Dr. Farnsworth, Ph.D., is Senior Research Ecologist with the New England Wild Flower Society, and a biologist, educator, scientific illustrator and musician. She has studied plants in many regions of the world, with an emphasis on plant physiology, ecology, and conservation. She co-authored the Connecticut River Boating Guide: Source to Sea (which she wrote while navigating the river in her handbuilt wooden kayak) and the Peterson Field Guide to Ferns of Northeastern North America. She illustrated the Flora Novae Angliae (Yale University Press), The Nature of New Hampshire, A Field Guide to the Ants of New England (Yale University Press), and five other books on ferns, coastal ecology, climate change, statistics, and spiders.

If you would like to volunteer at one of these events, please contact volunteer@nanps.org.

Saturday September 27, 2014, 11 - 4 p.m. University of Toronto Schools (UTS), 371 Bloor St. W., Toronto

Say Yes in My Backyard! A celebration of community-based ideas and actions in Toronto. NANPS will have a community event table at this festival.

Sunday, October 5, 2014, 10 - 5 p.m.

An annual celebration of the parks along the lost Garrison Creek. The event will start at Christie Pits Park at 10 a.m. Bickford Park at 12 p.m., Fred Hamilton Park at 1 p.m. and Trinity Bellwoods at 2 p.m. There will be food and drink vendors at Christie Pits and Trinity Bellwoods, plus music and family-friendly activities at all four parks. NANPS will take part in the walk and will have a community event table at one of the parks. We kindly ask participants to bring their own mugs, bowls and blankets. Limited food tickets are on sale here.

Facebook event details.Proceeds will go to the David Suzuki Foundation's Homegrown National Park Project, which is tapping local ingenuity to find creative ways to green the Garrison corridor in the city's downtown-west end.

Saturday November 23, 2014, 12 - 4 p.m. Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St., Toronto

A fun, family-oriented event that informs and inspires people to make greener choices in their homes and communities. NANPS will have a community event booth. The event is on Facebook.

NANPS hosts an online bookstore. We’d like to update it and find a new source for purchasing books. Join our communications team to help update the bookstore!

NANPS Membership Offer - hurry, it ends soon!

Join the North American Native Plant Society between now and October 1st and receive the Fall Issue of our publication, The Blazing Star on top of your 2015 membership!

Survey Says!

The City of Toronto's Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division is conducting a Parks User Survey to better understand how people use Toronto's parks. The online survey will be available until September 30th. If you are interested in contributing your thoughts, take a minute to fill out the survey - and please pass it on to others who use Toronto's parks.

Acorus Restoration Native Plant Nursery has been sold!

The farm was officially sold to an organic popcorn farmer on September 24th. All of the plants and equipment for the nursery will be sold at auction. The business is still for sale but there is a buyer interested in carrying forward. Paul will keep us informed. It's sad to see a native plant nursery plowed under, but we can only hope Acorus will live on in some way.

October 4 - Old Fashioned WORK PARTY to get ready for the auction, Food and Party in the yurt after! Come have a final look at all the work they have done over the last 20 years of stewarding the land.

October 13, 10 a.m. AUCTION - All items from the nursery (plants and equipment), farm, office, barn and house will be auctioned.

October 25-26 - PLANT RESCUE PARTY - Since all the fields will be tilled for organic popcorn production all rare plants can be salvaged from the seed rows and prairie restorations. Sleep in the house, party in the evening and take home your treasures! Gorilla Gardening Encouraged!!! Give Paul's babies a home.

Read More.

Spare the 'Rod & Spoil the Goldenrod

It happens every year and it's that time of year again. The fall asters are in bloom and the brilliant yellows of goldenrod attract attention. But it's a sad state of affairs when even your mother blames goldenrod as the culprit of many sufferers' allergic reactions.

We all know that the less-conspicuous aster, ragweed, is the real suspect. Light weight pollen makes dispersal by wind a breeze for ragweed, while goldenrod relies on insects to move its sticky, heavy pollen. Yet the myth survives.

So, stand up for goldenrod and let it be known that ragweed, is the most likely suspect in the annual sneezefest. Feel free to plant goldenrod without guilt. The insect community will be forever grateful. And remember - don't let the Goldenrod-Ragweed myth infiltrate your family, especially if your family is Asteraceae.

Lots of events are going on in the natural world. Please check the Scoop Calendar for the latest.

The views expressed are of The Scoop and do not necessarily reflect The Local Scoop, its parent company (NANPS), subsidiaries, affiliates, verticals, hangers-on or even those of the Spokesplant.

You have been sent this message because you are a current NANPS member or perhaps you were a member in your plant life, or you subscribed to The Local Scoop. We do not trade or sell any of the information collected - we just plant you in our database and send email blasts to keep you informed of all NANPS events.

If you would like to change your email address, please unsubscribe first and then re-subscribe with your new email address.

If you would prefer not to receive news about NANPS or local events in the future, we will try to understand. You may unsubscribe here from future mailings and we will take you off our list immediately, if not before.

© 2014 The Local Scoop