Portulaca oleracea: foliage

Portulaca oleracea, known in English as "common purslane", "wild portulaca", "verdolaga", "pigweed", "little hogweed", "pursley", or "pusley", and in French as pourpier potager or pourpier gras, is a succulent annual probably native to Eurasia. It's easy to identify because let's face it, how many succulents volunteer in Toronto gardens?

Purslane is a common weed here in Toronto, and can produce surprisingly lush growth in only the smallest amount of soil, e.g. in a sidewalk crack. The leaves are not only edible, they are fairly tasty and contain more omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable. So next time you're weeding, why not save and wash the purslane? You can eat it raw or cooked; try some of these recipes!

Sunflowers! (Helianthus annuus and H. tuberosus

The volunteer sunflower (H. annuus) is in full bloom, and I'm happy to see it's yellow, not that disappointing brownish orange like the 'Velvet Queen' I had last year (which was supposed to be red).

We also have native perennial sunflowers in the garden, probably Jerusalem artichoke (H. tuberosus). I'm not sure, but I think this is just one plant! It grows over 2 metres tall, and has small (for a sunflower) yellow flowers in the autumn. The roots are massive tubers, which are apparently edible, though I haven't tried it.

Viburnum trilobum foliage

Viburnum trilobum, known in English as "highbush cranberry", "American cranberry bush", or "American cranberry viburnum", and in French as viorne trilobée, viorne pimbina, or pimbina, is a decidious shrub native to southern Canada and the northern United States. Although called a cranberry, it is not a true cranberry. (True cranberries are in the genus Vaccinum, like blueberries). Still, the highbush cranberries fruit look and taste similar to the real thing.

As you can see, I missed the prime flowering season. (This page has a good photo of a full corymb of flowers, as well as photos of the berries and fall colour).

The pretty flowers in spring, attractive maple-like foliage (click photo for a better look), fall colour, and edible berries, make this an appealing native shrub.

I photographed this plant at Purdon Conservation Area.

Coriandrum sativum 'Slow Bolt' seedlings

I never got around to sowing my cilantro (aka coriander) seeds, but luckily it seeded itself last year!

Cilantro is one of those flavours people either love or hate. I love it.

Rubus sp.: foliage and flower buds

Plants in the genus Rubus, subgenus Idaeobatus, known in English as "raspberries" and in French as framboisiers, are thorny shrubs native to many parts of the world.

This plant volunteered in our back yard last year. I'm looking forward to the delicious fruit!

Alliaria petiolata: foliage

This is an extremely invasive species in Toronto. Alliaria petiolata, known in English as "garlic mustard" and in French as alliaire officinale ou herbe à ail is a biennial native to Eurasia and northern Africa. It is one of the worst invasive plants in Toronto.

Garlic mustard was originally brought to Canada from Europe as a food plant. Unfortunately, it has flourished too well. Garlic mustard is not edible to Canadian wildlife, it emerges early in the spring before many native plants, it produces large numbers of seeds, and it harms mycorrhizal fungi that native plants need to grow properly. These factors give it an advantage over native plants, with the result that it can invade forests and outcompete them. There are areas of the forest in High Park that are completely overrun with garlic mustard, at the expense of native plants. Garlic mustard is invading the forest around the Ontario Science Centre as well, endangering their beautiful white trilliums. Because Canadian wildlife won't eat garlic mustard, replacing native plants with garlic mustard means less food for wild animals and therefore a loss of animal as well as plant biodiversity.

For these and other reasons it is important for Toronto gardeners to be able to recognize garlic mustard and remove it. In the first year, garlic mustard forms a low rosette of heart- or kidney-shaped leaves with a jagged edge. The leaves have a distinctive garlicky smell when crushed. In the second year, the plant produces a stem 30-60 cm tall with clusters of small, white, four-petalled flowers. The flowers are followed by skinny upright seed pods, but please don't let it get to that stage if you can help it. After setting seed, the plant dies, which is good news. (There are some good photos of garlic mustard leaves, flowers, and seed pods on this page by the Plant Conservation Alliance Alien Plant Working Group.)

To control garlic mustard, remove the entire plant in the first year, or remove at the very least the flowers in the second year (in erosion-prone sites you may want to leave the roots of second year plants in place, but cut the plants off close to the ground, otherwise more flowers can form in the leaf axils). Don't leave the flowers or unripe seedpods lying around as even if cut off from the root they can still ripen and produce viable seed. You can eat the plants if you like; here's a recipe for garlic mustard pesto (I haven't tried it myself yet).

Garlic mustard seed in the soil remains viable for years, so eradicating it is a long-term project. So let's make it a May tradition to enjoy a walk outside eradicating garlic mustard!

Petroselinum crispum: at winter's end

Petroselinum crispum, known in English as parsley and in French as persil, is a common biennial herb native to the Mediterannean.

I never thought of parsley as an evergreen, but it has stayed a bright green through the winter, despite having spent months crushed under snow!

Amaranthus cruentus: flower

Amaranthus cruentus, known in English as "red amaranth", "purple amaranth", and "Mexican grain amaranth", and in French as amarante rouge, is an annual native to Central America. Although they are a source of nutritious grain, they are also often grown as ornamentals, rapidly growing to two metres or more with large, showy dark red flowerheads.

The ancestor of this plant volunteered in the backyard a few years ago. It was maybe three metres tall, with dark purple leaves. It self-seeded all over the place; unfortunately, many of the grandchildren have green rather than purple foliage and some even had boring green flowers.

Coriandrum sativum: flowers

Coriandrum sativum, known in English as "cilantro", "Chinese parsley", or "coriander", and in French as coriandre, is an annual herb native to southwest Asia and north Africa. Its leaves are deliciously (or revoltingly, to some people) fragrant, and its seeds are an important ingredient in Indian cooking. By the time it bolts, like in this photo, the leaves are no longer good for eating, but the delicate flowers are pretty and there are the seeds to look forward to. I find that cilantro self-seeds to some extent.

Tropeolum majus: flowers

Tropeolum majus, known in English as nasturtium and in French as capucine is a fast growing annual native to the Andes with flowers in orange, yellow, red, or cream. The distinctive parasol-shaped leaves have a spicy flavour; the flowers are edible as well. Because the whole plant is edible, the seeds are large and easy to handle, and the plants grow rapidly and are undemanding (they prefer poor soil), nasturtium is a good first plant for children and other beginning gardeners. Nasturtiums don't like being transplanted, so sow them directly in the garden after the last frost.