Tag: gardening

New Species for the Fletcher Wildlife Garden Sale, June 2

I am almost too busy getting the plants ready for the sale to blog about them but there are a few new species that are too interesting to ignore. Seeded earlier this year and already big enough to plant now, the lovely biennial Swamp Thistle (Cirsium muticum). I know, Swamp and Thistle. Don’t let your… Continue reading New Species for the Fletcher Wildlife Garden Sale, June 2

New Species for sale Sunday

Ohio Goldenrod on the shore of Lake Huron, Ontario.

We have always tried to have some genuinely rare and/or unusual plants for the Rare and Unusual Plant Sale . This year we have some new and very special species. We are keeping a close eye on our pots of seed-grown Eastern Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia). This species is not locally native; it occurs in Canada… Continue reading New Species for sale Sunday

Rare and Unusual Plant Sale, 2018

Common Bluets

This is a hectic time for me, trying to get the stock ready for our first big sale of the spring, the Rare and Unusual Plant Sale, traditionally on Mothers’ Day, in Ottawa. This will be our fourth year as a vendor at this sale. We now have enough experience to predict that the Weather… Continue reading Rare and Unusual Plant Sale, 2018

Seed List for 2018 Seedy Saturdays

Boreal Jacob's Ladder

Getting excited about spring? Looking forward to all the wonderful seeds at Seedy Saturday? Beaux Arbres will be bringing more than 70 species of seeds to two local Seedy Days. To really whet your appetite for wildflower seeds, we have now posted a PDF of our seeds for you to browse in advance. Download Beaux Arbres… Continue reading Seed List for 2018 Seedy Saturdays

New seeds for Seedy Saturday, 2018

Wood Lily

Beaux Arbres will be bringing native plant seeds to two Ottawa area Seedy Saturdays: the Ottawa Seedy Saturday on Saturday, March 3rd, at the Ron Kolbus Centre in Britannia Park, and the Pembroke (Ottawa Valley) Seedy Sunday, March 4th. These are always great occasions to stock up on your heirloom vegetable seeds and garlic bulbs,… Continue reading New seeds for Seedy Saturday, 2018

Not too early to be planning for wildlife-enhancing gardens

In January, the gardener’s thoughts turn to seeds: browsing seed catalogues, preparing seed orders, and receiving parcels of seeds in the mail. When we are not obsessing about seed, we are reading nurseries’s lists. It gets us through the winter – dreams and plans  and anticipation that next season will be the best yet.  With… Continue reading Not too early to be planning for wildlife-enhancing gardens

What did well in the garden this year

Cardinal Flower

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) loves sogginess in the spring, so it’s no surprise that this was a great year for the tall, red, hummingbird favourite. More surprisingly, Bird’s Foot Violet (Viola pedata) was another species that did well this year, This is a violet for sun and infertile, sandy soil. That is what it gets… Continue reading What did well in the garden this year

2017: A Year in Native Plant Gardening

The Rock Garden after rains in the wet summer of 2017.

It was wet. We expect the swale garden and the lawn below it to be wet in April and well into May, from snow melt running down from the hills which surround us. This year it was continuously and unrelentingly wet until late July. The swale was continuously full of water, which would be lovely… Continue reading 2017: A Year in Native Plant Gardening