Time to Start Planning...

Asclepias Tuberosa

Geum Triflorum

Mid-January is the perfect time to start thinking about your garden.  This is the prime time of year to look through mail-order catalogues.  Admittedly I haven't really given much thought to mail order companies since I was a teenager, when I used to love looking through the annual catalogues, and see what was new and exciting.  I decided for the blog I would get in contact with a number of companies, and request their catalogues in order to see what was new, current, and out of the ordinary.

Hypericum Kalmianum

The response I received from most companies is that they no longer provide catalogues, in order to reduce their carbon footprints, and that their catalogues were now fully available online.  Somewhat disappointing,  but very understandable.

Iris Versicolor

One thing to keep in mind about seed/mail-order companies, is that they often will provide a much larger selection than you might find at a garden center.  Many garden centers select a limited amount of seeds, plants, shrubs etc. to sell.  If you want something out of the ordinary, a mail order company might be your best bet!

I am the first to admit, the unusual and obscure plants tend to be the ones that draw my attention the most.  To have a plant or plants... that few people have, or have even seen gives more of a wow factor than the common plants everyone and their neighbor has.

Over the next couple of blogs, I'll highlight some of the better mail order companies to look into.

Aquilegia Canadensis

Over the years I have often thought about habitat destruction.  We tear down fields, meadows, and forests to build houses, subdivisions, roads, and plazas.   The speed at which we are growing and expanding is faster than ever before in history.  What effect does this have on the natural plants and wildlife that depends on those plants?

I was thoroughly impressed with Acorus Restoration Native Plant Nursery.  The first company I am profiling on this blog.  They offer over 350 species of native plants suitable for wetland, woodland, prairie, and meadows.  Their trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants are grown from seed that they collect in an ecologically responsible manner.  In addition to offering seeds, and plants, they also offer ecological restoration consultation services, that have included projects across Ontario.

Anemone Cylindrica

One of the things I really like about this company is their Garden Packages, which take the guessing out of choosing the right plants for the right places.  They have selected packages for Butterfly Gardens, Duck Ponds, Hummingbird Gardens, Water Gardens, Songbird Gardens, Ontario Meadows, Ontario Prairie Wildflowers, Ontario Prairie Grasses, Ontario Tall Grasses, and selections for an Ontario Wet Meadow.

I think its important to plant at least a few native plants in our gardens.  Attract butterflies, songbirds, and nature into your backyard...We have a lot of beautiful native plants... why not display them!

I highly recommend checking out their website at http://www.ecologyart.com/
Or the direct link to their catologue at
http://www.ecologyart.com/images/acorus/AcorusRestoration-RetailCatalog.pdf

Cercis Canadensis

All of the photos in this blog are used with permission from the Acorus Restoration Website