Happy harvesting seeds! If the spectacular show of fall colours of trees and shrubs is any indication of the health of plants as a result of all the nourishing rainwater from this past summer, we should have a good, if not vintage year for plant seeds. You don't have to be clairvoyant to know where this is going – straight to the NANPS Seed Exchange. There's nothing too scary here, but the low stocks in the Seed Exchange. Do not confuse the Seed Ex with the Stalk Exchange which experiences a low when the City Overseers in their death costumes come for a visit and “trick” your garden (those inside traders – scum of the earth!). Please send in your progeny (we mean from your native plant garden). No 3-foot pods, please. Queries can be sent to seeds@nanps.org . Details are on our website, which is a little frighteningly out-of-date, but bear oak (Quercus ilicifolia) with us.

Plantopsy of the AGM For those who attended, no tricks here*. But what a treat we were given. Our plant suppliers had some fantastic plants at rock-bottom prices. Attendees were greeted with monster cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis), sneeze weeds (Helenium autumnale), etc. Too bad we couldn't move the annual plant sale to the fall.

The presentations were top-notch. Awards were given out. The Scoop thought that all presenters at award shows got loot bags. That would have meant the Board cleaned up. That's another good reason to join the Board or get involved in the committees. Consider joining one of the committees – you never know what you'll score. Check our website or email NANPS.

And the winners are…

The Garden Award Guelph Councillor Vicki Beard & Mike Fortin together won the Suburban Groundbreaker section with their Pollination Park (the former Eastview landfill). Vicki is Vice Chairperson for Pollination Guelph and had the place literally a-buzz with her talk. John Oyston, ODH, won for his Rice Lake Prairie re-creation. His vision is an arboretum of native plants and trees on his property. Sweet nirvana!

Our winners of the Paul McGaw Memorial Conservation Awards did not disappoint either. The winners received the award because of their outstanding efforts and dedication to working towards the protection of tallgrass ecosystems, our theme for this year's awards.

Volunteer of the Year Award Janet Harrison accepted the award for channeling The Local Scoop. She was presented with a long-handled scoop to dig deeper to get to the truth. Charles Iscove, who performs web magic at The Local Scoop, basked in the glow, too (in absentia).

Thanks to all the volunteers who put this on and donated baked goods. The Scoop scarfed down some great banana bread and probably owes a small fortune to the donation jar.

* We had the usual technical difficulties. The poltergeist that attends every one of the meetings had better be up to date with their membership.

25^th Anniversary - Volunteer for the committee Life begins at 25. At least it does for NANPS next year. The Year 2010 means going over the (American silver)top (Glehnia littoralis) with everything silver and 25. Lots of activities are in store, e.g., find and name 25 silver plants native to North America. Just look it up on your Silver Creek blackberry (Rubus parcifrondifer). (Don't say The Scoop never helped you – only 23 more to name).

• name 25 silver plants (supply common and botanical name)
• add 25 native species in your garden or community
• volunteer 25 hours to NANPS
• add 25 member years (e.g., 12 two-year memberships + 1 or 5 five-year memberships)...be sure to put your name on forms as "source" to receive credit
• voluntarily top up your 2010 membership to $25
• donate $25 or more
• come up with a new 25 for the list
• visit the website for a list of 2010 (the year...not the number) activities, volunteer opportunities, and to see how many members have met these challenges!

Coming soon: Markham gives NANPS/TRCA partnership support for educational brochures about invasive species. More details will come as we dig them up.