November 13 – Western snowberries (Symphoricarpos occidentalis Hook.) are particularly fruitful this year in southern Alberta. This member of the honeysuckle family is a native plant here, but it may not be one you’ll necessarily welcome to a tidy garden as its rhizomatous roots create dense thickets. The fragrance of the blooms is akin to that of roses, however, and various pollinator species adore them. And those striking white berries? Don’t sample. 

November 14 – Pro shopping tip: If you find yourself in a garden centre buying houseplants but you have to take public transportation or hoof it to get home, airplants are the perfect portable solution! (Monsteras, not so much.) 🤣 This is a super common one, Tillandsia cocoensis, which is generally now considered its own species instead of a variety of T. tenufolia.

November 16 – Some lovely frost yesterday morning. The humidity has been high here the past couple of days, which is always a bit tough to take. The cold goes straight to your bones! (The dry air is more tolerable, but it wreaks havoc with your skin. There is not enough moisturizer on the planet to deal with my skin in the winter! The joke around here is you get off the plane or step out of the car upon your arrival to Calgary and your skin instantly shrivels.) 

November 17 – Some of you already know I work in a public library, and one of my roles is as a children’s programmer. I still consider myself pretty new to this part of my job, but I realized today that I have officially done enough sessions to see one of my sweet little regulars accomplish her alphabet. After she was finished, she led the room in a rousing sing-along. I may have been more proud than her Mom and Dad! 

November 20 – Simply had to get the requisite shot of mountain ash berries wearing a fluffy cap of snow. 

November 21 – Had a training session downtown at Calgary Central Library today; as I have mentioned in the past, I always take in the latest art installations whenever I am there. Byron Robb’s intriguing Cubist-influenced photographs are imaginative, bold, and mind-warpingly fun. I was grinning with appreciation the entire time I was looking at them. 

November 25 – We’re six days away from the start of meteorological winter, and it sure looks like it!

November 28 – Incredible beauty on the commute home this evening … a unique combination of fog, frost, and snow. The sun had set, and the streetlights and ice in the air made for a stunning background.