Author: Trish Murphy

Artist: botanical, still life, and natural history illustration.
Garden designer: native plants and naturalistic gardens

Ordering Plants

Dwaqrf Canadian Primrose

We think gardening and nature appreciation are going to be big this year. Perhaps this is the right year to add lots of native plants to your garden. So, until we can help you in person at our ususal venues, we are exploring ways to to help you get nursery-propagated native plants, while respecting guidelines… Continue reading Ordering Plants

First signs of Spring

Prairie Smoke and other plants are starting to wake for spring.

There are signs of green in the hoop house. Prairie Smoke is one of the most cheerful in early spring. The flowering stalks will be visible very soon. Some of the little Arctic plants I grow for use in troughs look very happy at these temperatures — little Drabas and Saxifrages. Young leaves of Heuchera… Continue reading First signs of Spring

Seeds through the Mail

With the rescheduled Ottawa Seedy Saturday now cancelled, and diverse Horticultural Society events in question, Canada Post is the most reliable way to get your wildflower seeds. Beaux Arbres has nearly all the species we prepared for Ottawa Seedy Saturday (March 6th) still in stock. We sold out of a couple at a very busy… Continue reading Seeds through the Mail

Seed list for Seedy Saturday, March, 2020

Bottle Gentian growing on the edge of the Ottawa River in Bristol Township, Quebec.

Update March 17: We have run out of White Turtlehead, Fringed Gentian, Compass Plant, Prairie Smoke, and Nodding Prairie Onion. To whet your appetite for wildflowers, I have posted the list of seed species Beaux Arbres will be bringing to Seedy Saturday in March. This year we have over 80 species available in seeds. New… Continue reading Seed list for Seedy Saturday, March, 2020

New Seeds in time for Christmas

Sugar Bowls in the rock garden at Beaux Arbres

Beaux Arbres’ wildflower seeds will be on sale at the $100 and Under Christmas Sale in Carp this weekend — a chance to pick up some little gifts for the gardeners on your list, and an advance look at some special species new for 2020. For the first time we are have seeds of the… Continue reading New Seeds in time for Christmas

Plant Now for Spring Flowers

Wild Columbine

In addition to some lovely fall bloomers — Smooth Aster, Tall Sunflower, Obedient Plant, among others –Beaux Arbres will be bringing some spring -bloomers to the Ottawa Westboro Farmers’ Market this Saturday, September 14th. Experienced gardeners know they can get a much better show next spring by planting now, rather than by waiting until next… Continue reading Plant Now for Spring Flowers

Some Wildflowers of Late Summer

Silverrod (with Smooth Aster in the back)

Silverrod (Solidago bicolor) has delighted me this year with its abundance of cream-coloured bloom. Like many wildflowers, Silverrod is often a wispy little thing in the wild, struggling to compete. Give it its own place in a garden, and the picture above shows what it can do. The blooms are constantly abuzz with native pollinators.… Continue reading Some Wildflowers of Late Summer

Great Plants for Shade

American Spikenard fruit

I love Spikenard (Aralia racemosa), a big shrub sized perennial. The flowers are not much, small and greenish white, but the bold leaves and dark purple stems are handsome enough throughout the summer. It is in the autumn that the plant shines. The little white flowers develop into red berries that turn black when fully… Continue reading Great Plants for Shade