Please join us to observe up close and learn all there is to know about butterflies, caterpillars and the plants they need to survive.
Summer Hours starting June 10th | Tuesday through Sunday – 11 am to 4 pm. *Weather Permitting
Plant It and They Will Come – The Importance of Native Plants
Learn from Rick Gray, co-author of the Globe & Mail bestselling book The Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants of the Southern Great Lakes Region what a native plant is and why it’s important to grow in our gardens. Understand the difference between the terms native, near native, naturalized, nativar and wildflower as well as the critical role native plants play in our food web. Research has shown North America has lost three billion birds in the last 50 years and part of these losses can be attributed to urban gardens being bereft of native plant species. Ensure you have an ecologically friendly garden with the right plants. Resources provided to get started or expand your existing collection.
Rick Gray is an avid gardener who over the years has created a fully native garden with over 300 species of native plants. He has a background in sales and marketing, which he taught at the community college level, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources Management and a masters in Environmental Biology. His website — NativePlantGardener.ca — features blogs, book reviews on native plant gardening books, and Plant of the Month articles.
