Like anyone else, I complain about the weather. Let's face it, we live in a country of extremes from -40c (without the windchill) in the winter, to the +51c (including the humidex) of the other day. That was indeed hot.
However, starting with the monsoon we called spring that drearily went on forever to the recent tropical blast of heat, this year's weather has contributed to glorious, lush vegetation.
Out and about I can see the fabulous wild flowers in the ditches. It brought to mind England's hedgerows and wheat fields strewn with red poppies I saw a few years ago. There is a difference. Instead of England's poppies and hedgerows of many different flowering bushes, Canadian ditches offer vibrant orange Tiger Lilies, delicate Queen Anne's Lace, the unaptly named vibrant blue Viper's Bugloss and a yellow flower whose name escapes me. The fields offer Daisies and a yellow flower I think is Tansy (it's early).
There are the grasses! Starting early in summer as grass starts to grow and poke its flowers above the general level of the other vegetation, the roadsides and ditches are painted with different shades of green. Each type of grass is a different colour and the delicate flowers and seed heads are bushy to feathery in colours and hues of brown, rust and a tawny shade. Clumps or streaks of colour the along the sides of the road and in the ditches create patches of varying shades and texture. They are tempting to photograph, but as I try, I am reminded of the brain's ability to focus and tune the eye so it sees only what it wants to see but the camera sees everything and the grasses are lost in the general jumble and disappear.
I am looking forward to the Hollyhocks planted along the roadsides by the birds, or rural homeowners with a sense of humour that will soon bloom by mailboxes, creating another riot of colour. Small birds love the seed heads.
One day, when I have time, I am going to learn to paint and capture the grasses and their flowers.
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