One Wild Blossom

The weather forecasters had their BE VERY AFRAID! prognostications flashing all day yesterday and again today.  While the Great Lakes Cyclone created untold havoc across the Midwest, we were fortunate enough just to get very warm weather 24C (70F), a good rain and today a fresh warm breeze and a sky full of glorious sunshine.  After Bart's vet appointment I'm going down to the lake - lash myself to a tree and will capture the VERY SCARY waves and hopefully some colour for my next post.

I fear that I'm a bit of a pretender in Gail's Wildflower Wednesday as I only have one blossom - and it is growing on a woody plant.    I found this Hamamelis virginiana growing in one of the nature trails at the Royal Botanical Gardens last week.  I was taking a photo of its leaves when I discovered its delicate thread-like blooms that are almost identical in colour.  While I haven't seen all that many of them, according to 'Shrubs of Ontario', it is common in deciduous forest regions from Grand Bend to Toronto.  It grows from Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to Mo., Tenn (Gail's neck of the woods) and Ga.