Just look at what I spotted one morning last week on my way into school basking on the daffodil bulbs we planted last fall in the front entrance of the building. 
Based on a Google search on butterflies, I believe it's a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis Antiopa)  a cold-tolerant native which is one of the first butterflies to emerge in spring.  The mourning cloak spends the winter hibernating in loose tree bark or other hiding places where it is protected from winter's wind.  Their larval host plants tend to be trees and shrubs rather than flowers, dining on tree sap more than nectar.  The mourning cloak has been spotted flying around as early as March in Manitoba.  Brrrrr! 

​The gardens at J.R.H.S. have been amended with good compost and the seeds are sowed. With all the rain and hopefully a little sunshine, its just a matter of time before the lettuce, spinach and peas start growing.  The resource kids work hard and take a lot of pride in gardening, as can be seen in the photo above left. 

Warmer weather at last!  There are patches of snow here and there but the birds are chirping and the temperature read 20degrees, so I dragged one of the Muskoka chairs out from the shed today to get a little reading done outdoors for a change.  On the way to the backyard, I took a mental inventory of winter's damage and what needed doing, trying not to get too distracted from the point of being outdoors: to relax and enjoy the warm spring day that had finally been bestowed upon us.  
Spring is after all, when I usually do most of my yard cleaning, not fall.   Partly because I am busy and partly because I am lazy (or at least would rather be doing other things), I am pleased that there are many ecological benefits to letting spent perennials and small leaves decay naturally over the winter.  Gardens that are not cut down and raked up of all debris in the fall are better for your soil and the dried seed heads and stalks of perennials offer birds and hibernating insects a late winter snack.  This is not just good for wildlife, but also good for the plants in your garden.  Besides, plants like ornamental grasses and dried hydrangea flower heads look pretty dusted in snow.
The leaves that were strewn across my garden beds have also shrivelled to the point that they are no longer an eyesore--well sort of.   There are simply other eyesores -bigger ones-that capture my attention more, but they can't be done now, not until the softened ground is a little sturdier- when it doesn't leave a footprint after walking on it is the advice most often preached.  So thankfully, it is still too early for yard work so I can read.  Despite this, chores are calling to me in the garden, a garden that just last week was still covered in snow.
Here's my mental list so far:  cut back to the ground all dried perennials like the peonies, once flattened by heavy snow, that have flopped onto the boxwood hedge and the ornamental grasses which will, sooner that I can find time to get outside again, be sprouting new foliage.  When fresh spring foliage mixes into existing, dried miscanthus foliage it will be too late and impossible to cut back so this job takes priority.   Once new growth starts up again, the boxwood hedge will also need its yearly trimming to keep it looking tidy.  There is also the lawn around the garden to re-edge.  This job-and it is a job due to the size of my garden--is best done early in the season while I can cut into it like butter rather than waiting too long when ground is much harder to cut through.  When timed right, re-edging is a good day's workout, but very rewarding since the garden looks superb with a sharply cut edge.  Then there are dead branches to prune out,  young weeds to pull and I can't forget the rain barrel to set up and (Ugh!) the overflowing compost to clean up.  Maybe this one can be delegated to kids.  
Yes, gardening can be hard work, it is a labour of love for sure.  But it's not all labour.  After spring chores in the 'off' seasons, I can sit in my Muskoka chair and lounge with a good book knowing  all the work that is behind me.  Until I start spot another  weed...

Well, it's that time of year again,  time to plant seeds of veggies and flowers we want to grow in Haden Garden this season.  So many seed choices, so little time.  We decided to grow long season veggies like sweet onions that would be started indoors then planted in spring so they are ready the following school year as well as short season, cool wether crops like peas, which are normally directly sown outdoors in workable soil when weather is ...well, less wintry and more spring like.  But I decided to get the kids to start at least some of  the peas indoors because they grow so quickly just so our colour-starved eyes could enjoy a little spring green.  You can see the boys watering the seedlings in the photos below.  They take great pride in their work.   Did you notice the seedling pots we made out of newspaper?  The entire newspaper pot will disintegrate into the soil, once planted so you don't need to disturb the seedling's roots.  How cool is that? We also used a few brown toilet paper rolls stuffed with newspaper.   If you would like to know how to make these very simple biodegradable newspaper pots of your own here's the link from the EVERGREEN website:
https://www.evergreen.ca/blog/entry/how-to-create-biodegradable-pots-for-your-seedlings/?utm_source=evergreen&utm_campaign=ocnews&utm_medium=email&utm_content=2017-03
We seeded our onions and peas two weeks ago and since then, both the onions and the peas have sprouted.  Our job today was to set up the grow lights for the seedlings, so the boys got busy moving plastic shelving around, cleaning and hanging our grow light from the shelving unit.  You can see from the photo below that they all did a fantastic job.  They are really great gardeners.  With all the gardening going on in JRHS Resource, I think it's time to buy more grow lights.  Stay tuned for my next blog on planting cabbage seeds and how our cold-moist stratified seeds are doing outside.

This past Friday on a particularly cold Montreal afternoon (-20 with the windchill) a particularly determined gardener (namely, me) attended the Botanical Gardens' Fêtes des Semences, a.k.a. Seedy Weekend, a weekend filled with seed sales and gardening workshops-all free of charge.  You will notice some of my seed purchases in the photo on the top right.  Ok, well, I went a little overboard, but I was more restrained in my purchases than previous years.  Limiting your seed choices is almost as hard as limiting your plant selections while in the garden centre.   I am particularly excited about  the Butterfly milkweed (asclepias Tuberosa) seeds, this year's perennial of the year and a butterfly magnet.  I can't wait to start growing them.  We are so fortunate to have a great Botanical Gardens here in Montreal, full of information and knowledgeable staff that want to share it with eager gardeners.  Along with my seeds, I picked up a bottle of fish emulsion , a fast acting organic fertilizer for young seedlings, and I plan on using it in lieu of my regular chemical fertilizer.  It may smell a little so I'll use it sparingly and mainly on plants outdoors.  Well, I gotta go.  It's time for me to organize all my seed packets and decide which ones to grow first.

African violets --those fuzzy-leaved, purple or pink flowered tropicals--are among the most popular houseplants around.  My grandmother's house always had collection of African violets growing under fluorescent lights.  Mine sit on a kitchen windowsill above the sink, and although they are a little finicky about soil and sunlight, I have found that they are surprisingly easy to grow.  The best thing about them is that if you provide their basic needs they will bloom all year long and brighten the darkest of winter days.  So after a little research online and in old textbooks, I decide that starting African violet plants would be a fun project for Resource kids this week.  It really wasn't difficult to do, but will require a little patience since plants need a few weeks before babies will emerge.  
We started by first carefully cutting a few select leaves off the middle part of the mother plant, a ruffled, purple African violet given to me as a gift that has been growing really well in my kitchen window- a bright, humid area with little direct sun.  Once the violet leaves were severed from the mother plant with about a one inch length of stem attached, I carefully sliced the stem lengthwise (to have more rooting surface and because that's what my research told me to do) and inserted stems into moist, coarse rooting medium. The potted leaf cutting container were then placed into an old plastic mini 'greenhouse' from the grocery store that was used for croissants.  (Recycled trash is treasure!)
If we planted them correctly and we continue to monitor the rooted leaf cuttings, we may in fact have a bunch of new  African violet babies ready by springtime.
​(for more on African violets and their care, check the African Violet Society's website  at: http://www.avsc.ca/index.htm)

 With all the buzz lately  about the decline of bees and Monarch butterflies and the loss of their native habitats, it's no wonder Asclepias tuberosa, a.k.a Butterfly Milkweed,  has been selected as the Perennial Plant Association's perennial of the year for 2017.   It's selection is a sign of the times.
Past perennial winners in this category are attractive, low care plants that are pest and disease resistant and include many of my favourites such as Russian sage, Japanese forest grass and Coreopsis 'moonbeam'.  When I was a new gardener, I found that knowing the annual PPA winners was a great tool on which to base many of my new perennial selections. It's hard to go wrong with perennials on this list.
 Butterfly Weed  (not to be confused with Butterfly Bush) is a North American native and as its name implies, is a magnet for butterflies, hummingbirds and other beneficial insects.  Plants in the milkweed family are the only food source for Monarch caterpillars and their adult butterfly butterflies.  The plant is definitely NOT for human consumption, however, as it is known to be poisonous if ingested.  This toxicity is transferred into adult monarch butterflies, protecting it against predators.   It needs a sunny spot with good drainage and may be slow to emerge in spring.   Once it is established in the garden, it doesn't like being moved due to the large taproot that anchors it in the soil, which it isn't too fussy about.   I will definitely try to find a place in my garden for this cheery bright orange native plant  this year, and may  even try growing it from seed. (For more on native plants of Quebec see the space for life pages of the Montreal Botanical Gardens http://m.espacepourlavie.ca/en/native-plants-your-garden​)

It's a NEW YEAR, and even though I haven't blogged in awhile it doesn't mean that the JRHS Resource students haven't been busy gardening indoors.  Just before the holidays for instance, we learned about food chains and the valuable creatures that make up ecosystems.  We watched a couple of fun, food chain videos and learned how CONSUMERS (insects and large animals), PRODUCERS (plants) and DECOMPOSERS (soil organisms) all have important roles to play in food webs to keepboth local and global ecosystems balanced and healthy.  
This past week in the Resource department, it was all about VERMICOMPOSTING, a type of composting that happens indoors rather than outdoors in the yard.  It's a good alternative for those who do not have backyards and want to do their part in reducing food waste.
We made our own RESOURCE WORM BIN by first cleaning then drilling holes into an old plastic bin with a lid.  Next, we added shredded and moistened computer paper and newspaper for the worms' bedding, threw in some earth and a little sand,  then added the most important players: the worms, (thanks to Mr. Cadot, the science teacher who gave us worms from his own small worm bin in the science lab.) A large tray was placed under the bin which will collect any precious vermi compost liquid that drips from the bin and which will be diluted to fertilize our plants.
Resource students learned a lot about red wrigglers (a.k.a. Eisenia Foetida), the worms that create vermicompost.  Different from earthworms, red wrigglers are important decomposers naturally found in decaying leaves and manure piles and are native to temperate areas so they can't live in the extreme temperatures found in our outdoor Canadian compost piles. They will die at temperatures above 32 degrees Celcius and become inactive or freeze when temperatures are too low.  Red wrigglers are vegetarians that prefer a moist, not too acidic environment, so the students will have to be careful what they feed them: mainly small pieces of scrap vegetable and fruit and not too many citrus fruit.  They will have to take care to bury the food they feed the worms placing it it in a different area of the bin each time and hopefully in a few months, the worms will have transformed our food waste into a clean, high quality compost that can be used to fertilize all our container-grown plants.  I can't wait to harvest the results! 

The John Rennie Resource students finished their insect hotels yesterday, and what a fun project this was for them!  You can see how proud they are of their work in the photo above.
 We started by collecting found, natural items outdoors to use for our 'bug houses' like leaves, sticks, dried flower stems, bark and pine cones and then spent a couple of 50 minute periods working in the tech lab, drilling, glueing and nailing the wood frame.  We owe a big thank you to our very helpful lab tech, Fiona.  During the next few periods together, the group got creative decorating and then furnishing their hotels with their found materials for insects to hibernate in over winter.
Insect hotels help bring awareness to diminishing natural insect habitats while also attracting beneficial insects, such as ladybugs, beetles, lacewings, crickets and various specious of bees to the garden.  Did you know that almost  all insects are good for your garden? These 'good bugs' help control other insect pests and stimulate biodiversity in gardens.  Building Insect Hotels is an affordable, creative project for anyone wishing to attract insects to their yard.  

This past week at J.R.H.S., kids identified 4 of the trees that are growing in Haden Gardens. Specifically, the Sumac, Ginkgo, Maple and Crabapple (we have two) trees. The kids collected leaves from each tree and learned to recognize their importance within ecosystems as well as each tree's unique leaf form.  For instance, the Sumac, we learned, has deeply cut, scarlet red autumn leaflets and conical shaped fruit (only in female plants) and has velvety soft branches resembling deer antlers, hence the name "Staghorn Sumac." Drought-tolerant Sumac grows on slopes and in other tough-to-grow places while helping to control soil erosion and providing food for birds.   Haden Garden is also home to a Ginkgo tree, or a 'Dinosaur tree', which is one the oldest trees in existence, having survived the Jurassic period 350million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth.  Ginkgo's fan shaped, distinctive yellow autumn leaves still haven't fallen, but will soon, especially with current cold temperatures and diminished daylight.  During a warm day last week, a few of the kids (seen above) even had the chance to plant iris rhizomes in the garden near front of the school last week, making sure the rhizomes were not planted too deeply so they wouldn't rot.   They are fantastic budding gardeners for sure.