A #balcony #garden update

It's been far too long since I posted photos of my balcony garden. This is my first full season trying to bring greenspace to the 10th floor of my building. Last year I had a half season, due to balcony renovations. I learned a lot in that half year. And I had ambitious plans for this season. I haven't planted as much as I wanted to plant this year, but what I have is doing quite well.

I visited the cottage on Canada Day and Dad bought me a hardy kiwi vine! I planted it in one of my large, square planters that has a water reservoir in the base. So far the vine loves it here. It's already reached out to latch on to the lime tree in the large blue planter, two planters away.

According to the card that came with the plant, the environmental conditions on my balcony are what this vine prefers. Apparently, it can grow 7.5 m to 9 m long. I think I am going to have to find it something other than the mini lime tree to climb on.  I hope I get some mini kiwis!

As usual, the lime tree is in full production mode. This is the 5th time this thing has bloomed and produced many, many little limes. The flowers are pretty little white blossoms that have a very nice floral scent. I've seen many pollinators on this tree. The limes start off in little clusters.

Then most of the little limes fall away, and get everywhere, until one dominant lime takes over that area. Only five have grown to full size, but those 5 have been delicious limes.

I really need to brush the moon dust off the leaves of the lime tree because even though the tree has had a lot of new growth this season, the dust is blocking the sunlight and preventing it from growing to its full potential.

These chives can back from last years plants. And I grew the basil from a few springs that I had in the fridge! I am amazed at how well it has taken off.

The native harebell (Campanula rotundifola) and pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) are doing well. Both came from our annual NANPS plant sale in early May. I water them with that upside down wine bottle. These two always do well in containers on balconies and both have very pretty, long-lasting blooms that attract a lot of pollinators.

This year, I also decided to try growing a few other natives. Ontario's native cactus, which can be seen in the wild at Point Pelee National Park, just happens to love it here. I give it full sunshine and almost no water. Since it came here in May, it has produced 5 new incredibly spikey pads while essentially being ignored. This is eastern prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa). I'll bring it inside this winter and hopefully it will bloom next year. 

I've been reading about how to propagate this cactus. And I think that all I need to do is break off a pad, leave it sitting on the table, ignore it until it forms a callus over the scare where it was broken, and then stick it in the soil. I am actually wondering if that pad is going to get heavy enough that it will fall off and go through this process without my assistance. I assume that is what happens in nature, just the way one of my favourite garden succulents,  hens and chickens, reproduce. More reading to do.
 

The little blue-eyed grass has bloomed and gone to seed. It's flower was so pretty this year. I am letting the perfect little seeds dry out very thoroughly in their pod, then I will collect them and start some more plants indoors next February or March.

Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). I would love to see this bloom and go to seed as well, but I think it needs a few seasons to develop. I had this in a container last year and left it out on the balcony over winter. It did not come back this spring. I think it was frozen through too long into the spring. This year I will have to see about insulating or storing the plants that I would like to come back next year.

And the wild ginger (Asarum canadense), with it's lovely fuzzy heart-shaped leaves. I purchased this to try as an indoor plant. However, I couldn't keep it indoors while it was doing so well outdoors. I might take it to my office in the fall, though I doubt that it will want to stay leafed out over the winter. We'll see what happens.

There are a few other plants on the balcony. And a few other empty planters. I know that sounds crazy. I really want to plant the lettuce and radish, but I haven't gotten around to it. Which has been the story of my life the past few months. Maybe today since there is still time for a crop and it will take about 15 minutes to get this done.

@xerces_society does it again. An awesome resource for learning about #milkweed and #monarch habitat.

The Xerces Society continually produces amazing resources about the invertebrates of North America and the native plants that sustain their populations. I have documents created by this group that I collected while I was in school that are still useful and relevant years later. I refer to several of their habitat guides on a regular basis.

Today I found this gem, Milkweeds A Conservation Practitioner's Guide, posted on the Tallgrass Prairie Supporters group. This guide is an incredibly detailed yet easy-to-follow guide to producing, harvesting, and planting milkweed species. The information is provided for people who will be producing milkweed on an agricultural scale to provide seed for large habitat restoration projects. However, the background information about the ecology and life cycle of milkweed is interesting and all of the techniques for seed production can be scaled down to be used by any gardener or stewardship group.

Milkweed has been a highly sought-after native plant the past couple years because it is the only source of food for the Monarch Butterfly caterpillar. With steadily decreasing populations across North America, the Monarch has been all over the news and, as its companion plant, milkweed has been making headlines as well. I am so glad to see that the Xerces Society is providing this type of high-quality and well-researched document so that restoring milkweed and monarch habitat can be a simple action for any one to try.

I always did want to be a conservation practitioner when I grew up.

#thanks #volunteers

Planting one of my favourite tallgrass prairie species, Coreopsis lanceolata, with community volunteers at the Scarborough Butterfly Trail in the Highland Creek watershed.

@davidsuzukiFDN #gotmilkweed campaign!

David Suzuki Foundation kicked off the Got Milkweed? campaign on April 1. Check out the video for information about how you can support Monarch butterfly habitat this year. And to see me on the internet.

This year the North American Native Plant Society will be holding two plant sales so that you can purchase native plants for your garden. The largest one day plant sale in Canada is on May 10 at the Markham Civic Centre. Our downtown plant sale will be on May 25 at Christie Pit Park alongside DSF's milkweed pick-up location for the Got Milkweed? campaign and the Bike with Mike event in Ward 19. For more details check out www.nanps.org.

Happy Centennial, @ROMtoronto!

Today the Royal Ontario Museum turned 100 years old.

Over the past few years, I've spent some quality time exploring the ROM.  Two highlights include the Grasslands in Crisis symposium and ROM Biodiversity month.

In 2012 I came all the way up to the city from Lambton County to attend the Grasslands in Crisis symposium. That was a roadtrip with my coworkers at Ontario Nativescape. Before I moved to the city, I helped to coordinate tallgrass prairie and wetland restoration projects throughout southwestern Ontario. The symposium was so interesting! We learned about all sorts of projects to conserve this endangered ecosystem and talked to a lot of interested people about our work.

Last year, I visited the ROM during Biodiversity month. I attended the public discussion associated with the Ontario Endangered Species Act conference. This was one of the first events I went out to, 2 weeks after moving to the city. There were some contentious issues debated that night. I was just happy to live in a place where I could go to interesting talks and events, for free, practically any night I wanted to.

Happy Birthday, ROM! Thanks for always reminding us that no matter how busy we are, it's important to remember, and learn from, the past. Here's to the next 100 years of teaching us about the natural and cultural history of Ontario.

Scarborough as an #urbanjungle

What the city would look like as an urban jungle. I read about this at blogTO.

Dorset Park neighbourhood is one of the industrial areas within the most urbanized watershed in Canada. This is what it would look like with a few plants.

Sparkly!

Once I read a book called The World Without Us. When we leave, plants move in. Yesterday I went for a long walk and talked a lot about the plant communities in cultural meadows, the ecosystems that grow up when we abandon agricultural fields or expansive lawns. This is exactly what happens.


I hope there will be no snakes!

@OIPC1 Garden Savers.

Speaking of wild ginger (Asarum canadense), the Ontario Invasive Plant Council (OIPC) has produced a series of videos about garden invaders and garden savers, including wild ginger.

Garden invaders are invasive species that are sold to gardeners as plants that will quickly fill in garden areas and flourish in our local gardens. The reason they fill in garden areas so quickly is because they have various invasive tendencies. They grow aggressively, take up resources quickly, and usually have a growth form that enables them to spread. This spreading quickly leads to  their escaping from our gardens and their takeover of native ecosystems, parks, and green spaces. They flourish in this environment because so few insects interact with them. They aren't a food source, they're biodiversity black holes and they're creating a break in the food chain.

These are the plants that we need to stop planting in the city. They include English ivy, goutweed, periwinkle, autumn olive, and many ornamental grasses to name a few.

Garden savers are native plants that we can plant instead of these typical garden invaders that are commonly sold in big box nurseries. They contribute to ecosystem function, local biodiversity, and provide habitat connectivity. They grow slowly because they put energy into deep root systems that improve soil conditions, help water infiltrate into the ground water system, and reduce erosion. They return organic material to the soil and they interact with native soil fungi and provide food and shelter for native beneficial insect population.

There are many sources of garden savers in the city, and in nearby rural areas. You just need to know where to look. The North American Native Plant Society has a list of commercial growers throughout North America who are ethically producing true local, native plants in their respective regions.

Wild ginger is a true garden saver. And it's one of the species that I am going to try to grow indoors this year. Here is the OIPC's wild ginger video presented by Colleen Cirillo, the original Healthy Yards coordinator: