NANPS spring plant sale pre-ordering now open!

The North American Native Plant Society's annual spring plant sale is coming up! This is the biggest native plant sale in all of Canada, and the best source for locally ethically grown native plants for Toronto gardeners. You can preorder online now, or just do what I do and shop on the day itself. The prices are very reasonable ($5 for most forbs, $12 for most trees) and the selection is amazing! (The photo above is the Penstemon hirsutus (hairy beardtongue, penstémon hirsute) which I bought at last year's sale. It started blooming within weeks of planting it in my garden!

Toronto Botanical Garden plant sale is on now!

Oops, I forgot to post earlier that Toronto Botanical Garden's plant sale is now underway. It is every day from now through Saturday, May 9, and is open 10am-5pm, at TBG, 777 Lawrence Ave. East (at Leslie; served by TTC bus 54 Lawrence East from Eglinton Station, directions available here).

Unfortunately they don't seem to have posted a plant list this year; unless you count the vague "[c]arefully selected annuals, perennials, succulents, native plants, ornamental vegetables and heirloom favourites". Last year I picked up Aquilegia canadensis (wild columbine), Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf coreopsis), and Geum triflorum (prairie smoke).

There are lots of lovely plants to enjoy at TBG anyway; on the weekend I saw as well as the usual daffodills and Muscari a very pretty pale yellow magnolia in bloom, various natives including Hepatica, Trillium grandiflora and Dicentra cucullaria, and much more which I can't remember right now. Right next to TBG is Wilket Creek Park, always worth exploring, especially now with so many spring ephemerals in bloom!

High Park VSP Plant Sale coming May 3

The High Park Volunteer Stewardship Program is having their spring native plant sale on Sunday, May 3, 11-2, at the greenhouse. You can view the plant list (PDF) online; prices are very reasonable.

A visit to the beach

Last Wednesday the weather was so nice that my son and I decided to visit the Beaches. A couple of ducks were out enjoying the spring weather as well.

We heard red-winged blackbirds calling, but couldn't get a good look at them (or photo) unfortunately.

At the beach at Ashbridges Bay Park, Nicky raced over to the huge rocks on the right and gave me heart attacks frolicking gaily on them like a mountain goat. Okay, so I'm a worrywart. He was disappointed that I wasn't jumping around on them myself.

On our way home, we stopped to admire the marsh-themed splash pad at Woodbine Park. I think they did a wonderful job designing this splash pad; it at least remains decorative, if not functional, all year round. So many of Toronto's splashpads just look forlorn in the cold months.

Nicky and I were really taken by this beautiful frog, painted by Leanne Wildermuth (be sure to check out all of the beautiful artwork at her site).

A bit of the true north strong and free in downtown Toronto

Monday was a beautiful sunny day, and it gladdened my heart to see young white pine trees (Pinus strobus) glowing in the spring sunshine. (At least, I think these are white pines.) If you stand in the right place, you can almost imagine you're in a forest.

You can never have too many photos of white pine, the provincial tree of Ontario. I have a special attachment to white pine because the house where I grew up in eastern Ontario had a massive white pine in front of it.

Here you can see that in fact this pretty little grove is surrounded by highrises. This is in the courtyard behind College Park at College and Bay.

What a difference a few trees make, especially in an urban environment.

That's my handsome son Nicky posing with the sculptures behind College Park.

I always wondered how trees could survive in these little planters, which look far too shallow to accomodate a tree's roots.

Here's the secret—they're not a shallow as they look! Still, only a small tree could live in a planter like this. Maybe an eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), a very pretty native tree that I think is woefully underused here in Toronto.

NANPS Native Plant Sale coming May 9

The North American Native Plant Society is having a plant sale and expo in Markham on May 9. I don't know how I'll be able to go, since I don't drive, but if you can go it looks amazing. Check out the list of amazing plants available at very reasonable prices (you can reserve plants, but check their policy on plant unavailability at the bottom of this page before you do).

Toronto's ravines: a bit of forest in the city

Here in Toronto we are lucky to have wild forested ravines all over the city. This is a small ravine in East York. Looking at the photo, it's hard to believe that this is in the largest city in Canada.

The setting sun makes the forest glow. Almost all of the snow has melted!

Although it is below freezing, the brook is flowing. I didn't see any fish, and I don't know if there will be any. We had a little brook similar to this one on our property in eastern Ontario when I was growing up. In the spring it was so thick with fish I could reach in and pick up a handful (I did this only once, gently, and put them back right away). I looked up the pretty little fish and learned that they were common mud minnows, a disappointing name for such dainty animals making such a miraculous scene in spring.

I had my eyes open for garlic mustard, but I didn't see any. I'm going to go back each week to check.

Toronto native plants: the big list

(Updated May 28, 2009).

The list of Toronto native plants got so huge I split it into separate posts by scientific name:

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Z

Seedy Saturday is tomorrow!

I just found out that Toronto's Seedy Saturday is tomorrow! I've never been, so I can't say much about it, but it looks like fun. Of course, I've already got more seeds that I can plant, but I would like to see if I can find more native plants.

Allan Gardens: a tropical escape from Toronto's winter!

This Sunday I spent an enjoyable hour on a tropical vacation, at the Allan Gardens greenhouses, located on Carlton east of Jarvis. (Not only a convenient location for me, but free too!) The entrance features a high domed ceiling and some very large plants. The tree on the left is a common screw pine (Pandanus utilis). In the background you can see the very large leaves of a banana tree (Musa spp.). In the greenhouse south of the entrance hall, seasonal bedding provides a carpet of colour beneath the larger permanent residents. Currently the bedding plants include azaleas (Rhododendron spp.), Cyclamen, daffodils (Narcissus spp.), and snowdrops (Galanthus spp.), with tulips (Tulipa spp.) and Crocus in bud. Also in the south greenhouse, a pond features a statue of Leda and the swan. The white frond like things in the background are actually ornamental cabbage or kale (Brassica oleracea) which has bolted. In person they looked like little white Christmas trees. In a greenhouse to the north of the entrance is a collection of cacti and other succulents.

I've got close-ups of some individual plants in the Allan Gardens greenhouses. I'll be posting them with short profiles as time permits.

Learn more about Allan Gardens:

• Allan Gardens site by Toronto Parks and Recreation
• Allan Gardens site by Toronto Botanical Garden, with information on adult ESL tours offered January through March
• Allan Gardens site by toronto.com