Cottage Gardening with Native Plants

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1 Cottage Gardening with Native Plants by Anne Bossart This guide was prepared especially for the SCA by Anne Bossart who is a member of the Eastern Georgian Bay Stewardship Council, a Master Gardener and dedicated garden volun-teer. She is particularly interested in gardening with Native Plants. Anne began gardening in her Montreal home over 30 years ago and has created gardens at homes in New Jersey, Philadelphia, Texas and Ottawa. She volunteered at the Scott Arboretum in Philadelphia and Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Centre in Austin. A family cottage is a special place. It is a place to escape from everyday life; to relax with family and friends and to enjoy the fresh air, sunshine and the cool, clear water of Georgian Bay. A cottage is a place where you can enjoy nature and leave the chores of your city life behind. Yes, there is the work of opening and closing it each season, cleaning and repairs and gathering and chopping firewood but there is no lawn to mow or fertilize, no weeds to pull, no roses to spray, no lily beetles. The reward of life at the cottage is well worth the amount of work to keep it up. Bright pink flowers of swamp milkweed attract butter-flies and foliage in food source for the Monarch. At least that is how it is in the beginning. The new cottage owner is awed by the simple beauty of nature and comes to the conclusion that it has provided all the decoration the cottage needs. Then somebody decides there should be more colour. That is code for flowers. Maybe we should have a barrel of geraniums on the dock? Before you know it, those lazy days of summer are filled with watering, fertilizing, spraying, deadheading, replacing the dried up plants in the barrel and then watering some more. Not only unsustainable, this can be harmful to the environment local residents and cottagers alike hold so dear. There is a solution for people who really do love plants and gardening and want to enhance the beauty of their property. That is to garden with native plants. Native plants, by definition, are those plants that evolved in the place where they are found. In North America, the plants present before European contact. Many of the plants brought by settlers have naturalized and spread across the countryside. Most are harmless and beautiful, but some have become invasive; crowding out native plant communities and wreaking havoc in the ecosystem. There are many reasons to garden with native plants, both at your cottage and especially at your home in the city. Native plants are adapted to the conditions of the ecosystem where they occur. That means once they are established they will thrive without being fussed over and will not require extra water, fertilizer or pesticides. Healthy, vigorous plants are resistant to disease and destruction by insects. Native plants take a functioning role in an ecosystem. Having evolved with the native fauna, they have formed some specialist dependencies with them. The most widely publicized of these relationships is that of the Monarch butterfly and milkweed. Its caterpillars eat only milkweed foliage. They are not harmed by the alkaloid present in milkweed that makes them (and the butterfly) distasteful to birds. If a Monarch lays its eggs on another plant in the absence of milkweed, the caterpillar will not eat and will die. The fruit of our northern native shrubs provide the nutrition our migratory birds require for the long flight. The fruit of invasive shrubs is like candy; higher in sugar and tasty but not meeting the needs of our birds.

2 Finally, native plants give us a sense of where we are, enhancing the unique beauty of our ecosystem. Group of Seven paintings are immediately identifiable because of the natural setting, not the built architecture depicted in them. The Parry Sound area is rich in native plant species because it is in a transition zone between two ecozones. Many of the plant species native to the Boreal For-est (which occurs to the north) and the Mixed Deciduous Forest of Southern Ontario are present in our area. Native plants have arranged themselves into plant communities that are adapted to the conditions of the ecosystems in which they occur. Woodlands, meadows, aquatic, riparian (water s edge) and alpine ecosystems are examples of ecosystems in our area with distinct plant communities. When you set out to garden with native plants the first step is to examine your cottage site. Determine which natural ecosystems are already present. A decent sized cottage property could have all of the above plus a bog or pond. Walk around your property with a guide book like Forest Plants of Central Ontario by Chambers, Legasy & Bentley or Wetland Plants of Ontario by Newmaster, Harris & Kershaw. Using the guide to identify the existing plants will help you determine what ecosystems you have and the plants with which to enhance your property. Pickerelweed blooms happily along the shoreline all summer long Happily, many of our native plants are quite ornamental and useful in a gardened environment plus are readily available. There are also cultivated varieties of native plants ( nativars ) that gardeners use as well. These may or may not provide a function in the ecosystem (they have been bred to produce larger, more colourful flowers and can be missing elements like the scent that attracts pollinators or even the ability to produce the seed birds and small mammals eat in fall and winter). There is much discussion surrounding whether they should be considered native or not, but at the very least, they usually do no harm in our ecosystem. Once you have made the decision to garden with native plants, the question is which ones? A very valuable resource is the native plant database at Evergreen.ca. You can Browse the database by region, plant type or ecosystem type or do an Advanced Search by name or plant characteristics. There is detailed information about each plant in the list gen-erated by the search. For example, if you are looking for plant species for your woodland garden you would search by selecting Ontario, then shrubs, shady conditions and so on. Or simply select one of the Habitat Gardens and it will gen-erate a list of all suitable plants. It s more fun than a video game on a winter evening! Unhappily, there is no local garden centre that sells native plants exclusively or even stocks them in a separate area. All the local centres (including the big box stores) do sell native plants but they are grouped with other plants according to cultural needs. So woodland plants are in the shade plant area and meadow plants are in the sun. Often garden centre staff members are knowledgeable and can help you. Most of the plants on the recommended species lists are there if you look for them. The other place to find native plants is at Native Plant Sales in the spring. The North American Native Plant Society holds a large sale in Markham in early May featuring many of the Native Plant Nurseries across Ontario. Plants can be pre-ordered or purchased the day of the sale, as available. And this year, the Eastern Georgian Bay Stewardship Council will be holding a Native Plant Sale in Parry Sound late in May. Details and order forms will be available on the website in March. Armed with your plan and your plants you can create any style of cottage garden you like!

3 Recommended Species for Habitat Gardens in the Parry Sound Area Woodland Garden Plants Natural woodlands have deep, rich soil and are shady and dry during the summer months when there is a leaf canopy. The herbaceous perennials on the forest floor bloom in early spring but can perform as ground cover for the rest of the season. Woodland shrubs are adapted to the shady conditions but do best on the forest edge or where there is a gap in the canopy providing dappled sunlight. Woodland gardens provide food and shelter for birds. Jack in the pulpit, ferns, violets and wild geranium grow happily together in this forest floor plant community. All photographs by Jo Bossart Plant Species Plant Type and Size Description Bloodroot - sanguinaria canadensis Small ground cover White flowers appear in early spring as lobed leaves emerge Virginia bluebells - mertensia viginiana Medium ground cover Blue flowers in early spring provide food for emerging pollinators False solomon s seal - smilacina racemosa Tall perennial Cluster of creamy white flowers on the ends of arching stems in spring Foam flower - tiarella cordifolia Medium ground cover White flower spikes above attractive foliage throughout spring Wild columbine - aquilegia canadensis Tall perennial Showy red 7 yellow tubular flowers in late spring and early summer Bunchberry - cornus canadensis Low ground cover White dogwood style bracts in spring followed by bright red berries in summer Ostrich fern - matteuccia struthiopteris Tall fern Large, course, aggressive plant suitable for mass planting - fiddleheads in spring Marginal wood fern - dryopteris marginalis Medium fern Evergreen fern, not aggressive and very adaptable Bush honeysuckle - diervilla lonicera Small suckering shrub Yellow flowers at branch tips in early summer attract hummingbirds Highbush cranberry - viburnum trilobum Medium shrub White flower clusters in spring, red berries through winter attract birds Elderberry - sambucus racemosa Large shrub White flower in spring attracts bees, maroon berries in fall Pagoda dogwood - cornus alternifolia Small tree with horizontal habit White flowers in early summer, purple/black berries in fall

4 Meadow Garden Plants The native wildflowers and grasses of our prairies are good plants for sunny, open areas, even though there is no natural prairie ecosystem in Northern Ontario. They thrive in well drained, nutrient poor soils and create habitat for birds and butterflies as well as small mammals. Wild jumble of native & naturalized meadow flowers growing in a sunny opening attracts pollinators. Goldenrod, milkweed and asters takeover from bergamot and heliopsis when done blooming. All photograph by Jo Bossart Plant Species Plant Type and Size Description Black eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta Butterfly Milkweed Asclepias tuberosa Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa Prairie Smoke Geum triflorum New England Aster Symphyotrichum Purple coneflower Echinacea pallida Coreopsis (tickseed) Coreopsis lanceolata Gayfeather/blazing Star Liatris spicata Big Bluestem Andropogongerardii Indian Grass Sorghastrum nutans Switch Grass Panicum virgatum Medium/tall perennial Short perennial Tall perennial Medium/tall perennial Tall grass Tall, flowing grass Medium, very ornamental Yellow flowers through summer and fall Bright orange flower clusters in summer Pale purple flowers in early summer attract butterflies Pink/purple flowers in spring followed by ornamental seed head Numerous small purple flowers in fall provide seed for birds Purple flower in summer attracts butterflies, seed source for birds Bright yellow flowers through summer and fall, self seeds Large purple flower spikes in mid/late summer attract butterflies, birds Showy grass with blueish seed heads, attracts many forms of wildlife Rich gold and purple flowers in fall, food source for birds, butterflies, squirrels Purple flowers/seeds in fall, foliage turns red. Many attractive cultivars

5 Shoreline Garden Plants Native plants found at the water s edge can be used at the shoreline, beside a stream or pond or in any area that is seasonally wet or damp. These plants thrive in full sun and are adapted to flooding yet sometimes dry conditions. Blue flag iris is a very adaptable plant with a long bloom period in early summer. Seen here blooming at the water's edge, it is also found in rock crevices where water collects. All photographs by Jo Bossart Blue Flag Iris Iris versicolor Plant Species Plant type and size Description Blue flowers in late spring/early summer Attracts hummingbirds and bees Joe Pye weed Eupatorium maculatum Culver s Root Veronicastrum virginicum Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnate Turtle Head Chelone glabra Cardinal Flower Lobelia cardinalis Pickerel Weed Pontaderia cordata Sweet Flag Acorus americanus Very tall perennial Tall perennial Medium Perennial Short perennial Short marginal perennial Medium aquatic perennial Purple flowers in late summer attract butterflies, Shorter cultivars available White, blue or pink flowers in summer attract butterflies, bees Pink flower clusters in summer attract monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, bees White or light pink flowers in late summer and fall attract bumblebees Upright scarlet flower spikes in late summer attract hummingbirds Purple or white flowers all summer/fall. Traditional edible plant Straplike foliage and flower are fragrant Red Osier Dogwood Cornus sericea Spreading shrub Good bank stabilizer. Spring flowers and fruit food source for butterflies, birds, bees Meadowsweet Spiraea alba Black Chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa Winterberry Holly Ilex verticillata Upright shrub Tall shrub Tall arching shrub White or pink flowers in summer. Attracts birds and butterflies Tolerant of many conditions, has good fall colour and purple/black berries for birds. Male & female plants required for production of red/orange berries Serviceberry/Shadbush Amelanchier arborea Large shrub/small tree Very ornamental and useful plant. Flowers early, good fall colour, edible berries.

6 Native Plant Resources Recommended Field Guides & Books Forest Plants of Central Ontario Chambers/dp/ /ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid = &sr=8-1 Wetland Plants of Ontario (This is no longer in print but you might find it in a second hand bookstore or other retailer that sells Lone Pine Books) The New Ontario Naturalized Garden By Lorraine Johnson A great resource for someone embarking on gardening with native plants Garden/dp/ /ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid= &sr=8-8&keywords=lorraine+Johnson Taming Wildflowers By Miriam Goldberger A guide to gardening with wildflowers and growing them from seed duct/product&product_id=67 Bringing Nature Home By Doug Tallamy Gives readers a real understanding of how gardens can sustain biodiversity Wildlife- Expanded/dp/ /ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid= &sr=8-1&keywords=bringing+nature+home Native Plant Databases and Online Resources Evergreen.ca Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network Canadian Wildlife Federation North American Native Plant Society Ontario Invasive Plant Council Learn what not to plant Native Plants and Seeds Grow Wild! Native Plant Nursery Situated in Omemmee, ON (Open to the public by appointment) Wildflower Farm Coldwater, ON (On line seed sales and a database) Eastern Georgian Bay Stewardship Council Native Plant Sale and more information SCA Editor s addition: Apps to Identify Plants and Flowers by Smart Phone