Grow Your Own Native Plants

08/02/2026

What's on my mind is where am I going to find room for all the plants I need to put out?... no matter. Here are some late July pics of past plantings.

07/19/2026

Some of early summer's growth.

06/23/2026

One of the things I like to do as someone who grows native plants is to go out to nearby natural areas to see what is growing, or look for particular plants. This day I was looking for Cypripedium acaule at a bog, very rare in our more alkaline area. I didn't find any, but I did see some other interesting plants.

06/10/2026

POTS WITH A JILLION SEEDLINGS -PRICKING OUT AND POTTING UP

When I sow seeds for the winter, I don't usually sow a whole pile at once. I like to sow anywhere from 1-10 so they will be easy to separate if they need to be separated before I put them in a nursery area, or more rarely, into the garden if they are big and burly enough.

Sometimes though, I receive seeds from acquaintances and I sow them all at once in the hopes of getting at least something to germinate. Sometimes they germinate in a mass that covers the entire surface of the pot in question. That presents an extra step or two.

This year that happened with several plants. I did what I usually do when there is a solid mat of seedlings.

One pot (obligingly square) I cut into 9 equal sections and potted up each square in the middle with moist potting medium all around it. Another pot (also obligingly square) I cut into 6 equal parts and did the same. Then I sprayed the soil and seedlings with a fine spray to settle the soil, adding soil where necessary.

From here, I have a few choices. I can pull or better cut all the seedlings but one or a few likely looking ones. Alternatively, I can let them duke it out for a while to see who comes out on top, then cut away the others, or just leave the whole thing to let it sort itself out. I don't usually do that, since crowded seedlings are generally more likely to progress poorly. I'm more likely to cut them all but 1 or 2 for insurance and put them into a somewhat shaded nursery area (not too shady, or what happens is poor growth.)

I'm less likely to try to individually prick out (separate) plants in a clumped, crowded situation. But I recently came across method which looks worthwhile and may perhaps be very good. Certainly the explanation is! Thanks to GrowitBuildit.com. tgb

https://growitbuildit.com/separate-seedlings-how-to/

05/10/2026

One of my favourites, Iris lacustris, here a plant that is a few years old, a division from an older plant but doing well, with a buddy, Juniperus horizontalis.

05/09/2026

A few pictures of what's coming up. Spring is the season of hope.

03/01/2026

https://www.facebook.com/100086765686515/posts/885644557671059/?app=fbl. Pics from the recent Huron Bruce Nature event I took part in. That's me with the beard.

02/28/2026

Here is a wealth of information I have been reading. Great tips and easy to read. Very helpful, particularly the Germination Page. Also a seed source here in Canada for some hard-to-find species. tgb

Plants seeds for everyone: wildflowers, medicinals and alpine species

02/28/2026

At this point in the year, winter sowing is a maybe thing. This year, it's probably no problem for quite a few species. However, I agree with a person that wrote on their website not to "put all your monkeys in one barrel" in case the barrel comes to grief, metaphorically. So today, I took the seeds that a friend (Mary Ellen Skelly) sent and did a little looking. Turns out that the plant in question needs about 6 weeks of cold stratification, but it also likes to germinate while it's cool.

So some went into a winter sowing jug in the hopes of winter lasting long enough 🫩 to get whatever cold treatment they need, and still have time to germinate in cool weather AND some went into the fridge where I can keep them for sure for 2 months and hope to make the cool weather for best germination possibility. Some went into my seed storage for next fall in case I bomb out.

They are itty bitty seeds, so I sieved them a few times to get some plant trash out (not much at all) and then I used a technique for handling tiny seeds that I have used many times in the past. Plant trash tends to be flat when it is getting near the size of the seeds, while seeds tend to be rounder. That means they will roll more readily from one paper to another when the one holding the seeds is tilted over the other at increasingly greater angles, while tapping gently to get things going. By doing it several times, you can get pretty clean seed, which helps you to know how much you have to work with.

Seed and non-seed can be pretty hard to tell apart. I regularly use some kind of magnification, including a microscope, when I am dealing with seeds I am not familiar with. For your own seeds, it probably doesn't matter much, but I don't want to be sending something to someone that won't germinate, even if it is for free.

I used another method for dealing with tiny seeds: mixing them with a small amount of sifted sand to make it easier to handle when sprinkling. The pictures accompanying will give some idea of what to do. I am very hopeful that I can get these small and beautiful plants to the point where I can decide where to put them. That will be challenging!

02/27/2026

Last Tuesday I had an opportunity to address a local Nature group, Huron Bruce Nature, and it was fun to speak publicly using my "teacher voice" and speak about something I care about. Many people came up afterward to ask questions about seeds, species, and issues they have encountered in their native gardening efforts. Quite a few took home seeds, which was encouraging.

I just finished packing up my remaining seeds for 2026 to go to the Bruce County Library. Several branches in the system have a seed distribution programme. I am glad they will have more exposure and a chance to enrich enviroments in the area. Libraries in your area, wherever that is, may have similar programmes.

Right on time, seeds arrived in the mail from a FB friend on the Peninsula - Primula mistassinica! I had been expecting them to arrive for a while so it was good to see them arrive safely, a sort of turn-around experience for me, and very enjoyable. I very much enjoy the giving and receiving of something with the potential of beauty without the accompaniment of money. But that's just me. 😉