#Ontario gardeners

[vormoranox]

Native plant enthusiasts in Ontario, Canada, this is for you.

Leaving Facebook, I miss the Ontario Native Plant Gardening group. I couldn't find any communities on alternative social media so I'm working on making my own. Although Facebook will always be the mecca for the older generation of gardeners, I think it's worth forging some communities elsewhere, even if they're smaller, for those of us who deleted Meta apps. There's benefits to small communities, too, like less off-topic spam and less bad advice.

The Goal:

To create a space to share pictures, information, resources, news, and ask questions, get advice, help newbies get started, and trade seeds and plants, specific to PLANTS NATIVE TO ONTARIO, CANADA.

Gardening of highly cultivated or exotic plants (e.g., most garden veggies and herbs) is off-topic; while it may be discussed incidentally, posts/activity that is totally focused on it will be removed. Discussion of removing invasive plants is also allowed, while promoting the planting of invasive plants is not allowed.

Links:

Discord: DM me (@vormoranox) for link because I don't want to invite bot spam by posting it widely here.

BlueSky "custom feed" (like it and pin it): https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:c4bxovkrkuszkrw6m25tyiix/feed/aaac75apohl

Reddit (VERY barebones as of Feb 2025, setting up a subreddit is kind of crazy and I've only basically picked the name and effectively nothing else and I'm very new to this): /r/OntarioNativePlants

[wanderlustfuldays]

High Park Toronto, Canada

[bobdylan-n-jonimitchell]

Bob Dylan, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, January 10, 1974 © Paul Till.

[introvertedswimmer]

Clematis

[oldshowbiz]

Toronto as you remember it

[vox-anglosphere]

Spring is our most reluctant season, but so lovely when it comes.

[lizzy-bonnet]

I'm very proud of my little pollinator garden which I've built up over the years mostly from free plants my neighbours were digging up or splitting (and once liberating some seed heads from a flower bed at work). The last two summers especially, it has been visited by an increasingly diverse population: little busy honey bees and fat doofy bumblers and so many different butterflies like this exquisite swallowtail.

I think it's a black swallowtail? Not very good at identification. I've also seen spicebush swallowtail, a red spotted purple and so many monarchs.

Our summers are very dry so most of my garden is drought tolerant native plants, but this lavender was here when we moved in. It was in a very shady spot, all choked with invasive vines but since moving to the sun it has thrived. The bees love it and it pairs beautifully with my masses of pink echinacea (which self seeds with abandon).

I think of my little garden as symbolic in my life. I have been in many places where I have struggled to thrive, because of a bad environment. But with the right amount of sun and water, and with a little care and help, I do pretty well. I get enormous satisfaction from my garden which thanks to neighbourhood generosity and my own time and effort, blooms and grows. I hope when people walk by, it gives them a little joy too.

[rabbitcruiser]

World War II: After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the Battle of Ortona concluded with the victory of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Division and the capture of the Italian town of Ortona on December 28, 1943.

[naturelensphotography]

Photography at night is my favorite. Walking around the garden capturing it's beauty. 💐

[hearditinapastlife2019]

a blank slate is beautiful 🧄🐛🌱

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

Blue flowers are relatively rare. Most incline to violet or else are quite small. But Virginia bluebells are a striking exception. All my photos from my garden, unedited.

I'm not kidding. They really are that blue naturally. They bloom in May. Then they slowly decline and the entire plants are gone above soil by the summer. Only to reappear the following spring! The shoots and flower buds are edible. You don't want to take too much, though. As spring ephemerals, they need the energy they make with their leaves during their short growing period. The short bloom period is also why I don't have more photos of them. They don't even bloom every year.

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

2.6: Moving Slowly and Planting Things with Erin Alladin

**Edited because Ariel is a total airhead and set this to publish with the wrong title SORRY. Everything else is literally the same; it's just that the title and image are changed. Here's more about the episode:

MOVING SLOWLY AND PLANTING THINGS WITH ERIN ALLADIN is public! Ariel interviews @ErinAlladin about her life as a gardener & her new book, reframing #gardening as #accessible for everybody.

Erin Alladin’s new e-book “Gentle Gardening: A Guide for Uncooperative Bodies” is transformative, specifically covering the issues of gardening with chronic fatigue and the other complex disabilities that can accompany it, and reframing gardening as an accessible and fun activity. Ariel talks to Erin in this episode about her journey with gardening to where she is now, the book, a bit about…

[wanderlustfuldays]

High Park Toronto, Canada

[malavoie1]

Peekaboo Frog in Water Lettuce

The backyard pond at our old house was a lively spot, hosting about half a dozen frogs each year. To take the shot, I carefully approached the pond. The frogs were accustomed to our presence, which made it easier to get close without startling them. I waited patiently, focusing on one frog peeking out from the water lettuce.

Shooting hand-held at the long end of the range of a 55-300 zoom, I used a high shutter speed and shake reduction to ensure a sharp image. A mid-range aperture ensured I had enough depth of field while adding a slight blur to the foreground and background foliage which added depth to the image.

The day I took this photo, the weather was sunny, and the pond was partially covered in shade. The partial shade over the pond provided soft, natural lighting, while the bright sunlight enhanced the frog’s vibrant green and brown skin against the dark water. Overly bright areas of the image were taken care of by burning-in during post-processing.

Processed with Affinity Photo v2 and Topaz Photo AI.

Camera: Pentax K-3

Lens: HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED WR

300mm / ƒ/10 / 1/500s / ISO 1600

Taken: Aug 27, 2016

[introvertedswimmer]

The raw image of the previous post

[the-green-buck]

First cactus flower of the season. June 2024. Photo by the green buck.