Ignorance is not bliss when it come to plants

Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to plants. Plant the wrong plant in the wrong place and one may find themselves with an aggressive, spreading ground cover that takes over an area and smothers competing plants--plants you may have liked.

The voting is still out on the plant shown above with the green leaves rimmed with bright yellow. It has spread very nicely, according to my neighbour, and so far it has played nicely with the other plants in the garden. The question is: will this cooperation continue?

City folk love their gardens. One can be forgiven for thinking that there might be an ongoing, unspoken contest being fought here. Each home each succeeding year sports bigger, more spectacular, more numerous flowers and shrubs. 

But mixing and matching plants is no easier than mixing and matching neighbours and sometimes the wrong plant gets put into the mix with disastrous results. Luckily, bad plants are easier to uproot and remove than bad neighbours.

Today it is a bed and breakfast

Stratford, Ontario, is famous for its theatres, plural. A lot of the original manufacturing has left the little city and now a big percentage of the city's wealth comes from the entertainment industry. And make no mistake about it, it is an industry.

For instance, this little home is a bed and breakfast today. The hospitality business is a spin off reaping the benefits of the flourishing local theatre business. Rumour has it that this B&B was once a simple, little church. Maybe. But the little building also has the look of an old school. Unfortunately, the info on the stone above the door has been obliterated.

If you are ever in southwestern Ontario, google Stratford. You might well find play being performed to your liking.

Schubertii allium, I think . . .

Each year these blooms appear in a friend's front yard flower garden. Over the years, she has noticed that the strange blooms appear to attract butterflies and hummingbirds; a plus in her estimation. Furthermore, they don't appear to be loved by the common garden pests that plague other plants in her garden; another plus. 

But what exactly are these mystery blooms? I have guess thanks to a google search. (Drum roll, please.) These blooms are flowers on schubertii allium plants. Does anyone agree?

Only made in France, available everywhere

In high school history I learned shipwrecks of Roman trading ships had been discovered at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea with cargoes intact. Trade was important to the Romans. Goods unique to one country were bought and shipped back to Italy.

Trade is even more important today and the glassware at the restaurant silently attests to that fact. The glasses are Duralex. Duralex is French made glassware tempered to resist breaking. Invented just two years before I was born, Duralex, with its unique properties, was soon shipped around the world. 

Restaurants loved it. The glasses stood up to the crude automatic dishwashers of the period. The glasses lasted so long they developed a cloudy, surface patina of thousands of scratches from repeated trips through the dishwasher.

Today the Durlex product is still popular with restaurant owners. As a senior raised in the '50s, I immediately recognized the original glass design which is apparently still popular. Amazing. Any design still in use after almost eight decades is truly ageless.

But, the Duralex glass folk are not resting on their laurels. The second glass is also Duralex but a more recent design. Curious, I googled Duralex. I wondered if it was now being made in China, as well. No, it wasn't. The company says, 

"The original tempered (toughened) Picardie glasses are still produced in France and are known as the “original French tumblers”. . . . Duralex is and will always remain a true French manufacturer of glassware and tabletop products, and is the only glass manufacturer that makes 100% of their products in France."

Heritage home in Stratford

 

The yellow painted home is clearly a heritage property. The first clues are the storm windows. Storms like the ones on this home are no longer available. Note how the right front storm is clearly hinged and has been left open at the bottom. This wood sided home is reputed to be one of the oldest homes in Stratford, Ontario.

Once a church; today a restaurant

For a little more than a hundred years it was Mackenzie Memorial Gospel Church on Brunswick St. in Stratford, Ontario. Then, in 1975, the church was transformed into The Church—one of the finest places to dine in the entire province.

 

Today the former church has underdone another transformation. It is now the Revival House restaurant. Despite two major conversions, the beautiful old church remains one of Ontario’s finest examples of a heritage building conversion done with respect for the building's history.

We dined at Revival House today. If you are curious as to what the kitchen sends out, check out the picture. 

It is a vegetarian sandwich. Two thick slices of freshly baked bread stuffed with sauteed spinach, grilled bell peppers, mushrooms and onion, punched up with a little pesto mixed with soft goat cheese and served with a fresh mixed salad on the side.

 

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

 

It has rained the past two days. It hasn't rained a lot but it has been enough to keep potted plants happy. Having noticed some posted pictures of water droplets and the like, I was more alert than usual to the possibility of finding some beauty among the leaves heavy with water droplets. Cheers!