Forest Treasures for Rainy Days

Ask anyone--this summer has been less glorious than we had hoped. Here in Victoria, not once did the thermostats break 30 degrees, not once did we need our fans. Our camping trips were plagued with rain and the sweaters we reluctantly brought along we used each day, sometimes all day.

But along with the cool wet summer came some unexpected beauty in the forest. Instead of lolling lakeside, reading magazines and eating chips as we normally would, this summer we spent more time than usual in the forest, and my kids with their keen eyes spotted all kinds of treasures. We had a lot of fun and hardly missed the beach on those rainy days.

I am continually amazed at the deep and intricate beauty of the west coast forest, impossible to create by hand in ones own garden, and so easily gone unnoticed by most of us.

Here are a few of my favourite plants and mushrooms that this cool and cloudy summer brought to our attention as we hiked along.

This is a Jellied False Coral that we spotted beside a tiny forest path in Morton Lake Provincial Park. It is edible and appears from July-November.


A Scaly Vase Chanterelle on the West Coast Trail near Pachena Bay. This too is edible but not recommended.







A Gnome Plant (Hemitomes congestum) that the kids spotted in Morton Park.







This nodding beauty is called Pinesap (Hypopitys monotropa), and we discovered it in Morton Lake Park as well. It grows under pine trees and actually saps their juices to grow.


The overall favourite discovery of the summer is the tiny Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia). It is mightier than it appears, as it is the area's only carniverous plant. It lives at the edges of ponds, bogs, fens and wet meadows, catching mosquitoes, midges and gnats that fly into its sticky traps. We found it at a few different small lakes this summer, and its discovery has led my eldest to begin his own collection of carniverous plants.

The Round-leaved Sundew was called 'Many Hearts' by the Haida people, and was taken along on fishing excursions for good luck. It was also used to remove warts, cure cheeses, as an antibiotic, and to treat tuberculosis, asthma, bronchitis and coughs. Some plant!

Gardeners in Their Gardens, Part One: The Goddess of Improv

My pal Lee-Anne is easily the most creative gardener I know. We met 15 years ago in Horticulture School, and I have seen her transform more than a few boring, plain or even dilapidated yards into colourful, productive gardens filled with old tin pails, metal folk-art, and once, most memorably, the rusted out cab of a model-T Ford that she had found and then hauled out of the backwoods around Nanaimo.

Her most recent creation surrounds her pretty blue miner's cottage, and works perfectly with its storied surroundings. It is whimsical, with a nod to the past in its antique adornments, including an old toy truck which peaks out between the fronds of a variegated Agropyron.

Fruit and vegetable plants are planted not in rows or raised beds as in most gardens, but instead poke out through flowering plants and intermingle with herbs, shrubs and grasses throughout the garden.

In the back corner the base of an early Singer sewing machine serves as a table on which an old tin pot and kettle are displayed. The effect is homey and comforting, yet still manages to feel fresh.

In every one of Lee-Anne's gardens, I have felt that I am in the presence of a true creative mind, one not bound by trends, but focused instead on function and beauty, and always, always improvisation. Her gardens are built on a budget, and with mostly found materials. They are great examples of what can be done with a little searching around. If you are lucky enough to live in the Nanaimo area, Lee-Anne designs gardens there professionally and can bring her talents to your site.

To achieve the look and feel of a found garden, a good way to begin is to take a look at what is on your site or in your home already that you might re-purpose. Next, search out garage sales, junk shops, demolition yards, and websites like Craigslist for used and inexpensive materials. There is also a great book by Matthew Levesque called 'The Revolutionary Yardscape.' It is full of ideas and examples of found and re-purposed materials in the landscape.

If you have an empty yard and are looking for plant material, many local gardening clubs and public gardens have annual sales with great prices. And of course, you can always ask your gardening friends in spring or fall if they are dividing or getting rid of any excess plants. One of the plants in my garden is a simple yellow daylily that was part of my grandmother's, and then my mother's garden before a piece of it was dug up in spring and split for a spot in my own little yard. By sharing and re-purposing plants and materials, our gardens accumulate a history and narrative of their own, making them richer and more meaningful
places to be.

A Trip to the Centre

I love taking the kids to see various public gardens, but my enthusiasm for such ventures is not often matched by the kids. Nothing (or at least nothing that they might want) to buy, no rides, no monkey bars, et cetera et cetera. However, I have to say that once there, the kids are usually just as happy as I am.

This was certainly the case last Friday when Damon and I took our kids and a couple of their friends to The Horticultural Centre of The Pacific, known to many as Glendale Gardens. This is a gorgeous 103 acres in Saanich, of which 9 acres are landscaped with public demonstration gardens. Admission is free for kids under 12, and $11 for adults (members are free). Also on the grounds are a library, garden shop, bistro, and the Pacific Horticultural College. The Centre offers children's summer camps, as well as many courses and workshops for adults.

The most heavily cultivated part of the garden is laid out in a loose grid pattern, culminating in a gorgeous round patio, or gathering place. All of these gardens are on a slope which looks down across a field to a large, sparkling pond, of the Beatrix Potter ilk.

The first garden we looked at, and my favourite, is the kids garden. The best thing about it is this teeny play house with a planted roof that the kids are welcome to play in. Other features of this garden are a rain stick, gumboots overflowing with flowers, a little angel on a swing in a shrub, and various planted wheelbarrows.

There is also a bird and butterfly garden, vegetable garden, dry garden, Mediterranean garden, fruit trees, hardy plants, roses, hardy fuschias, a winter garden, zen garden, heather garden, ornamental grass garden, an orchard, an ethnobotany trail, and more. And the best part is that almost all of the plants are labeled, making it a great place to learn which plants work well in which environments. I would suggest that anyone looking to create their own garden should go here after analyzing the specific attributes and liabilities of their own site.

The kids, of course, don't care much about the attributes of their site...but they played tag and hide and seek to their hearts content, stopping only to devour the summer fruit, cheese and cracker snack that we had packed for them. They picnicked in the Zen garden, which, while not as breathtaking as the Japanese Garden at Hatley Castle, is lovely and peaceful to be in, and features a raked stone garden as well as a stream, koi pond and tea house.

This was a great way to spend the afternoon with the kids, and definitely worth the price of admission.