Link Shares by the Ontario Native Plant Gardening Group

Facebook is a great medium for on-the-fly chit-chat, but not so good for reference. Being a part of the Ontario Native Plant Gardening Group has been an enjoyable experience for me, and a welcome diversion from the usual Facebook fare (though it does get a bit testy itself at times). Every day I can count on a few or more posts to ground me in the real world, and it has been the source of valuable information and perspectives.

But the group has close to twenty thousand members now, and in that peculiar Facebook way, posts and shares soon get buried. A common refrain in this group is “Remember the link to this or that? I can’t find it back. Can someone please re-share it.” If you actually remembered the title, you could search for it — but who can do that after sixty.

So I set myself the goal of scrolling back through the Ontario Native Plant Gardening newsfeed and dragging each link into a group on my desktop. This is tedious job. You could do it all in one sitting, but eventually, with Facebook’s endless page bottom, your computer will protest that it’s run out of memory. Tell me about it! And if you do it in stages you have to start scrolling down from the beginning (or the end, actually) each time. I got 27 links before my memory gave out. I may have missed a few when my eyes were glazing over, but it’s a good start.

Now I’d like to share these links with my group buddies, but also with the unwashed masses who have yet to join this private group, and are still planting petunias and geraniums. I leave it to the group to remind me of links that I’ve missed. I will keep adding to the list as things pop up on the Facebook feed, as well as whatever missing, old links you share in the comments below. To keep it real, I’ll share here only things that have been shared with the group.

I’m tempted to comment on each link, but that’s too much work. Just like on Facebook generally, what you see in each ‘share’ is supplied by the web page, not by me. If you take the titles and feed them into the group’s search box you should be able to find the original posts back, along with whatever comments were made. But I will organize these links roughly into a few categories.

I hope that this becomes useful to group members as a resource, but also as something to share more widely, and that it inspires non-group members to go native and join.

As everywhere in this website, I welcome your comments and suggestions on this and related pages.

The links below were shared by members of the
Ontario Native Plant Gardening Facebook group.
They are not endorsed by the group’s admin or by me.

Asian Lady Beetle vs. Native Ladybugs

Native ladybugs to North America have declined in numbers do to the invasive Asian Lady Beetle brought to the U.S. to help with the pest population for our agricultural crops.

Where Have All the Insects Gone?

Scientists who once documented new species of insects are now charting their perilous decline—and warning about what it will mean for the rest of us.

University Place: Invasive Jumping Worms

Brad Herrick, an ecologist at the UW-Madison Arboretum, explains the basic biology of earthworms and how to identify different kinds. Herrick focuses on non-…

Urban areas

Urban areas occupy less than 1 per cent of the Earth’s land surface but house more than half of its people. Despite their steel and concrete, crowds and traffic, cities and towns are still ecosystems whose condition profoundly marks the quality of our lives. Functioning urban ecosystems help clean o…

The Fragile Future of Solitary Bees

Honeybees are important pollinators, but what about native, non-hive bees? It turns out that we couldn’t live without these tiny creatures.

The Tropical Fruit That Could Have Been an All-American Favorite

How the pawpaw fell from grace

Opinion | Looking for something positive you can do to support the environment? Try gardening with native plants

There is a lot of uncertainty about the future, so here’s something we can do to ameliorate the effects of climate change. Increasing native plant hab…

The Native Plant PodcastThe Native Plant Podcast

The Native Plant Podcast is designed for gardeners and landscapers who want to learn more about native plants in the landscape

Let’s Talk Native Plants (January 11, 2021)

Why do we think that using native plants means a sacrifice in beauty? It does not! Our speaker, Sean James, will discuss various, desirable, ornamental nativ…

This plant medicine teacher is reclaiming Anishinaabe names for species. Why that could be good for the planet | CBC Radio

Some conservationists and climate scientists believe the key to protecting endangered plants and animals may lie in efforts to preserve Indigenous languages. Joe Pitawanakwat is doing his part by learning — and teaching — about Indigenous plant medicine.

Anishinabe chef is advocating for Indigenous food sovereignty with urban farm

Anishinabe chef is wrapping up his first harvest at his new urban farm in Toronto, using traditional harvesting methods passed down from generation to generation

Invasives – Catherine Bush

As invasive plants proliferate around her home in Toronto, Catherine Bush considers her family’s own history as transplanted immigrants and how acts of reciprocity and care for the land might unknit despair.

Invasive earthworms are remaking our forests, and climate scientists are worried | CBC News

As earthworms silently devour leaf litter across the country, they are changing soils, restructuring ecosystems and depleting our forests’ carbon stocks.

An Ode: A History of Lilacs in Canada

[The guest post that was planned for today has been postponed. Instead, here is a meditation on a history that is very personal to me. Special thanks to Pete Anderson for his help in researc…

A short extract from my new book: Silent Earth, Averting the Insect Apocalypse

If you don’t want to buy the book, listen to the 10 minute version! Then do something to help our insects 🙂

Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants

Pollinators of Native Plants by Heather Holm. This comprehensive, essential resource profiles over 65 perennial native plant species of the Midwest, Great Lakes region, Northeast and southern Canada as well as the pollinators, beneficial insects and flowe

Doug Tallamy on Wildlife: No Caterpillars, No Chickadees – Toronto Gardens

Doug Tallamy knows the importance of small things, like caterpillars. Doug’s a writer, entomologist, and is an expert on biodiversity and wildlife. His talk at the Toronto Botanical Garden was entertaining and informative. It was also heartbreaking.

Doug Tallamy presents The Little Things That Run The World – How to create a pollinator backyard.

Save native bees and other insects – Doug Tallamy tells us why, and how to do this in your own backyard, in a seminar presented by the City of Guelph and Pol…

Attracting Native Pollinators — Ottawa Public Library

Attracting Native Pollinators —

With the recent decline of the European honey bee, it is more important than ever to encourage the activity of other native pollinators to keep your flowers beautiful and your grains and produce plentiful. In Attracting Native Pollinators , you'll find ideas fo…

Minnesota Will Pay Homeowners to Replace Lawns with Bee-Friendly Wildflowers, Clover and Native Grasses

Minnesota is asking homeowners to turn their lawns into prairie to help bring back the bees Minnesota just allocated nearly a million dollars in incentives for people to transform their lawns into bee-friendly wildflowers, clover and native grasses. The state is asking citizens to stop spraying herb…

The right way to leave stems for native bees

About 30% of New England’s native bees build nests above ground. Besides bee hotels (many of which have their own issues), a great way to support these above-ground nesting bees is to leave dead plant stems standing in gardens. Bees will lay and provision offspring in these hollow or pithy stems. TP…

Which bees are the best pollinators?

It is difficult to overstate the importance of native bees. Without them, many plants would struggle to survive.

Let It Bee: Conserving Wild Bees Webinar Video

This session talks about the importance of pollination, describes wild bee biodiversity, discusses threats to bees and explores how the public can support be…

An Overview of the Potential Impacts of Honey Bees to Native Bees, Plant Communities, and Ecosystems in Wild Landscapes | Xerces Society

By Richard Hatfield, Sarina Jepsen, Mace Vaughan, Scott Black, and Eric Lee-Mäder.

Honey bee hives decrease wild bee abundance, species richness, and fruit count on farms regardless of wildflower strips – Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports – Honey bee hives decrease wild bee abundance,…

Beyond Plants: What Else do Insects Need to Thrive

A garden that has an abundance of flowers will support insects—but to maximize the diversity of insects your garden can support, you’ll also need to provide …

Why these farmers are welcoming muskrats, birds, and snakes | TVO.org

Planting trees and wildflowers. Building buffer strips and hedgerows. Creating ponds. Some farms in eastern Ontario are returning land to a more natural state.

We Are The Ark

We Are The Ark

Wild Ones Presents “The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees” by Dr. Doug Tallamy – Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes

Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities.

Flower Power: Cultivars vs. Straight Species? – Humane Gardener

Is a flower by any other name still the same? Not necessarily. Some native cultivars have reduced value to wildlife. Here’s what you should know.

Ontario Native Plants for Shade — In Our Nature Native Plant Nursery

| Yes, you can have a pollinator garden in the shade! |

Mulches: The Good, The Bad, and The Really, Really Ugly

Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott will offers an extensive presentation on mulches at the monthly meeting of Clackamas County Master Gardeners on May 13, 2019. https:/…