Wind and Water, West Coast Storms plus natural decaying over decades and sometimes Centuries all combine to create the most unusual tree shapes you might imagine.
Located on the Lighthouse Trail part of the Wild Coast Trail in Ucluelet, Vancouver Island these trees are all within a few hundred yards of each other. Spectacular West Coast Scenery not to be missed on your trip to the west coast.
Ross Munro @ roystonhouse.ca
Anxious Berry Flowers ready to burst forward and produce the delicious fruit and Jellies our Guests enjoy at Royston House B&B. After 6 years of establishment the fruits of our labour should really pay off this summer and the summer B&B Guests will share the fresh bounty.
Our Spring has been dryer than usual for Vancouver Island and this has contributed to the new plant growth. April weather has been very sunny and warm so the plants have done really well as you can see by all the green growth and the very abundant pink flowers on the Blueberries.
Our pruning was done in January so the plants were able to put all their energy into new growth and new flower buds.
Mason Bees and Bumble Bees are extremely active now at Royston House so we should get good pollination for fruit.
Looking at these plants in the mid day sun, I can almost taste this wonderful fruit and some of Nancy’s delicious jellies.
Ross @ www.roystonhouse.ca
A weekend at Bostrom’s B&B in April
Located on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island – this was a perfect weekend and definitely not so wild. We were looking for unusual trees to photograph and found this Cedar right in Judy and Gary’s yard.
We were fortunate to connect with Judy and Gary during a visit a year ago and since we are both B&B’s doing an exchange seemed a perfect thing to do as they enjoy coming to the Comox Valley and we love the Wild West Coast.
Their Private Suite was not occupied so we were able to have a similar experience to our Carriage House in Royston except their’s is the Wild Coastline.
Judy has done a superb job of decorating their suite and the breakfasts were delicious – Highly recommended even if we were doing it for the first time as complete strangers.
Ross @ roystonhouse.ca
Stunning after a recent fresh snowfall on the Beaufort Mountain Range west of Royston by the Sea British Columbia. This Sunny Sunday was perfect and the location in the back hills of Royston provided a full panoramic view of the Mountains and the Komox Glacier. Just a 5 minute drve from Royston House B&B to see the whole picture.
The pinks are in bloom sooner than the white Fawn Lillis near the Bog Pond at Royston House BB. Walking along this trail to the new bridge you will spot several Fawn Lilly leaves but just 2 pinks in bloom on April 5,2013
This Double Narcissi one of a group of four was in full bloom April 5,2013 about the same time as other Narcissi and Daffodils.
It’s Hellebores time at Royston House ~ These colourful little bloomers began their showy journey in February. They are now fully open with their colourful flower like bracs that will last another 2-3 months. What is a brac ? Well it’s a series of petals linked together to provide a colourful attraction to pollinating bees and other insects. The flowers are actually contained in the middle of the bract petal cluster. Flowers are fairly neutral colours of white to light yellow.
The colour and design choices we have at our Royston House B&B are really exceptional. These range from almost pure white to dark purple singles. Over the past few years we have added a lot of doubles with the nicest of these being the yellows with red edging and muted reds or rose colours. Some of the one’s that will jump out at you have a picotee design on the inside of the bract petals and others are multi coloured – like green and white.
The leaves deteriorate over the fall and winter so we have removed most of them before taking these pictures.
Enjoy our show and come visit sometime, we are in the beautiful Comox Valley on Vancouver Island B.C.
Ross and Nancy at roystonhouse.ca
Several people have asked me this question – well the La Nina weather did it, yes we can blame it on the weather.
First – The Mason Bees which normally hatch in early March waited until April 1 and that was no joke.
Second – After an active couple of weeks in April a nasty northern cold front moved in and wiped out most of the early hatchers.
Third – a lot of plants which normally bloom early in the spring were delayed by the cold wet weather reducing the feed stock available to the Mason Bees.
Lastly – Mason Bees which are normally active into June were finished by mid-May.
Our production at Royston House is down about 2/3 from last year. Fortunately we have been building a base of Mason Bee homes for the past few years.
Good News – this was a great year for Native Bumble Bees and with the late huge bloom they expanded dramatically looking after all flower pollination of fruit trees and plants. There were many kind of Bumble Bees this year that we haven’t seen before so Nature is really working with us.
Garry Oak Savanna and Sand Bluff Groves have existed in the Comox Valley for at least 3-400 years. Before the last ice age they were part of extensive hardwood forests. Some anchor trees 3-400 years old still exist in the headquarters farmland belt. Meadows of Camas Grasses provided a valuable food source for Komox Natives prior to the European settlers.
We planted 2 Garry Oaks at Royston House 6 years ago in a wild grass meadow. Camas grass was added and bloomed for the first time this spring. While ours is a relatively small area compared to a Savanna, it is successfully establishing and will grow as a focal point providing a home for associated Native Plants.
Garry Oak recovery is a focus of the Comox Valley Naturalists with a target of planting several thousand trees over the next two decades and establishing several Garry Oak Savannahs.
Gary Oak at Royston House BB
More Gary Oaks
