Don't blink or you'll miss it

Some of the most delightful flowers only open for a day before they die. The most common is the Hibiscus, which you can see in almost every supermarket floral department.

Today our Astrophytum bloomed. I had been watching the flower bud swelling on top of the catus, and warned David that it would be blooming any day now. We missed the opportunity to photograph it a couple of times last year, since we didn't know the bloom would only last a day and by the time we checked up on it after work, it had already closed.

Caught it this time though.  It is a hybrid and the cactus is about 1 1/2 inches wide by 1 inch tall.  At its peak the flower is as big as the cactus. It blooms a couple of times a year and it has no scent.

The Kelly Gardens Sign

David and I visit Kensington Market every Friday after work to do our grocery shopping. We've been going with great regularity for a couple of years now, and the people in the shops we frequent have come to know us.  We like it like that. It's somewhat old fashioned, but we enjoy having the connection of a small community in the midst of the big, anonymous city.

Often we have our supper at  the Tibet Cafe - a restaurant that serves a strange mixture of different foods; we always get the "momos"  - little dumplings filled with meat served in a light broth. Delicious.  It is  here we first saw the art of Sae Kimura, a lovely young artist from Japan who is visiting Canada for an extended stay. I loved her whimsical art and she had a little notice offering to do commissions. She offered to create something if you shared your dreams with her. It wasn't such a large step to think that she might be able to paint a new sign for our garden.

 We met with Sae, and showed her pictures of the lot, and the blog, and described some of the things that made our place special, and she went away and thought about it.

Pines and rocks are common on our lake front

A happy little frog having a rest on the bunkie window

A yellow swallow tail

We get lots of visitors on the bunkie windows.   Considering how voracious the appetite of dragon fly is, it is amazing that we don't fear them.

When we met again, she produced the lid of a metal drum (which she had found) on which to paint the sign - and a few sketches of how she imagined the sign would appear.We liked her proposal, and gave her the thumbs up to go away and create.

I knew she was talented, but little did I suspect she would come up with such a perfect image for Kelly Gardens. We had described some of the wildlife we saw and the many pine trees, and she incorporated all these elements into the sign... and as an added bonus, David and I are also included.

Close up to show detail

When we find a place to hang it, I'll post more pictures with the "Kelly Gardens" sign, in - situ.

Butterflies Fly Free

During the winter doldrum months between February and April, we wait impatiently for Spring to arrive. At this time of the year, the Montreal Botanical Gardens closes off one end of their extensive greenhouses and brings in hundreds of tropical butterflies to fly free amongst the plants.  It's a highly promoted and very popular attraction that keeps visitors coming to the MBG during the "no grow" season.

You have to really want to see them to make a visit, as there always seems to be a wait in line to get in (and the children are amazingly patient). It's almost as much fun to watch the people interacting with the butterflies as it is to watch the butterflies themselves. Once you pass through the butterfly proof barrier, people seem to lose both their inhibitions and their sense of decorum as they stand with their arms out hoping one will land on them. And then there are the truly annoying people who don't seem to understand "Don't touch the butterflies" in either English, French, or sign language. (A line drawing of a butterfly held in a hand with a red circle and cross through it is pretty explicit I'd say).

However, despite, the lines and the crowds, it is a truly magical experience, and an extremely sad one too. We shouldn't have to pay to stand in a crowded greenhouse to be with one of nature's most endearing creatures; we should be restoring their habitats, not spraying every caterpillar in sight, and then perhaps we could experience these beautiful ephemeral insects where they should be seen - in their natural habitats.

Here are some shots of the butterflies.

Myscelia ethusa (Mexican Bluewing )

The Tailed Green Jay (Graphium agamemnon).
Native to India, South East Asia and Australia.

This is a blue butterfly (I think it's the Blue Morpho).
When it's not flying it folds its wings and the brown underside provides camouflage.
Native to Central and Southern America it is severely threatened in the wild.
This Blue Morpho has landed on David's shirt.

Papilio Déiphobus Rumanzovia - Male.
 It can be found in Australasia (especially Indonesia).

You get a sense of how glorious the butterflies are through the pictures but there's nothing to compare with seeing them in flight. For example, the Papilio Deiphobus Rumanzovia is a bit boring in the photograph, but it is transformed in flight. Take a look for yourself.  Notice the "don't touch the butterfly" sign at the base of the plant (that is if you can tear your eyes away from the butterfly).

Here's a better view of the underside of the wings of the Papilio Déiphobus Rumanzovia.  I don't know what the plant is that this one is feeding on, but I've seen other photos of it on the web drinking at this flower. It must be a particular favorite of this species.

This is the Malabar Tree Nymph, or Rice Paper (Idea malabarica) butterfly. It can be found in Southern India and South East Asia. Notice the way this one is perched on the citrus flower rather than flapping its wings. I'm not sure if that's because some species like to drink on the fly or just because there really isn't a place to perch on some types of flowers. Hmmm, that's a good question to ask a butterfly expert.

The next butterfly is the Birdwing (Troides rhadamantus). This is a female. You have absolutely no idea how stunning the underside of Birdwing is from the top! Watch the video below and you'll see what I mean.

This is the Birdwing sipping the nectar from what I think is a lantana. The yellow and red body is a startling surprise.

What you see here are mostly the white butterflies that actually play together in flight. Sometimes, 2 or 3 of them will appear to perform an aerial ballet. The blue butterflies also play in the same manner, as they are in the same family.

This was the 15th year the MBG hosted the Butterflies Go Free exhibit, and this year they divided it into two exhibits:- the butterfly house with butterflies that fly during the day, and at the other end of the greenhouses was the moths that fly at night. Of course we didn't get to see many moths as it was daylight when we visited, but here are 2 examples that were resting. If these 2 were anything to go by, the moths can certainly give the butterflies a run for their money in terms of sheer spectacle.

The Cobra Moth (Attacus atlas). Native to South East Asia, the Cobra moth is considered one of the largest in the world. It is a silk producing moth which This moth has no mouth parts and only lives for 1-2 weeks. Just enough time to reproduce.

Cercropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia). The largest of the North American moths, it too has no mouth parts and lives for 7 to 10 days.

P.S. To enlarge a picture, simply click once on it (thanks to my clever husband for filling me in on that little secret).