The Fine Gardener

11/29/2025

Retailers have the option now to be leaders in the "break up with invasives" movement. The various layers of government have been slow to make change and ban invasive plants in the horticultural industry... BUT local garden centers like Vandermeer Nursery in Ajax can make all the difference and show others the way. They're doing it! Please tag your favorite local garden center. Maybe they can catch Vandermeer's virtual presentation on how they are navigating this important transition!!! Ritchie Feed & Seed Inc Les Serres Robert Plante Greenhouses Peter Knippel Garden Centre Beyond the House

🌿 Two Weeks Until the Growing Solutions Horticulture & Invasive Species Conference! 🌿

Join us for 2 days of collaboration and presentations from industry leaders who are transforming horticulture in Canada. Experts like:

Saskia Kersten (she/her), Owner of Vandermeer Nursery — a leader reshaping what responsible retail looks like in the horticulture sector.

Saskia's presentation “Out With the Old: Navigating a Retail Breakup with Invasives” audience members will learn:
✨ What it really takes for a retail nursery to remove invasive plants from its lineup
✨ How to balance ecological responsibility with customer expectations
✨ The supply-chain and risk realities retailers don’t often say out loud
✨ Practical ways to educate customers and maintain trust during major product shifts
✨ Actionable guidance for retailers, growers, and even everyday gardeners who want to support this change

📅 Register Now and Check out the lineup of speakers at: https://bit.ly/GrowingSolutionsRegistration

11/05/2025

Save the Date!

🌏🌳 We are pleased to announce our next community event. 🦋🌍

Wednesday November 26th, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Roy Hobbes Community Centre. Please join us for a talk on invasive plant species.

We have a fantastic line of speakers!

Joining us are:

Iola Price, former president of the Ontario Invasive Plant Council.

Sharon Boddy, Director of Friends of Carlington Woods and Hampton Park. She has extensive experience managing invasive species on NCC Property.

Lana Doss, Friends of Petrie Island and experienced horticulturist

We have invasive plants in our neighbourhood that can affect our housing foundation, hurt Monarchs, hurt our economy and environment. Please come learn about how these plants are damaging our city and what we can do about them!

The Ottawa councillors are voting on budget in early December and we believe that invasive plant management should be part of the city's budget. We hope that what you learn at this talk will motivate you to reach out to your councillor and let them know this is important!

08/21/2025

There's no good reason for me to get humming birds in my backyard.
I planted this black and blue Salvia in pots along side my veggies just to see of they'd find it because apparently humming birds L💙VE them.

Aaaaaand, it worked! Saw my first hummer just now!!! Also 1st time planting Mexican sunflowers. They look incredible together.
Extra pics of my tomatoes, cause they're awesome!

Oh & another picture of my native to Ont prickly pear cactus and native mini blues (flowering since June), in my hypertufa just cause thay are also awesome!

08/13/2025

I saw a black swallow tail butterfly hovering over the dill ( that I just cut waaaay black 😒) in my pots a few weeks ago and have been looking for signs of caterpillars since then. I just spotted this little guy. 🐛

I will be forever amazed at how butterflies can find a lone leaf of the plant they need for their cats to eat on the side of a pot among so many other pots hidden in a backyard 🤯

07/31/2025

It was a pleasure to a part of this special project and to see this long awaited garden come to life.

07/19/2025

07/18/2025

What a perfect Friday evening to enjoy a glass of wine and read. I'm so thankful that the heat has finally broken - just like a fever.

I'm just starting this book. Has anyone else read it? What did you think?

07/06/2025

06/29/2025

Evidence of leaf cutter bees at work on showy tick trefoil.

I always enjoy seeing these perfect little cut outs in the leaves of various native plants. Leaf cutter bees are just one of hundreds of species of native solitary bees in Ontario. The female bee constructs individual cells within a nest, using cut leaves to line and separate the cells. They will also collect nectar and pollen making it into a paste to lay each egg on as a food source for when the larvae hatch.

Insert of stock photo of leaf cutter bee in action.

06/25/2025

06/23/2025

I can't wait to introduce the boys in the family to the makers of butt bubbles 🤭

Spittlebug (also known as froghopper)

Imagine you are wandering through your garden, marvelling nature's beauty, when all of a sudden you look down to see that someone has hocked a big loogie right on your most precious plants. The nerve!!! Who is this disgusting monster and how dare they decimate your most tranquil space?

Though I am not normally one to encourage close inspection of bodily fluids in this case I do encourage you to take a closer look at that loogie in the event that it may be, and most probably is, a spittle bug nymph.

Like the name suggests, the spittle bug starts out as tiny nymphs (as seen in this photo) that are camouflaged in what looks to be a glob of spit. The spittlebug nymphs make bubbles out of a liquid they secrete from their back ends (so not really spittle at all but more like ass bubbles). Once the spittlebug has formed up a nice group of bubbles, they will use their hind legs to cover themselves with the foamy ass bubbles. The spittle protects them from predators, temperature extremes and helps keep them from dehydrating. The young go through five stages before reaching adulthood. Spittlebugs are related to leafhoppers, and the adults are 1/8 to 1/4 inch long and have wings. Their faces look a bit like the face of a teeny tiny frog and are sometimes called froghoppers. If you see one look at it up close. It’s adorable.

The photo shown here is of the nymph. Adults are oval, frog-faced, and 6 to 10 mm long. They are tan, mottled brown, or black and are similar to leafhoppers in appearance but stouter, with sharp spines on the hind legs. I suggest a quick google image search so you can recognize them. Adults are very active and jump when disturbed. Nymphs are yellow to yellow-green in colour, look similar to adults but are wingless. Eggs are white/beige in colour.

Thankfully spittlebugs do very little damage to a plant. They do suck some of the sap from the plant, but rarely enough to harm it significantly – unless there are huge numbers of them. Large numbers of spittlebugs can weaken or stunt the growth of the plant or bush they are on but a blast of water can keep them in check if there are enough to do real damage. And this is very rare.

Spittlebugs prefer pine trees and junipers but can be found on a variety of plants, including rose bushes and strawberries. I found these guys on my garlic though so really I would say anything is game!

Overwintering eggs hatch in spring (mid-April), and nymphs develop for 6-7 weeks in spittle masses on plant stems. Adults feed throughout summer and start to lay overwintering eggs in rows on stems or stubble by early fall, around September. Adults migrate in large numbers from hay fields to nearby crops when hay is cut. That said, a floating row cover can solve this problem completely by preventing eggs from being laid so maybe I should think about doing that... Ugh. Who has the time?