Native plants shopping spree in Markham

Do you remember our native woodland garden that we started last year in our front yard? Well, we are really excited that almost all the native plants we planted came up this year. (A detailed front yard update coming soon.) There are some areas that need to be filled in, so we decided to go to the North American Native Plant Society's (NANP) annual plant sale to pick up some plants. 

This was our third time attending this event and we knew we had to get there early as the plant selection diminishes by the minute. It was held again in Markham and we managed to get there right on time. 

The event is very well organized with different sections for shrubs, flowers, trees and grasses. The flower section is further divided into dry, sunny, wet and shady sections to easily find what you are looking for.

There were many people and it felt like we needed to make quick decisions on the plants otherwise our fellow native plant lovers would grab them. There is an option to pre-order plants which worked well for us last year. This time around we decided to take our chances.

                   

The plants were $6 each and we ended up buying a few Running Strawberry Bushes, Blue Phlox, Large Leaf Asters and Wild Bergamot.

In addition to the shopping, it was also great to chat with like minded people and get some more tips on what to plant under our Norway Maple. We even got some admiring praises as we described how we went for it and transformed our whole front yard into a native garden.

This plant sale is a great introduction to native plant gardening. If you want to attend next year I would recommend to prepare a list of plants you want to pick up. There is not much time to look around as plants get picked up fast and the whole event is done by the early afternoon.

Mia