One of the first trees to leaf out in spring

This buckeye (Aesculus hippocastanum), commonly known as horse chestnut, is native to a small region of southeast Europe but is widely planted in Europe and North America. Like other buckeyes, it's one of the first trees to leaf out in late winter/early spring.  In our yard in Quebec Province, I first noticed the leaf buds expanding and leaves emerging in mid-late May this year.

Expanding leaf bud on May 19

Newly emerged leaves on May 27

More newly emerged leaves

Dandelions!

From mid-May through early June we again had a bumper crop of dandelions in the meadowy areas in the far western end of our garden. Dandelions are one of the most ubiquitous plants on the planet. It's very common in our landscape as you can see in the following photos. It's a plant that I have a love-hate relationship with --- I like it's showy flower heads but hate having to pull up the too numerous vegetative rosettes that seem to pop up everywhere in our garden.

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Notice the mix of yellow flower heads and fruiting heads. The seeds are dispersed by wind; as the seeds mature, the subtending inflorescence stalk elongates increasing the likelihood that the seeds will be carried away by the wind.

Corn lily-ostrich fern garden planting

From largely bare ground I created a new bed in the garden in May consisting of corn lily (Veratrum viride), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and a sprinkling of yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata). All three are upright herbaceous plants. It's one of the showiest beds in the garden and a personal favorite. I hope the site is shaded and moist enough (with occasional hand-watering) to be sustainable.

I dug holes and added some additional nutrient-rich soil to each hole in mid-May

I first planted corn lily by transplanting recently emerged plants growing on the slope below our house

I then added a dozen or so ostrich fern plants, interspersing them with corn lily

Burying a dozen ostrich ferns would have been a bit expensive;
instead, I transplanted recently emerged plants growing on the slope below our house. 

The outhouse out back

I never thought we'd have an outhouse outback but what do you know.... our house in Quebec came with one. We have not had occasion to use it but it's there if we need it. Perhaps I need to supply it with TP and a bit of hand soap.

Peonies in flower

Peonies, a favorite of many a gardener, grow particularly well in cold climates, including here along the Gaspe Peninsula. The previous owners of our house planted more than a dozen; most are herbaceous (non-woody) perennials but a few are small shrubs. Peonies have large showy flowers, often with a pleasing fragrance. The flowers have numerous anthers (pollen sacs) that attract pollen-foraging bees, including queen bumblebees. Peonies are in the genus Paeonia and are native to Asia, Europe, and western North America.

Looking out our living room window we see peonies in full bloom in early July

Peonies along the stone path outside our living room

These are double-flowered peonies. The attractive foliage contributes to their appeal.

The large flowers sometimes get top-heavy and topple to the ground

A queen bumblebee foraging for pollen on a peony flower.
Note the round, yellow pollen basket on her back leg.

Five fruit pods developing from a single flower.
This was a flower from a shrubby peony - they tend to flower (and produce fruits) before the herbaceous ones.
I wonder if the seeds are fertile and how difficult it is to grow peonies from seed.

Les Jardin de Métis in late June

What a morning! Les Garden de Metis was spectacular! It's very horticultural, with an emphasis on showy plants, but it includes many interesting species from the Appalachian mountains, including some 'old friends" from the Southern Appalachians. Many of the plants showcased are alongside a forest, or stream and there is a nice viewing area of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Kudos to the garden staff! They're doing a great job. You'll want to stop here if you're heading up the Gaspe Peninsula. It's located about 4 hours east of Quebec City, off of Hwy. 132.

Leaving home for Métis Gardens.
The lilac behind Lisa is in full bloom and very pungent.

The Garden is also known a Reford Gardens, named after the family that established it.

A robust patch of ostrich fern growing along a stream

Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis)

Lady fern (Athyrium fillip-femina)

Various planting adjacent to a natural stream

The multi-colored azaleas were stunning!

Here's an azalea with apricot-colored flowers.
Beautiful!

Don't remember what this was but the pink flowers are striking!
Now I know...this is called Pink (genus Dianthus)

Globe flower (Trollius)

This portion of the Garden is called the "long walk" 

The Garden has a wonderful collection of peonies.
We saw bees visiting the flowers for pollen

A Garden favorite: the Himalayan Blue Poppy
(Meconopsis betonicifolia)

This multi-colored lupine is show-cased in several large patches in the Garden.
It's also a popular home garden plant in the region.

I like to kid that the plants in our home garden "are on wheels"
because they sometimes get moved around but here we can see plants that are literally on wheels.

An attractive planter near the Garden entrance.

Home landscape: images from May 2019

Arriving at our home in Le Bic on 3 May it looked and felt like winter with cool temperatures and the vegetation largely still winter dormant. Scattered patches of snow, the brown lawn, and leafless trees added to the winter feel. Mornings were cold enough to crank up the wood stove to warm the living room.
I set about going to work on the landscape - cleaning up, preparing new beds, and adding plants to the landscape. I did not attempt to systematically document the changes in vegetation in our home landscape or beyond but instead present selected photos of our landscape in the month of May.

View south from the back deck

Woody checking out house

Looking west towards our house

Looking across the yard at our house and outbuildings

View from our upstairs bedroom looking east

Another view across the yard with the still leafless trees

Leafless white birches along our landscape abutting the road

Another view from the upstairs bedroom

Looking towards our house from the south.

Driving north to Gaspe May 1-3

In early May Lisa was off to Ireland and I stayed behind to keep Woody company (he's getting old and more anxious when we're away). Because Lisa's trip was a home exchange, with someone coming to stay in our Asheville house, I had the opportunity to leave early for Canada and our house in Le Bic. A major attraction was getting an early start working the landscape, including establishing several new beds, best done in early spring.
On the other hand, early May is an especially pleasant time to be in Asheville and our garden was so very nice, with meals and conversation on the back deck overlooking our back garden and forest. Of course, it would also have been nice to accompany Lisa on her trip to Ireland.
With mixed feelings I packed up the car, and with Woody in tow, headed up the highway on the first day in May towards our Canadian home in Quebec Province.
All went smoothly during the three-day drive north, spending the first night in Harrisburg, PA, and the second night in Plattsburgh, NY. Early the third morning, Woody and I crossed into Canada, just north of Plattsburgh, at almost exactly 1,000 miles. Le Bic was up the road another 6 hours and 300 miles, making the total distance covered from Asheville, NC to Le Bic a little over 1,300 miles.
Driving north was a bit like going back in time, at least from a seasonal perspective. Asheville was well into spring, with the forest completely leafed out and many wildflowers already past bloom. As I got further north, into Pennsylvania and upstate New York, it felt like early spring as the trees were just starting to leaf out. Soon after crossing the border into Canada, the trees and other plants were still dormant and it looked like winter, including the scattered patches of snow on the ground.
The silver lining was that I got to experience the transition from winter to spring in Gaspe in the month of May. More on that in future posts.
I guess I was mono-focused on driving north as I did not stop and take photos of the change in vegetation as I headed north. My only photos were of the charming small historic town of Kingston
in upstate New York.

Woody about to exit the car. I brought along two bicycles,
one for Lisa, the other for me.

The downtown area of Kingston in upstate New York.

Downtown Kingston

One of several large churches in Kingston

Nearly cryptic stop signs, river ice on the move, and horseback riders on our snow-covered street

We woke up to crisp temperatures (about 2 F), clear blue skies, and calm winds. After walking  Woody, getting the wood stove cranked up, and eating a hot breakfast, we made the short drive to Parc National Du Bic to ski. Knowing that we'll be leaving this winter wonderland in just a few days, we chose  one of our favorite routes - out to Ferme Rioux and the Le Chemin-du-Nord trail to the old Lyman house and the point beyond.  There, we found an opening in the river ice, where dark blue water was moving rapidly with the tide, carrying chunks of ice with it. It was an impressive site.
Attached are a few random photos from the day -  Wednesday, 20 February, 2019.

The view of our outbuildings from an upstairs window shortly after sunrise.
Snowdrifts make for highly variable snow depth in the landscape.

This stop sign, in Parc National Du Bic, is nearly covered by drifting snow. 

View of the frozen Saint Lawrence River in Parc National Du Bic

The view from the end of the Le Chemin-du-Nord trail. The patch of water was moving rapidly
with the outgoing tide carrying chunks of floating ice along the way.

The horseback riders shown here are the owners of the large grey horse barn shown in the far left of this photo.
I took the photo from our front yard.