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May 2012 - The Local Scoop

The Local Scoop May 2012
Aster-ity measures are in full effect!
(Trillium grandiflorum, ZooWoods, May 2011)
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes,
but in having new eyes.

- Marcel Proust
NATIONAL WILDFLOWER WEEK
May 7-13 & NANPS ANNUAL
SPRING PLANT SALE & FUNDRAISER
Saturday May 12, 2012 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Markham Civic Centre
101 Town Centre Blvd
(Hwy. 7 and Warden Ave.)
Plants galore, nature books, environment-themed tables, garden displays
Sweet birch (Betula lenta) it's here again! All eyes are on the NANPS Annual Spring Plant Sale & Fundraiser. You've been Bidens your time patiently, as the recent deluge of spring rains have been stirring up plant growth and your gardening urges are sprouting anew. It's going to be more fun than a rain barrel of monkeyflowers (Mimulus alatus)!
Volunteers will be dutifully rounding up plants for the pre-orders and various tables Friday afternoon and evening. Those working the floor are to be commended. From experience, it's about as easy as herding cattails.
Don't fret if you didn't pre-order the whole shebang and now you're regretting your restraint, thinking you're stuck in the few-flower fumitory (Fumaria reuteri). No worries because on sale day we'll have lots and lots of plants of every style - trees, shrubs, vines, herbaceous plants, to fill your wanton needs. Check the plant database for last minute ideas.
If you are of the literary bent, save some of your funds for book buying. The selection grows every year and a portion of the sales goes to NANPS. We also have garden displays - a woodland and rain garden. Several tables have environmental themes - LEAF, T.O.Bee, Invasive Plants, Is your garden legal?
Hopefully, you'll be attracted like a moth combseed (Pectocarya setosa) to a flame ragwort (Packera greenei) or the members' donation table. Now is a good time to split harebells or anything else native from your garden (provenance appreciated) as the proceeds of all donations go to NANPS. Bring offerings to the team of Greg & son who will be planted at the table awaiting your donations. NANPS Prez., Greg is especially interested in different species and hopefully you won't disappoint.
And then there's the Green Orphan tray program. It sounds colourful and eco-friendly but perhaps tinged with a little sadness. It is somewhat, as we would like to get top dollarleaf (Rhynchosia reniformis) for every plant so that the NANPS fundraiser is a budding success. But the reality is not every plant is adored and adopted on the initial run. Near the end of the day, any plants that are non-consignment are rounded up, bunched together and adopted out as Green Orphans to new homes at a discounted price. These were only available as pre-orders. Don't make us go this route - any leftovers not in the Green Orphan tray program end up on the NANPS website or at later events (e.g., WWWS plant sale).
The general public sees a puny, bedraggled specimen because they are used to the displays of big, bold choices at the local garden centres, whereas native plant lovers see the underlying potential in the plant. Think of the wine drinker on the fly grabbing the nearest, most fancy-labelled, buy-me-drink-me-now wine off the shelf and then picture the serious wine collector and connoisseur who meticulously selects fine wines to put down in the cellar to be enjoyed later. Native plants aren't Freakenstein plants, manipulated at the genetic level and then kept in the greenhouse spa bathed in fertilizer, pampered and primped. Our native plants are the real deal - genetically wild, ethically sourced and tough enough to take on our local conditions. They are the superior choice for the environment.
Sound the Alarms!
NANPSter wins award!
The Monitoring the Moraine (MTM) Partners, EcoSpark and STORM Coalition, announced the 2012 Moraine Heroes. NANPS Board member and prairie plotter, John Oyston won in the category of Landowner Champion for actively stewarding his 49-hectare (101-acre) Bewdley property overlooking Rice Lake by transforming a hayfield into a tall grass prairie encircled by an arboretum with 120 native trees and shrubs. The announcement was covered in the local paper.
Gut Less
Over 50 Organisations speak out against the gutting of environmental laws in Ontario's budget bill
Ontario Nature Media Release - Endangered species, provincial parks, and cottage country lakes are all put at risk. Wishful thinking - to have NANPS as a signatory - we should add our voice!
Invasive Alert!
Invasive bamboo unleashed on the unsuspecting public in the U.S. to devastating consequences!
Do not be tempted to buy running bamboo, Phyllostachys spp. It has been identified as invasive by the USDA (scroll down). At least five species are cold-hardy. In particular, Phyllostachys aureosulcata or yellow groove bamboo has been identified in several states, including Connecticut and New York as causing considerable damage to building foundations, sidewalks, roads, yards and natural areas. Some cities are starting to enact ordinances to control it. Closer to home and even more frightening, a company is trying to introduce it into Ontario under the pretense of rehabilitating landfill sites. The Scoop has been in touch with the federal government to try to get the low down on this particularly nasty invasive. In the meanwhile, it is up to us to help stop the importation of invasive species. If you see it for sale, please alert us. Don't buy! Spread the word, only - not the plant!
Ontario Invasive Plant Council's Countdown Campaign: "Look before you leave"
The campaign is aimed at cottagers and but should be noted by everyone who visits natural areas as well. Invasive species may be joining you on vacation or your weekend hike. The OIPC is profiling one invasive species every day for 24 days leading up to the May 2-4 long weekend.
Coming Soon - Nothing adventured, nothing gained!
May 26
Waterloo-Wellington Wildflower Society Native Plant Sale Water Services, 29 Waterworks Place, Guelph, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Come out and buy some great native plants that will thrive in your yard.
June 2
NANPS all-day venture to Norfolk County Chartered coach trip from Toronto to NANPS property - Shining Tree Woods, hands on training in bio-surveying and a chance to see some very rare species in a gorgeous forest, garlic mustard control, all designed to work up an appetite for a light dinner and tour of St William's Nursery & Ecology Centre. Only $15! Contact to register!
Sept. 22
NANPS adventure to Backus Woods For more local adventures - check The Local Scoop Calendar
Scoop Gets New Digs
Spring is time for renewal, and in keeping with that The Local Scoop has been reseeded and has launched a new look and a new face. Check out the new Clippings Archive, a link to YewTube videos (more to come soon), an expanded Scoop Pix page, and a new Scoop Search. The ever-popular (or Poplar) Scoop Calendar has been upgraded (powered by LuxSoft) and features its own calendar Search, Upcoming Events and Options Panel to switch from Month view to several options such as year view, day view and category view, plus an RSS feed - for you Cedar feeders. Still at the same Scoop location. Here's to a great planting season! - ScoopAssist.
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