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Plant of the Month: Monkey Flower (mimulus-ringens)
Posted on by ridgetownrick
During the spring, summer and early fall, it’s not much of a challenge to decide which plants to choose as the Plant of the Month – I just take a look in my garden and see what’s blooming and pick one. By late in the fall and through early winter, when there is little left in the garden, it’s a lot tougher. But this month’s choice just jumped out at me. Perhaps because of its long bloom period. Perhaps because of its quirky name (Monkey Flower). Or maybe because, as winter threatens here in southern Ontario in mid-November, I’m longing for summer – and this is definitely a summer plant. But whatever the reason, if you have a moist, sunny to part shade spot in your garden (it’s an excellent rain garden choice), Monkey Flower is an easy to grow native that is also a butterfly (and moth) host plant.
Scientific Name: Mimulus ringens
Common Name: Monkey Flower
ARTICLE: It Doesn’t Have to Sting to be Good
Posted on by ridgetownrick
What do Admirals, Commas, Question Marks and Tortoiseshells all have in common? No, it’s not a love letter written by a shipwrecked seafarer on a desert island. These are all butterflies that are commonly found in the southern Great Lakes region and they, along with a few interesting moths, all use members of the nettle family (Urticaceae) as host plants.
Many of us are familiar with that not-so-lovely burning sensation when we inadvertently brush a bare leg or an arm against some Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica). This happens because the stems and leaves are covered with a lot of tiny, brittle, needle-like hairs called trichomes that easily break off when touched. At the base of these hairs is a potent mix of histamine, acetylcholine, serotonin and formic acid. And it is this chemical mixture that provides the stinging sensation that can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on your sensitivity level and the size of the dose you get.
Native Plant Nursery: Rosemont Meadows Native Plants
Posted on by ridgetownrick
Owner/Proprietor: Emma Murphy
Address: 21 Katherine St., Lakefield, Ontario
Web Site: Not yet! Hopefully sometime this year!
Email: rosemontmeadowsnativeplants@gmail.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/rosemontmeadows.nativeplants
Other Social Media: IG – https://www.instagram.com/rosemont_meadows_native/
When I started to grow native plants, almost 20 years ago now, there were a small handful of native plant nurseries in Ontario. As the demand has grown, so has the number of sources of native plants, as it seems more and more gardeners are realizing the benefits of “growing native”. And since I am constantly scouring the web for native plant nurseries, I am often rewarded with finding new (or almost new) businesses catering to the native plant gardening public. This month’s native plant nursery profile is one such new discovery for me.
BOOK REVIEW
The Midwest Native Plant Primer: 225 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden
Posted on by ridgetownrick
By Alan Branhagen
- Publisher: Timber Press, July 2020
- Paperback: 256 pages
- ISBN-10: 160469992
- Dimensions: 8” X 9”
- Price: $35.74 (Amazon.ca); $19.42 (Amazon.com – currently a 22% discount)
At first glance, Branhagen’s The Midwest Native Plant Primer looks like a great book for native plant gardeners. It has almost 45 pages in the introduction alone that covers topics like Why Cultivate Native Plants, and goes into some detail on what defines the Midwest, looking at the various habitats (grasslands, forests). And it is chock full of beautiful photos.
There’s a whole chapter on selecting native plants – how to choose your plant and what to avoid (i.e. right plant, wrong place), with a short section on gardening for birds and one on gardening for butterflies. He talks about the aesthetics of native plants in the garden (form, colour, fragrance, etc.), then devotes a chapter to Designing with Native Plants.
With lots of beautiful photographs and some great information in the lengthy introductory section, at one time I would likely have found this book delightful. But maybe my collection of books on native plant gardening is just getting too big. I found that the actual plant information is quite limited so it is unclear who its target market is or even what the overall purpose is. This book might make a great introductory book to native plants, but there are several overview books in print already and this one doesn’t really offer anything new. What’s worse, it misses out in a number of areas to be of any great value to a native plant gardener.
Other Random Stuff
Check out the December Jigsaw Puzzle
