Seniors Choice NewsMagazine - CURRENT ISSUE PDF

CURRENT ISSUE PDF

Tom Cooper – Photographer/Teacher

Enthusiasm radiates from Tom as he talks about his passions: photography, teaching, travel with his wife Jane and learning new languages. The couple is fluent in English and French and "not half-bad speaking Spanish". Employed in Montreal at Bombardier Aerospace Military Division in Montreal, he was offered a retirement package four years ago, at age 55 that was just too good to pass up. He thought he would spend his retirement years teaching English, for which he was newly qualified. He also loves to paint and envisioned time to indulge that.

Seeds for Spring

With all the snow we’ve been experiencing this winter, all the gardeners I know are looking forward longingly to spring. Being no exception myself I decided to check out a couple of sites for seeds, on line. One that really interested me is Verseys Seeds. They had a wonderful selection and some really fun new products so I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you.
California Bluebell ‘Phacelia campanularia, easy to grow annual with a lovely true blue color bell shaped flower on silvery foliage. 6-12 inches high and 3-6 inches wide. Drought tolerant.
Linaria maroccana; comes in a fantasy mix, dwarf plants 4-6 inches tall. Great for bedding flowers, rock gardens and containers with colors of magenta, speckled pink, yellow, blue and white.
New was ‘Enchantment’ Linaria: flowers early summer thro autumn producing rich magenta and amber flowers in a mounding habit, 12-16 inches high and wide. Can be direct seeded.
Queen of Africa Lace Flower ‘Ammi majus; heirloom plant. Looks like Queen Annes’ Lace and is from the same family. Fabulous for cut flowers, produces heads of white flowers on 2-3 foot strong upright stems.
Impomea labata or Exotic Love Firecracker Vine was interesting if you’d like something quite different. Ivy shaped leaves on twining 12 inch vines, with sprays of showy tubular orange/ coral/ lemon flowers. Flowers midsummer to frost, can grow 6-10 feet tall in a season. Full sun. Start early inside.
Silverdollar Eucalptus; everlasting flower great for dried flower arranging, and is an easy growing annual or perennial in warmer climates. Fragrant round silvery green leaves, 1-2 inches in diameter, grows up to 3 feet. Start indoors.
Dichondrais an old favorite for a contrast filler in baskets with its lovely masses of soft pewter leaves. Now a new variety; Emerald Falls, has the same cascading habit but with soft leaves in an emerald green. Will tumble out of planters for up to 3 feet. Sun to shade.
If you would like to try something different in your large containers as a center piece try planting a banana tree. They will grow 2-3 feet in height the first year, with large showy leaves to compliment your flowers. Will grow up to 20 feet in warm climates or solariums and are easy to overwinter. Full sun.
Some other new plants for 2008 are; Shock wave Petunias. They resemble Calibrachea with the spreading habit of wave petunias. Tiny flowers 1 1/2 -2 inches wide on spreading plants, 8-10 inches high and 24-36 inches spread. Early to flower, self cleaning and prolific, in colors of ivory, pink vein and purple.
Others that caught my eye are Chocolate Mint Coleus, Bergamo, Double Decker Echinacea, Baby Duck-yellow petunia and Baby Bear Sunflower.
These of course were just some of the wonderful new ideas for spring. I hope it gives you some ideas for your spring planting.
Lindi Karmason

CROWS AND RAVENS

I will document a few of our most common birds in the winter, members of the Corvidae family; they are easily seen and heard locally, and even though they are close cousins, they do not associate with one another. In fact Crows will mob Ravens or other predator birds. If you see a flock of Crows flying into a tree and calling loudly, look closely there maybe an owl there trying to hide from them.

COMMON RAVEN
A large black bird measuring 21 to 27 inches in length, with a heavy bill, and long narrow wings and a long wedge shaped tail. The wedge-shaped tail is the best way to identify these birds. The raven often soars, whereas crows never do. It has shaggy throat feathers The bill almost has a “roman nose” appearance. Pairs engage in aerial acrobatics, climbing high in the air and then “barrel rolling “out of the sky together. They nest on ledges of canyons, coastal cliffs and even on telephone poles. Their call is often heard throughout the coastal forest and the raven plays a large part in Native folklore (the trickster). They are found throughout Canada except in the prairie grassland eco region. They are noisy and aggressive but inconspicuous when nesting. They will mob predators, even owls and hawks. Their nest is constructed with sticks, bones wool and other man-made material.

AMERICAN OR COMMON CROW.
The crow is also black, glossed with purplish color in sunlight. It measures 17 – 21 inches in length. It has a black powerful bill (smaller than the Raven) and nostrils that are usually covered by forward pointing bristles; a short tail and broad wings They are found in small groups foraging mainly on the ground. They are omnivorous and have a loud noisy “caw”. The head appears to be round. The nest is a well made bowl of sticks and are more visible in winter and often in deciduous trees. Both Raven and Crow numbers have increased since the inception of landfills in our area. The crow has a buoyant strong flight with “rowing wing beats “.

BLACK BILLED MAGPIE
This noisy bird is found in gardens, open country and anywhere where food is abundant. They are 19 inches long, black with white shoulder and belly, an extremely long tail and heavy bill. The back appears iridescent green in sunlight. The voice is harsh and clattery 3 – 5 notes. They are found from the west coast to Manitoba. Nesting begins in mid April; the nest a mass of sticks with an entrance on each side It can be in a tree or bush and often in colonies. In 1931, 1033 magpies were killed in the Okanagan Valley by 12 people in an effort to prevent damage to crops. However the numbers continue to grow and they are in healthy numbers today. Magpies will raid the nests of other birds and take their eggs and/or young.

NORTH WEST CROW
AS suggested this bird lives on the coast of B.C., beachcombing, and reminding one of the fish crow of the Atlantic Provinces. It measures 16 inches – slightly smaller than the American Crow and has a lowers pitched voice.

The Calculated Risks of Building in the Okanagan.

Every so often a home, sometimes several homes, in the Okanagan become a scene of destruction. Homeowners are understandably devastated. What can be done to prevent these tragedies?
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The Art of Mexico

From the time we began writing articles on the arts we have taken a very liberal interpretation of ‘liberal’ arts. We didn’t want to take anything away from those who hold an opinion that real art belongs within the definition ‘fine art’. We continue to focus on the liberal interpretation we have taken. We are not art critics because we find too much talent in those who render ‘nothingness’ into ample articles of beauty.