Native Plants find a home on Vancouver Island
Satinflower Nurseries Native Plants owners Kristen and James Miskelly are reshaping and rewilding the gardens and natural areas around Canada’s beautiful city of Victoria on Vancouver Island. The couple is bringing their expertise of native plants to gardeners, and large commericial clients and restoring the natural habitat of the Saanich area.
Three of the best Carolinian under story trees (perfect for small yards)
If you are lucky enough to live in the Carolinian forest zone in Ontario or the United States you are able to grow some of the finest understory trees. Here are three of the best understory trees, Redbud, dogwood and Pawpaw. They are small trees perfect for today’s smaller backyards.
White pine: Native evergreen that helps birds and wildlife
Our native Eastern White Pine is an elegant, open evergreen that deserves a place in more gardens. The tree’s beauty is evident in its early stages. The fast-growing tree eventually becomes a stately, flat-topped tree that has captured artists for years. It is also an important tree to attract wildlife to our backyards.
Seven Viburnums: Top shrubs to attract birds to your garden
Building up the number of viburnums in your garden design is a great way to not only beautify your backyard but create a garden that is attractive to a wide variety of birds. Viburnums provide an abundance of flowers in spring, attract pollinators, insects and caterpillars throughout the summer, outstanding leaf colour in fall and an abundance of berries in fall lasting well into the winter.
Plant the perfect Redbud (a Carolinian zone favourite)
I consider the Eastern Redbud equal to Dogwoods when it comes to understory trees in the Woodland Garden. It’s incredible spring bloom turns into a green architecturally elegant tree in the summer that comes to life again in autumn with its spectacular canary-yellow fall foliage. What’s not to love about this native understory tree that lights up the spring landscape with its pink blooms and the fall landscape with its golden leaf colour.
Carolinian Canada is a diamond in the heart of Southern Ontario
Carolinian Canada is a sweep of land that extends from Toronto to Lake Erie and down through Windsor to Lake Huron. Its diversity of flora and fauna is unmatched anywhere else in Canada. The Carolinian forest also stretches through much of Eastern United States.