The Return of the Native plant nursery will be closed this Saturday June 23, 2018 - I will be at the
Tiny Marsh BioBlitz - but will be open 10 am to 4 pm on Friday and Sunday (call or email if you want to come early or late on those days, or at any other time.
I have a full complement of native grasses on sale, as well as our three local varieties of milkweed. Check the
plant list for more details.
If you want to learn more about beautiful native plants in their natural environment, you would really enjoy one of the BioBlitz outings that focus on the plants of Tiny Marsh (a huge property that includes many habitats, not just wetlands).
Leaders are Lynn Short, a long-time Tiny Township cottager who teaches horticulture at Humber College and is an expert in Phragmites control and Clare Holden, a member of Nature Barrie and Ontario Nature and a graduate of two Master Naturalist courses. Their walks run from 10 am to noon.
In the afternoon, you can gain an indigenous perspective by going out with Gary Pritchard of Curve Lake First Nation or Jake Charles of the First Nation of Georgina Island. For more informatio, go to
Eventbrite, and scroll down to the schedule.
Is it too late to plant? No. If you are dealing with potted - as opposed to just-dug bareroot - plants, you can carry on planting all summer long, although success is easier to achieve in spring and fall.
It's just that you have to take more care.
Watering is helpful for the first couple of weeks at least, and if the planting area is in full sun and there's no rain in the forecast, you might want to erect a temporary shade structure with newspaper or fabric for a few days. But native plants are tough, and most will soldier through if you soak the planting hole and the plant ahead of time. Rootbound plants (ones that have been left in a pot too long and have circling roots with hardly any soil mix left in the pot) will have the hardest time - be sure to break up the root ball and spread the roots out well.
