BOOKS - AVAILABLE AT THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE PLANT NURSERY, 1186 Flos Road Ten East, Elmvale, Ontario L0L 1P0. To order, see below. Scroll down for Gift Certificate info. 

Tracks in the Snow: Poems and Essays from Life and the Land

By Patrick Lima with illustrations by John Scanlan - The Ginger Press (2023) - 8.5x11'', unspecified pp, black and white, soft cover, available at a $5 discount for $15 from Return of the Native plant nursery. For shipping, add $10.00, for a total of $25.00. E-transfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or pay by cheque made out to Kate Harries, send to Return of the Native, 1186 Flos Rd. 10 E., Elmvale ON L0L 1P0. Don't forget to include your address.

In this surprising volume, best-selling garden writer Patrick Lima takes readers down a new path. With wit, insight and candour, he draws on almost 50 years of rural living in Ontario's Bruce Peninsula to shape a collection of poetry interwoven with essays that incorporate personal anecdotes, life lessons and his feeling for the land. Illustrated with original black and white artwork by painter and photographer John Scanlan, Tracks in the Snow is sure to appeal to all lovers of art, philosophical reflections and poetry - and even to those who aren't sure they like poetry.

The Social Wasps of North America

By Chris Alice Kratzer - Owlfly Publishing (2022) - 6x9'', 417 pp full colour, soft cover $35 Available from Return of the Native plant nursery. For shipping, add $15.00, for a total of $50.00. E-transfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or pay by cheque made out to Kate Harries, send to Return of the Native, 1186 Flos Rd. 10 E., Elmvale ON L0L 1P0. Don't forget to include your address.

The Social Wasps of North America is the world's first complete illustrated field guide to all known species of social wasps from the high arctic of Greenland and Alaska to the tropical forests of Panama and Grenada - 208 species in 22 genera.

For beginners, experts, and everyone in-between, The Social Wasps of North America provides new insights about some of the world’s least popular beneficial insects, plus tips and tricks to avoid painful stings. This book includes detailed information about the ecology, evolution, taxonomy, anatomy, nest architecture, and conservation of social wasp species.

A Garden for the Rusty-patched Bumblebee: Creating Habitat for Native Pollinators

By Lorraine Johnson and Sheila Colla - Douglas & McIntyre (2022) - 8x9.5'', 250pp, full colour $23.00 (special $6.95 summer discount price at ROTN!). Available from Return of the Native plant nursery. For shipping, add $15.00, for a total of $38.00. Pay by cheque made out to Kate Harries. Send to Return of the Native, 1186 Flos Rd. 10 E., Elmvale ON L0L 1P0 - or E-transfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Don't forget to include your address.

An inspiring and practical guide to creating beautiful habitat gardens full of life!

A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee provides all the information gardeners need to take action to support and protect pollinators, by creating habitat in yards and community spaces, on balconies and boulevards, everywhere!

With more than 300 native plants of Ontario and the Great Lakes region profiled in detail, along with sample garden designs, ideas for beautiful plant pairings and numerous tips for success, this fully-illustrated guide helps gardeners discover the crucial connections between native plants and native pollinators, and learn how to cultivate patches of pollinator paradise.

"What a valuable, comprehensive, timely, and beautiful resource! Lorraine Johnson and Sheila Colla provide the rationale, urgency, and detailed know-how for restoring essential pollinator habitats, not only for the rusty-patched bumblebee, but for all of Ontario’s pollinators. Just a fantastic contribution!"
~ Douglas Tallamy, author of 'Nature's Best Hope'. 

"Combining the extensive knowledge of a renowned author and bee researcher, this engaging and accessible book showcases multiple ways to enhance or convert a garden into a thriving habitat for wild bees. This book has it all—sample garden plans, beautiful illustrations and photographs, a comprehensive section profiling native plants and the specific pollinators the plants support, answers to common pollinator gardening questions, and a discussion about the critical link between native plants and pollinators. With its broad appeal, Ontario gardeners will treasure this extremely informative book."
~ Heather Holm, Pollinator Conservationist and author of 'Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide'.

Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide

By Heather Holm - Pollination Press (2017) - 10x8", 228 pp, full colour $30.00
Available from Return of the Native Plant Nursery. For shipping, add $13.00, for a total of $43.00. Pay by cheque made out to Kate Harries. Send to Return of the Native, 1186 Flos Rd. 10 E., Elmvale ON L0L 1P0 - or E-transfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Don't forget to include your address. 
Bees are a singularly fascinating group of insects and this book makes it possible to observe, attract, and support them in their natural setting or in one's own garden. Not only does this guide assist the reader with bee identification in the field or by photo, it also notes microscopic features for the advanced user. The factors impacting bee populations, and the management of farms and public and residential landscapes for bees are also covered. Included in the bee forage (plant) chapters are plant profiles with range maps, habitat information, floral features and attractants, common bees attracted to the particular plant, and details about the ecological connections between the native plant and other flower-visiting insects. Noted also are birds dependent upon the product of the pollinated flowers (fruits and seeds).

This is an excellent reference for amateur and professional naturalists, educators, gardeners, farmers, students, nature photographers, insect enthusiasts, biologists, and anyone interested in learning more about the diversity and biology of bees and their connection to native plants and the natural world.

Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants

By Heather Holm - Pollination Press (2014) - 6x9", 320 pp, full color - $30.00  SOLD OUT
Available from Return of the Native Plant Nursery. For shipping, add $13.00, for a total of $43.00. Pay by cheque made out to Kate Harries. Send to Return of the Native, 1186 Flos Rd. 10 E., Elmvale ON L0L 1P0 - or by E-transfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Don't forget to include your address. 
Beautifully designed and illustrated with more than 1,600 photos of plants and insects, it underscores the pivotal role that native plants play in supporting pollinators and beneficial insects. Readers learn to attract and identify pollinators and beneficial insects as well as customize their landscape planting for a particular type of pollinator with native plants. The book includes information on pollination, types of pollinators, pollinator conservation as well as pollinator landscape plans.

This is an important resource for gardeners, native plant enthusiasts, landscape restoration professionals, small fruit and vegetable growers and farmers or anyone interested in attracting, identifying, supporting or planting for pollinators.

Befriending Bumble Bees: A Practical Guide to Raising Local Bumble Bees

By Elaine Evans, Ian Burns and Maria Spivak - University of Minnnesota. Updated in 2017 - 6x9", 76 pp, spiral bound, full color - $25.00
Available from Return of the Native Plant Nursery. To order, add $4 for shipping, for a total of $29.00. Pay by cheque made out to Kate Harries. Send to Return of the Native, 1186 Flos Rd. 10 E., Elmvale ON L0L 1P0 - or by e-transfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Don't forget to include your address. 

This is a readable and well-illustrated book by a team of entomologists from the University of Minnesota Bee Lab that will open a window on how bumble bees live. The step by step guide provides you with all the information you will need to find, catch, house, and feed your own colonies of bumble bees.

Bumble bees are formidable pollinators, pollinating crops such as tomatoes, cranberries, blueberries, and squash, in addition to native wildflowers. ​Enjoy the benefits these bees can provide to your gardens and crops while helping to support native ecosystems by encouraging populations of these amazing bees.

For beekeepers, gardeners, nature lovers, and anyone interested in pollinators.

OTHER

Gift Certificate $25.00 and $50.00
Get your friends and loved ones off to a great start with a Return of the Native gift certificate so they can choose plants, seeds, books or even a $100 one-hour consultation. To order, make out cheque for desired amount to Kate Harries and mail to Return of the Native, 1186 Flos Road 10 East, Elmvale ON L0L 1P0. Be sure to include your return address.