Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: PROHIBITED NOXIOUS

The three photos that I've posted this morning were all taken yesterday, 13 August 2015, when I spent about three hours with friends at Heritage Park in Calgary. One of them is a volunteer at the Park and she had very kindly invited us to visit. The temperature got up to 33°C or 34°C yesterday!! We started our visit at 9:45 am, so it was still cooler than that, but as the heat increased in the afternoon, it became unbearable. Fortunately, I had a dentist appointment mid-afternoon, so I knew I would have maybe an hour and a half in air-conditioning before returning to my home that felt like an oven. Our forecast, so far, is giving much cooler temperatures for the coming week, thank goodness! Our walk at Heritage Park was a combination of looking at the various old buildings and also checking on plants. There is a small native plant garden within the Hudson Bay Fort and we talked to a volunteer there, who I think may have learned a few new things from talking with us : ) www.heritagepark.ca/ www.heritagepark.ca/plan-your-visit/interactive-park-map.... We had been told before our visit that the Prohibited Noxious weed, Spotted Knapweed / Centaurea maculosa, had been seen at the Park, and we did find it, growing along a gravel road that led down by the Glenmore Reservoir. This species is a prolific seed producer and is very difficult to control. I've seen two different scientific names given for this plant and I'm not sure which is the more correct one - Centaurea maculosa or Centaurea stoebe ssp. micranthos. The stiff bracts are black-tipped, giving the plant its ‘spotted’ appearance. www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/prm13944 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurea_maculosa Despite the heat, we had a very enjoyable visit. Heritage Park is a place I always intend to go to, but somehow I rarely make it. This was a treat, so thanks so much, Susan!

I was just searching for something else in Google Images when I happened to spot a photo of what looked very much like the one above. Checking it out, I discovered that my photo shows the flowers of Barberry. I don't know how many kinds of Barberry there are, so I can't be certain that the information below applies to the shrub in my photo. This perennial shrub was introduced from Europe and Asia as an ornamental. The red clusters of berries are attractive, with individual berries being 1cm long, with 1-3 black seeds per berry. It is in the Category: Prohibited Noxious. I think I've only seen it in three places - the Reader Rock Garden, Calgary Zoo, and one plant growing wild at Griffith Woods. This photo was taken on 27 May 2015 at the Reader Rock Garden. On that day, I had a volunteer shift and afterwards, as the sun was shining, I called in at the Reader Rock Garden. There was rain in the forecast so I thought I'd better make the most of the blue sky while I could. Alberta is bone dry so, much as I really dislike the rain, we desperately need it. And that is exactly what it is doing this morning. From the Garden, I drove through the adjoining Union Cemetery and then another nearby cemetery, and then called in at a wetland in SW Calgary.

We have a slight warm-up here in Calgary today, It's -20C with a windchill of -27C. Sure beats the windchill of -42C that we had the other day! Wanted to brighten things up a little and thought this image would do the trick. I'm fairly certain that I have the correct ID, but would appreciate any correction or confirmation - thanks. This perennial shrub was introduced from Europe and Asia as an ornamental. The red clusters of berries are attractive, with individual berries being 1cm long, with 1-3 black seeds per berry. It is in the Category: Prohibited Noxious. I think I've only seen it in three places - The Reader Rock Garden, Calgary Zoo, and one plant growing wild at Griffith Woods. This photo was taken on 10 September 2013 at the Reader Rock Garden.