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May 2011 - News & Events

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners
who make our souls blossom."
- Marcel Proust
NANPS ANNUAL SPRING PLANT SALE FUNDRAISER
Saturday, May 7, 2011
10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Markham Civic Centre 101 Town Centre Boulevard
(West of Warden Avenue, North of Highway 7)
Markham, Ontario
CELEBRATING Canada's biggest gathering of native plant enthusiasts!
Free presentations
11:00 a.m.: Vicki Beard, Making it Work. How to Create Pollinator Habitat in Your City 12:00 p.m.: Colleen Cirillo, Invasive Garden Plants
Visit "Ask an Expert" table, chat with a representative from the Toronto Entomologists' Association, or Sabrina Malach, organizer of the Pollinator Festival at the Brickworks.
Bring it on Home!
We are genuinely grateful for all the hard work by the Plant Sale Committee and the volunteers who will be helping out, culminating in another soon-to-be successful plant sale. Smiles will be blossoming everywhere at the sale when members and the rest of the public set their eyes upon the biggest selection of locally-sourced native plants amassed in one location.
It's definitely worth the wait. If you need an excuse to buy more plants, then the case for Bringing Nature Home should appeal to you. More native plantings = more insects = more songbirds = healthier ecosystem = happier, human residents. Vicki's presentation will help set the tone.
Check out the rest of the book selection. You won't find this array anywhere else unless it's in the virtual world. If you miss the days of tactile browsing for plant books before the bookstores decided to go online, then you will be in heaven. This should not to be confused with being in tree of heaven, Ailanthus altissima. Just ask the residents of downtown Toronto about this ubiquitous, very invasive tree species. Colleen's presentation will cover the ongoing problem of invasive plants.
Quick reminder - Native plant donations are always appreciated, preferably labelled with species and provenance, if known.
If you miss the spring sale, NANPS will also have a smaller selection of native plants available at booths around the GTA and at our fall Annual General Meeting. Books can be ordered through the NANPS Bookstore. Any books purchased here are handled by Amazon.ca, which will process your order securely and arrange delivery, at their usual price. NANPS will receive a small referral fee from Amazon.
On the Mark
Mark's Choice to include NANPS in his column in the Toronto Star on April 30th was a brilliant move. We extend a very special native plant bouquet of thanks to Mark Cullen, garden guru, writer, broadcaster, entrepreneur, and NANPSter.
Contrary to rumour, we will not be issuing wristbands at the door. But with a mighty big plug from Mark, perhaps we should consider it.
NEWS
NANPS Weekender Weedender Bender at Shining Tree Woods, May 13-15th
NANPS is going on a bit of a bender. If you are up to bending and pulling the nasty invasive garlic mustard, then we really need you. Not for the culinary faint-of-heart, but try taking garlic mustard, the pest, and make pesto. Lots of frivolity assured with a cookout on Saturday evening, visits to other nearby conservation areas and a tour of one of Ontario's largest native plant nurseries. Come for a day or stay for the weekend! More info
Another Greenspace still threatened
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation is planning to construct a major intermodal transit hub on top of a heritage greenspace. Friends of the Concord West Greenspace and the Bartley Smith Greenway/Langstaff Ecopark are looking for help with a petition, which has over 1200 signatories, and appeals to the government to order the immediate transfer of the title of the Crown land presently owned by the Ontario Realty Corporation, to the TRCA. The transfer would allow the Concord West residents to protect the land, which is ecologically part of the Bartley-Smith Greenway natural heritage system, and implement for its preservation the responsible stewardship solutions for which they have been pressing during a 16-year campaign. Residents, the City of Vaughan, The Region, the TRCA, Environmental and Naturalist groups have opposed the location and still the Ontario government will not listen. Hasn't this area suffered enough with losing trees in an effort to control the Asian Longhorned Beetle? The Scoop has signed on. You, too, can make a difference. Time is short, as the Legislature is obliged to respond to the petition by May 9th. Campaign poster Petition letter
EVENTS
These dates are closer than they appear. May and June are the busiest months, so we are only highlighting some of the events. Please visit the Scoop Calendar for the full itinerary.
May 5 
RBG Auxiliary Plant Sale
May 6  
NANPS Annual Spring Plant Sale set-up
May 7  
NANPS Annual Spring Plant Sale in Markham
May 8  
The High Park Community Advisory Council Plant Sale
May 11-15  
TBG's Annual Plant Sale
May 13-15  
NANPS 1st Weekend Weedend at Shining Tree Woods
May 29  
NANPS at the 13th Annual Richmond Hill Mill Pond Splash
June 3-5  
5th Annual Carden Nature Festival
June 4  
NANPS at Connecting People with Plants, Humber College
TLS Spokesplant, Solidago canadensis, a.k.a., "Goldie" spotted holed up in the Scoop's garage for the winter, patiently awaiting the NANPS Annual Spring Plant Sale.
"Just living is not enough...one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."
- Hans Christian Anderson
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