Yearning for Summer? Come Visit Mother Nature's Riverside Garden.

Winter still rages out there today, with temps in the low teens and a howling wind making things even worse.  I'm sitting here snug and warm, though, immersed in visions of gorgeous spring and summer wildflowers as I work on my presentation for this coming Wednesday, February 17, at 7 pm, at the Crandall Library in downtown Glens Falls.  It's called "Mother Nature's Waterside Garden."

 Title photo by Sue Pierce

Sponsored by the Southern Adirondack Chapter of the Audubon Society, with assistance from the Adirondack Mountain Club, my slide show/talk is offered free of charge to all who dream of warmer days or to those who just might be curious to know what grows along our  Hudson River.  Believe me,  there sure are some beauties!  (Cardinal Flower and Pickerelweed among them)

And some are among the rarest of New York wildflowers, such as this Small Floating Bladderwort, ranked as Threatened in the state but abounding at South Glens Falls:

And of course, since this is an Audubon event, we will have a photo or two of some birds, such as this regal Great Blue Heron:

We'll also acknowledge the beauty of some of our insect friends, such as this spectacular Calico Pennant Dragonfly.  (What a great poster boy he'd make for Valentine's Day, with all those hearts on his abdomen!)

Even though our focus will be on the flowers of spring and summer, we'll visit the river  in every season.

We'll even visit the river in the coldest days of winter, when frazil ice mounts high on the banks to create the remarkable habitat called the Ice Meadows.

Because, of course, we would not have the glorious flowers of summer without their time of rest during winter.  Here's that same stretch of Ice Meadows pictured above, but now in all its summer glory.

So while we shiver and shake this week as temperatures plummet way below zero, just remember that winter is all part of Mother Nature's gardening strategy.  And then make plans to come to my talk and enjoy some visions of her marvelous yield.