Beautiful warm weather

There have been lots of birds singing, courting, and building nests in our neighbourhood, but it's not often one sees a blue and yellow macaw (Ara araraunca, ara bleu et jaune).

Thunbergia alata 'Blushing Susie' seedlings are thriving!

Seven of the ten black-eyed Susan vine (suzanne aux yeux noirs) seeds I planted sprouted. Weirdly, on many of the seedlings the cotyledons emerged practically underground so the first I saw of the plants was the true leaves. It's gratifying to see them doing so well.

Natives in our garden

Andrew Keys at Garden Smackdown is calling on bloggers to list the native plants in our gardens. Here's what's currently growing in our garden:

Volunteered or planted before we moved in and thriving

• Acalypha rhomboidea (three-seed mercury, ricinelle rhomboïde)
• Acer rubrum (red maple, érable rouge)
• Amaranthus tuberculatus (roughfruit amaranth)
• Anemone canadensis (Canada anemone, anémone du Canada)
• Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane, vergerette annuelle)
• Fraxinus pennsylvanica (green ash, frêne rouge)
• Gleditsia triacanthos (honeylocust, févier d'Amérique)
• Juglans nigra (black walnut)
• Solanum ptycanthum (eastern black nightshade, morelle noire de l'est)
• Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod, verge d'or du Canada)
• Veronica serpyllifolia (thyme-leaf speedwell, véronique à feuilles de serpolet)

Planted by me and thriving for a couple of years

• Asclepias tuberosa (butterflyweed, asclépiade tubéreuse)
• Geum triflorum (prairie smoke, benoite à trois fleurs)
• Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem artichoke)
• Liatris spicata (blazing star, liatride à épis)
• Monarda didyma (beebalm, monarde)
• Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed susan, rudbeckie dressée)

Planted by me last year, don't know if they survived the winter

• Actaea rubra (red baneberry, actée rouge)
• Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf coreopsis, coréopsis lancéolé)
• Gaillardia aristata (blanket flower, gaillarde)
• Helenium autumnale (sneezeweed, hélénie d'automne)
• Maianthemum canadense (wild lily-of-the-valley, maïanthème du Canada)
• Phlox divaricata (woodland phlox, phlox bleu)
• Tiarella cordifolia (foamflower, tiarelle cordifoliée)
• Verbena stricta (hoary vervain, verveine veloutée)
• Waldsteinia fragaroides (barren strawberry, waldsteinie faux-fraisier)

Planted by me and died

• Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf coreopsis, coréopsis lancéolé)
• Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen, gaulthérie couchée)
• Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant, physostégie) (mistaken for a weed by landlords after it was done flowering)

Attempting to grow from seed this year

• Agastache foeniculum (lavender hyssop, anis hysope)
• Allium cernuum (nodding wild onion, ail penché)
• Anemone virginiana (thimbleweed, anémone de Virginie)
• Aquilegia canadensis (wild columbine, ancolie du Canada)
• Asclepias tuberosa (butterflyweed, asclépiade tubéreuse)
• Campanula rotundifolia (harebell, campanule à feuilles rondes)
• Desmodie canadense (showy tick trefoil, desmodie du Canada)
• Eupatorium perfoliatium (boneset, eupatoire perfoliée)
• Eupatorium purpureum (Joe Pye weed, eupatoire pourpre)
• Gaillardia aristata (blanket flower, gaillarde)
• Helenium autumnale (sneezeweed, hélénie d'automne)
• Lobelia siphilitica (great blue lobelia, lobélie syphilitique)
• Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot, monarde fistuleuse)
• Potentilla argentea (silver cinquefoil, potentille argentée)
• Solidago bicolor (silverrod, verge d'or bicolore)
• Solidago caesia (blue-stemmed goldenrod, verge d'or bleuâtre)
• Symphyotrichum ericoides (heath aster, aster éricoïde)
• Tradescantia ohiensis (Ohio spiderwort, tradescantia de l’Ohio)
• Verbena stricta (hoary vervain, verveine veloutée)
• Vernonia sp. (ironweed, vernonia)
• Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's root, veronicastrum)
• Zizia aurea (golden Alexanders, zizia d'oré)

What natives are you growing in your garden?

Sansevieria trifasciata

Sansevieria trifasciata, aka "snake plant" or "mother-in-law's tongue" in English, plante serpent or langue de belle-mère in French, is a west African perennial commonly grown as a houseplant. It's unusual to see a specimen as large and healthy as this in a mall—this one is in Brookfield Place. (I believe the underplantings are Rhododendron simsii (Indian azalea, azalé de l'Inde) and Hedera helix (English ivy, lierre grimpante). The latter is an invasive plant here in Toronto, which should be confined to indoor plantings like this rather than planted in the garden).

I briefly had a sansevieria, which I picked up half-dead at Canadian Tire because I felt sorry for it. I thought that the leaves would be too tough and unappetizing for my cats to nibble, but I was wrong. There is some debate over how toxic sansevieria is, but according to Plants are the Strangest People's Houseplant Toxicity Series, Sansevieria trifasciata can kill a cat. I've composted mine.

I should mention that I dislike the common names "mother-in-law's tongue" and langue de belle-mère for this plant, since they are a dig at mothers-in-law (the sharp leaves of the plant are supposed to be like the sharp tongues of mothers-in-law). I have had two mothers-in-law and they both are lovely people whom I am grateful to have known.

Lobelia erinus 'Sapphire Pendula' seedlings

I didn't see seeds for that gorgeous sky blue lobelia for sale, but hopefully these will provide a good approximation! (And I'm still hoping I can get my native Lobelia siphilitica seeds to sprout; I recently had a dream about it!)

Antirrhinum majus 'Montego Pink' seedlings!

As you would expect from a plant that is capable of volunteering out of nowhere, the snapdragons (mufliers) germinated quickly and easily.

Hypoestes phyllostachya 'Splash Select White' seedlings!

Polka dot plant (plante aux éphélides) is sometimes recommended as a good plant for children to grow from seed because it is easy. I can confirm that is the case! Here are my lovely healthy seedlings, about a week after sowing. No markings yet, but I expect they will come with the first true leaves.