It's wild out there

I haven't blogged for ages, so hello to anyone still out there - let's go and just sink into a wall of colour. You know how much I like colour.

May and June are classed as Spring in Alberta - this is much later than the March and April I would have been used to in the UK.

As winter finally (and this year, reluctantly) gives way to Spring,  the warmer winds slowly revive the dull landscape.

The town where I live, Cochrane, is situated in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and is an undulating landscape.

We have lots of different grasses here.

The ravine near my house is covered in Wolf Willow. It is a wild, invasive but reasonably attractive silvery green shrub, with the distinctive leaves like wolf's ears, hence the name. The strong bark can be used to make baskets. However, for about two weeks in Spring, it flowers - and in my very humble opinion, it stinks! It literally catches in my throat. Bleugh.

The official emblem of Alberta is the wild rose.  You see the low bristly shrubs everywhere with their small, bright burst of pink flowers.

The wolf willow and the wild rose are frequently seen in the company of each other.

I think this is a yellow clematis - not sure how "wild" this is really, but it was growing alongside the fence line of the municipal tip.  Anyway - I like this one.

The ground alongside the pathways beside the river are a carpet of dotted colours, and mish-mash of anything that can seed itself and get a foothold.

Ahhh - that will do me for a while.