Flora – Slow Lane Musings

A taste of Costa Rica

As we mused about our travels over recent years, we realized that we have been inclined to gravitate towards North America for nature-focused trips and Europe for culture and history. We have tended to return to a handful of favourite countries to explore them in more depth.

This year, we resolved to visit at least a few new places that are out of our comfort zone while we are still capable of travelling. We weighed concerns about long flights, an unknown language, the hassles associated with making local arrangements, and safety, against the opportunity to discover a new country. The wide variety of organized tours available to any destination in the world was a convincing argument for taking a new approach.

Over the years, we had heard many accounts of the natural beauty of Costa Rica, so we decided to go there. We opted to join a group tour and prepared, as usual, with a good guide book and videos.

Gardening for wildlife

On our summer strolls around the neighbourhood, we see many beautifully manicured front yard gardens. Some even look as if they come straight out of a magazine.

At times, we come across other gardens that are not so picture-perfect. We have come to appreciate that they are like that on purpose and are the work of mindful gardeners. Incorporating native flowers, shrubs and trees, those gardens are friendly to pollinators and provide food and shelter for wildlife.

In the past, we had paid little attention to this type of gardening, however, we now have the time and interest to learn more. Ottawa is home to the remarkable Fletcher Wildlife Garden (FWG). This public treasure is open year-round and free of charge. We love to visit it and immerse ourselves in the beauty and the fundamentals of ecological gardening

A jewel in Maine

A short but persuasive article in the Washington Post caught our attention recently. It was titled “Add some beauty to your summer travel with a trip to a garden.” In the article, the author shared her memories of being transported by the beauty and peacefulness of gardens she had visited. Although we personally tend to gravitate toward wild natural sites, we too enjoy a stroll through a lovely garden. This post is about one of them.

All gardeners can testify that every ornamental garden, big or small, has a story, and that story is a blend of love, patience, and steadfast labour. This is certainly the case for the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Gardens). The Gardens opened in 2007, after 16 years of dedicated effort by a small group of visionary community builders who not only conceived every aspect of the project but also made, we were told, a significant personal financial commitment to fund it.

Their foresight and patience were rewarded since the Gardens have become one of Maine’s major attractions, despite being situated a little bit off the beaten track, in the small town of Boothbay. The saying “if you build it, they will come,” associated with the movie Field of Dreams, surely applies to those beautiful gardens.

Appy trails

Like for most people, our smartphones have become central in our daily lives. While we rarely make a phone call, we use them for a whole range of purposes from banking to listening to audiobooks. We also bring them with us when we go hiking, mostly to take pictures.

In the last few years, we have discovered six interesting free apps that enhance our knowledge of what’s around us and the enjoyment we derive from being out in the woods. We had fun using them recently on our favourite trail in Charleston Lake Provincial Park (PP), and that inspired us to write this post. These apps are worth checking out, in our view.

Spring blossoms in D.C.

It’s a tricky business to plan a trip to Washington, D.C. around the timing of a nearly unpredictable event that is very short lived. Indeed, there is an element of luck in catching the cherry blossoms at their peak.

Every spring, the National Park Service attempts to predict the “peak bloom date” based on the different stages of bud development. This magic moment is when seventy percent of the Yoshimo Cherry Trees are in bloom. In the past, this has been seen to happen any time between March 15 and April 18, depending on weather conditions. You would nearly need to move to D.C. to be there at the right time.