Native Plants, St. Catharines

Trees, shrubs and plants sold fast this Mother's Day weekend at the Malcolmson Eco Park Native Plant Sale (Lakeshore and Niagara street St. Catharines). Residents were curious and eager to try growing what rightfully belongs to the land. It's purpose - to bridge the gap between ecology and residential gardening.

By the time I arrived most plants were already sold, but I was still able investigate quite a few native plants and meet some friendly and interesting people at the same time.

Veronica Clarke-Hanik, former Toronto resident explained she was a freelance landscaper servicing the tight spaces and window gardens of urban Toronto. After moving to St. Catharines, she continues to spend much of her time in the garden as well as a volunteer at the Eco park.

The staff at Malcolmson quickly scooped up Doug Walls along with his wife Clair when they realized Doug's coordinator abilities as a former school principal. Dough found his place as a coach and educator to children; teaching them about nature and the environment. There is a place for everyone at the eco park, Doug explained. You don't have to be a plant expert. Where some are nearly fluent in botanical latin, others have beneficial strengths in other areas. Students, Colleges and researchers actively preserve and learn from the land.

It's strange, but many of us, even some working at the eco park struggle to identify the variety of native plants that grow in abundance in our local Carolinian forest and grasslands, yet they can add much to the landscape in beauty, pollination, medicine and food. Below is a list of some of the Native trees and plants that were being sold:

• Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera)
• Black Cherry (Prunus Serotina)
• Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
• Fragrant Sumac (Rhrus aromatica)
• White Birch (Betula Pendula)
• Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
• Bayberry (Morella pensylvanica)
• Flowering Raspberry (Rubus odratus)
• Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
• Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
• Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
• Ninebark (Physocarpus)
• Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
• Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)

• Showy Tick Trefoil (Desmodium canadense)
• Dense Balzing Star (Liatris spicata)
• Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
• Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
• Woody Strawberry (Fragria vesca)
• Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
• Nodding Wild Onion (Allium cernuum)
• Yellow Giant Hyssop (Agastache nepetoides)
• Cup Plant (Siliphium perfoliatum)
• Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix)
• Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans)
• Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa)
• Tall Meadow Rue (Thalictrum polygamum)
• Sky-Blue Aster (Aster oolentangiensis)
• Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
• Sullivant's Milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii)
• Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
• Whorled Horsetail Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)
• Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)