and thoroughly enjoyed these meticulously kept gardens. We were just too hot and tired to see every inch of the garden, but finished off with photographing sunflowers and enjoying the American Goldfinches that were feeding on them, before we continued on our way. A great day, despite the heat and smoke from the B.C. and Alberta wildfires (distant low visibility, too). Thanks so much, Rachel - hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. We drove 256 km (used about half a tank of gas, or less). I was absolutely tired out from the heat and driving unfamiliar roads.

Yesterday afternoon, 4 July 2017, I got the chance to photograph a few of the plants growing in the amazing garden belonging to our main Naturalist and his wife. He said that he had documented 300 species growing in his garden last year, many of them wild species. This Gaillardia flower was just one of them. Gaillardia flowers vary a lot in colour - some are completely yellow, while others have a varying amount of orange on the petals. When I first arrived, my eyes were immediately drawn to the huge display of Showy Milkweed in the front garden - this plant species seems to multiply at quite a fast rate! This is the only place I have seen Showy Milkweed in the city, except for a plant or two growing wild down by the canal a few years ago. All they need now is for Monarch butterflies to fly a bit further north than they usually do and discover this little bit of butterfly heaven. In 2012, though, it was very unusual, as people were seeing a few of these amazing butterflies in Alberta, including in Calgary. I even got to see and photograph a few Monarch caterpillars in this garden in July 2012, for the very first and last time. Milkweed does not normally grow in Calgary, though we have seen a plant or two growing in the wild at one location in the city. "Monarchs only use milkweed for their eggs - no other plant will do. There is a good reason for this. Milkweed is poisonous and the caterpillars absorb the poison into their bodies, thus making them immune to predators." From edmontonnaturalizationgroup. The National Geographic has an amazing, fascinating video of the life story of these spectacular butterflies - couldn't find a link to it, unfortunately. edmontonnaturalizationgroup.org/blog/2012/08/13/wildflowe... ""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. Our leader also has a large vegetable garden. One thing that always fascinates me is the Egyptian Walking Onion. Each one seems to take on its own artistic shape and I love to photograph these - both fascinating and quite beautiful.

“Gaillardia /ɡeɪˈlɑrdiə/, the blanket flowers, is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, native to North and South America. It was named after an M. Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate who was a patron of botany. The common name may refer to the resemblance of the inflorescence to the brightly patterned blankets made by Native Americans, or to the ability of wild taxa to blanket the ground with colonies. Many cultivars have been bred for ornamental use.” From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaillardia To have the chance to visit Waterton Lakes National Park the day before yesterday, on 24 June 2017, was such an absolute treat! This was an annual bus trip arranged by Nature Calgary, with the destination being different each year. To visit Waterton for just one day makes for a very long day - takes about 3 hours to drive each way, for a start. "Waterton Lakes National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is also an International Peace Park, and a Biosphere Reserve. No other park in the world has these three designations. Waterton Biosphere Reserve as it is officially called, was designated in 1979 under what is called the internationally recognized "Man and the Biosphere program" of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), that sure is a mouthful. Biosphere Reserves are designed to promote and demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature." www.wediscovercanadaandbeyond.ca/2010/11/red-rock-canyon-... We had two main stopping places in the park - the lookout at Maskinonge Lake and a longer stop at Cameron Lake. The views from both places are spectacular. Luckily, we had beautiful weather all day. Actually, we weren't too sure if the road going through the mountains to Cameron Lake was going to be open. It was due to reopen the day before out trip and, fortunately, the gate was open. Once at Cameron Lake, we found an empty picnic table right near the beach, and ate our picnic lunch. We were able to walk along the forest trail that followed the shoreline on the right edge of the lake. At a certain point, one has to turn around and go back along the same trail. Cameron Lake is one of my favourite places in the park, with a beautiful view of the lake and a pleasant, flat walk through the forest. There didn't seem to be a lot of forest wildflower species in bloom - maybe we were just a bit too early for them. However, the huge, creamy white flowers of Bear Grass growing along the edge of the road up to the lake had everyone in absolute awe. The road is only narrow and our bus was huge, so on the drive there, all we could do was gasp in amazement, with no chance for taking photos. We asked our excellent driver if there was any chance he would be willing and able to stop at one of the very small pull-offs at the edge of the road on the return drive - and he did! He was expecting maybe five or six people would get off, but I think almost everyone wanted to get a close look at these amazing plants. Even the driver himself got out to look and take photos. He had apparently never been to Waterton before and had never seen Bear Grass. We noticed tiny Crab Spiders on two of the flowers; one was lying in wait and the other had caught an insect. These spiders don't construct webs, but camouflage themselves by changing their colour to that of the flower they are hiding in, and then they wait. We also saw several stems of Striped Coralroot orchid in the ditch by some of the Bear Grass. After spending a couple of hours at Cameron Lake, the driver took us back into town, as some people had said they wanted to eat there before the long drive back to Calgary. Others, including myself, would have preferred to have spent the time somewhere else, seeing nature and taking photos. However, we were able to walk to the lake's edge, from where we were able to take a few scenic photos - something I had been hoping for. On our way back to the bus, some of us called in at a very popular ice cream shop - we all agreed it was the best, tastiest ice cream we had ever had! A huge, single scoop of wild cherry in a waffle cone - what more could one want? Penny, you did a great job of organizing this wonderful trip for us all! I know a lot of work goes into setting up an outing like this, and we all appreciate the time and effort you put into planning this. Such a perfect destination for this year's annual bus trip! Pam, thanks for your company on this long drive - helped make it far more enjoyable!

Quite a few years ago, I took a photo of a much more closed, hairy bud and found it fascinating and beautiful. I looked through my plant books but just could not find any photo that looked like mine. It was several years later that I discovered that it was a Gaillardia bud. Love these flowers in all their stages. Taken on 20 June 2012, when I was on a walk on Nose Hill, in NW Calgary. "Gaillardia /ɡeɪˈlɑrdiə/, the blanket flowers, is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, native to North and South America. It was named after an M. Gaillard de Merentonneau or perhaps Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate who was a patron of botany. The common name may refer to the resemblance of the inflorescence to the brightly patterned blankets made by Native Americans, or to the ability of wild taxa to blanket the ground with colonies. Many cultivars have been bred for ornamental use." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaillardia

Though this wildflower tends to be seen everywhere, I love seeing it. This flower head is still at the "tubular" stage, which I think is my favourite time to see them. Eventually, the tubes will split open. Photographed this one on our wonderful day of botanizing at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre, Spruce View, Alberta.

This beautiful Gaillardia wildflower was a popular plant as far as these very tiny insects (Thrips - thanks Lynette!) were concerned. These large flower heads are always a joy to see, adding such bright splashes of yellow to any walk in our natural areas. I photographed this one (and a few others) in Weaselhead on 18 July 2012. "Thrips (Order Thysanoptera) are tiny, slender insects with fringed wings (thus the scientific name, from the Greek thysanos (fringe) + pteron (wing)[citation needed]). Other common names for thrips include thunderflies, thunderbugs, storm flies, thunderblights, and corn lice. Thrips species feed on a large variety of sources, both plant and animal, by puncturing them and sucking up the contents. A large number of thrips species are considered pests, because they feed on plants with commercial value. Some species of thrips feed on other insects or mites and are considered beneficial, while some feed on fungal spores or pollen. So far around 5,000 species have been described. Thrips are generally tiny (1 mm long or less) and are not good flyers, although they can be carried long distances by the wind. In the right conditions, many species can exponentially increase in population size and form large swarms, making them an irritation to humans." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrips en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaillardia_aristata

So many kinds of Thistle have beautiful buds and this is just one of them, photographed during a hike on the Small Whaleback on July 10th. This native Thistle is uncommon and is similar to Flodman's Thistle, Cirsium flodmanii, but more robust. www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/wildflwr/species/cirsu...

This is just a very small (maybe an inch across), Golden Fleabane (macro shot) seen in the alpine meadow on Plateau Mountain on July 17th. The opening buds are so beautiful (and hairy) before reaching this stage. WIll try and remember to post a photo some time.

I've always loved the seedhead of the Gaillardia flower. Came across this one when I went for a short walk at Erlton/Roxborough Natural Area pn August 18th.

This young (?) Grasshopper was hiding out in a Gumweed flower when a few of us went to botanize Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, in the Alberta Badlands (Dinosaur country!) on 21st August. This is a common native plant of western North America, though I don't see it very often. The underside of the flower is gummy. Also called Curlycup Gumweed. Belongs to the Sunflower family.

This was a new plant for us when we botanized Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller on 13th June. I know - it's "just" another small, yellow flower, LOL!!! "Plants are perennial, and tufted from a branching woody structure (caudex) atop a rather thin taproot. The thread-like leaves are branched, lie below the flower heads, and are covered with tiny resin glands. Mature plants usually have about 5-20 stems that each have 1-5 yellow flower heads about 3/4-inch wide. Fruits are tiny achenes about 1/8-inch long. These "rubber plants" probably were so called because the Amerindians of New Mexico made chewing gum from the bark and roots. Colorado rubber plant is a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae) of which there are about 15,000 species worldwide. The generic name was compounded from the Greek humen "membrane" and oxys "sour", likely in allusion to the translucent scales at the base of the flowers and the sour or bitter taste of several of the species. Theodore Cockerell (1866-1948) published the first acceptable scientific description of the plant in 1904, long after its discovery by Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), who named the species in honor of the famous Scottish biologist and arctic explorer Sir John Richardson (1787-1865). Professor Cockerell was an intrepid student of the natural history of Colorado and New Mexico." www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/wildflwr/species/hymer...