Grow Your Own Native Plants

03/01/2026

https://www.facebook.com/100086765686515/posts/885644557671059/?app=fbl. Pics from the recent Huron Bruce Nature event I took part in. That's me with the beard.

02/28/2026

Here is a wealth of information I have been reading. Great tips and easy to read. Very helpful, particularly the Germination Page. Also a seed source here in Canada for some hard-to-find species. tgb

Plants seeds for everyone: wildflowers, medicinals and alpine species

02/28/2026

At this point in the year, winter sowing is a maybe thing. This year, it's probably no problem for quite a few species. However, I agree with a person that wrote on their website not to "put all your monkeys in one barrel" in case the barrel comes to grief, metaphorically. So today, I took the seeds that a friend (Mary Ellen Skelly) sent and did a little looking. Turns out that the plant in question needs about 6 weeks of cold stratification, but it also likes to germinate while it's cool.

So some went into a winter sowing jug in the hopes of winter lasting long enough 🫩 to get whatever cold treatment they need, and still have time to germinate in cool weather AND some went into the fridge where I can keep them for sure for 2 months and hope to make the cool weather for best germination possibility. Some went into my seed storage for next fall in case I bomb out.

They are itty bitty seeds, so I sieved them a few times to get some plant trash out (not much at all) and then I used a technique for handling tiny seeds that I have used many times in the past. Plant trash tends to be flat when it is getting near the size of the seeds, while seeds tend to be rounder. That means they will roll more readily from one paper to another when the one holding the seeds is tilted over the other at increasingly greater angles, while tapping gently to get things going. By doing it several times, you can get pretty clean seed, which helps you to know how much you have to work with.

Seed and non-seed can be pretty hard to tell apart. I regularly use some kind of magnification, including a microscope, when I am dealing with seeds I am not familiar with. For your own seeds, it probably doesn't matter much, but I don't want to be sending something to someone that won't germinate, even if it is for free.

I used another method for dealing with tiny seeds: mixing them with a small amount of sifted sand to make it easier to handle when sprinkling. The pictures accompanying will give some idea of what to do. I am very hopeful that I can get these small and beautiful plants to the point where I can decide where to put them. That will be challenging!

02/27/2026

Last Tuesday I had an opportunity to address a local Nature group, Huron Bruce Nature, and it was fun to speak publicly using my "teacher voice" and speak about something I care about. Many people came up afterward to ask questions about seeds, species, and issues they have encountered in their native gardening efforts. Quite a few took home seeds, which was encouraging.

I just finished packing up my remaining seeds for 2026 to go to the Bruce County Library. Several branches in the system have a seed distribution programme. I am glad they will have more exposure and a chance to enrich enviroments in the area. Libraries in your area, wherever that is, may have similar programmes.

Right on time, seeds arrived in the mail from a FB friend on the Peninsula - Primula mistassinica! I had been expecting them to arrive for a while so it was good to see them arrive safely, a sort of turn-around experience for me, and very enjoyable. I very much enjoy the giving and receiving of something with the potential of beauty without the accompaniment of money. But that's just me. 😉

02/21/2026

I'm getting ready for a presentation next week to a local nature group, Huron Bruce Nature. I will be making a brief oral presentation about my history and work with native plants, and then there will be a little hands-on winter sowing workshop for seeds with short stratification times (not much winter left😊as far as that goes), and then I hope to distribute as many of my remaining seeds for the year - there are literally hundreds of small seed packets available - as possible. I used to give all my remaining seeds to an interested group, but this year I chose to go local. I'm hoping to donate any remainder to the Bruce County Library.
In nature, native plants especially, there really is no place like home. 😉 tgb

02/02/2026

TGB Giveaway for 2025 is finished, so no new requests accepted from this point. Thanks to all who showed an interest. tgb

01/31/2026

THESE SEEDS NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Dec 17: #72 Osmorhiza longistylis
Dec 18: #84 Sanicula marilandica
Jan 6: #20 Carex eburnea
Jan 15: #43 Galium trifolium
Jan 22: #25 Clinopodium arkansanum
Jan 30: #24 Chelone glabra

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01/25/2026

Some photos from my planting this week. There's time for 30 day stratification, Maaaaybe 60 day stratification, but longer than that will be needing another year - maybe. Double dormancies will need to be kept from getting too dry in the summer.

01/24/2026

THESE SEEDS NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Dec 17: #72 Osmorhiza longistylis
Dec 18: #84 Sanicula marilandica
Jan 6: #20 Carex eburnea
Jan 15: #43 Galium trifolium
Jan 22: #25 Clinopodium arkansanum (unless I can find where I put them 🤨🙄...tgb)

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01/24/2026

Hello friends,
the TGB Giveaway will end the first day of February. I will fill orders for free seeds that have been received up to that day. The species list and directions are located in the pinned post on this page. Check for the latest updated post of unavailable species to avoid disappointment. Don't forget to include a few alternates. Most seeds (103/108 species) are still available. Thanks to all who showed interest this year! Now I am getting my own planting done. tgb

01/17/2026

THESE SEEDS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Hi friends, I will be posting seeds no longer available in the TGB Giveaway as a series of posts instead of the pinned post because FB seems to want to limit the number of times I can edit a post. Dang 🤓🫤🙄😑 tgb

THESE SEEDS NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Dec 17: #72 Osmorhiza longistylis
Dec 18: #84 Sanicula marilandica
Jan 6: #20 Carex eburnea
Jan 15: #43 Galium trifolium

Send a message to learn more

12/26/2025

Hello friends,

Please note that the offer of free seeds as mentioned in the post explaining the giveaway, is only extended to Canadian addresses - really, Ontario. I do not send seeds outside Canada. The seeds I have are most appropriate to the Lake Huron/Georgian Bay area. tgb

Send a message to learn more