Check out this excellent resource on choosing native plants for Manitoulin-Lake Simcoe Ecoregion (which includes Stratford).
https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/Manitoulin.LakeSimcoe.2016.ver17.pdf
Video resources
Soil texture by feel
A short 4 minute video that provides information on how you determine soil texture by feel.
Making Gorgeous Pollinator Gardens
This 90 minute video is a presentation sponsored by the North American Native Plant Society.
Check out some of our favourite websites for additional information on gardening.
| Organization | What they do | Website |
| Ontario Trees and Shrubs | A website dedicated to trees and shrubs that grow in Ontario | http://ontariotrees.com |
| Missouri Botanical Gardens | Great information on growing plants | http://mobot.org |
| North American Plant Society | Information on growing native species, plant sales, seed exchanges, workshops | http://nanps.org |
| Garden Professors | A blog dedicated to scientific research and data. “It’s not what we don’t know that causes us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so.” A quote by Will Rogers that is used to describe their mission. | http://gardenprofessors.com |
| Carolinian Canada | A website devoted to establishing healthy ecosystems in Ontario’s Carolinian zone. | http://caroliniancanada.ca |
| Savvy Gardeners | “offers gardeners innovative solutions, novel ideas, enlightening research and a solid dose of sensible advice.” | http://savvygardening.com |
| Ontario Horticultural Association | The website of the Ontario Horticultural Society. Offers advice, education, newsletters and a listing of events. | http://gardenontario.org |
| Canadian Wildlife Federation | Their mission is to “conserve and inspire the conservation of Canada’s wildlife and habitats for use and enjoyment of all.” | http://cwf-fcf.org |
| Stratford Horticultural Society | The Stratford and District Horticultural Society was founded in 1878 and has over 200 members of all ages and horticultural backgrounds. | http://gardenstratford.org |
| Stratford Public Gardens | A list of public gardens in Stratford with maps. | http://stratfordgardens.com |
| Gardens in Ontario | A list of some gardens to visit in Ontario. | https://www.gardenvisit.com/gardens/in/canada/ontario |
| Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centre | The website contains a list of over 10,000 native plant species for North America, a large selection of images (copyrighted) and plant lists, including lists for each province. | https://www.wildflower.org |
| Pollinator Conservation Resource Centre | Includes plant lists, conservation guides, fact sheets and pollinator information. Includes information for each province. | http:// https://xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center/ |
| Bug Guide | Their mission: “Using the best resources we have access to, we are creating a knowledge base to help each other and the online community.” | http://www.bugguide.net |
| Butterflies and moths | Their mission: “Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) is an ambitious effort to collect, store, and share species information and occurrence data. You can participate by taking and submitting photographs of butterflies, moths, and caterpillars.” | http://butterfliesandmoths.org |
| Insect Identification | A list of bugs and insects that can be searched by province. An American site, but it is searchable by area. | http://insectidentification.org |
| Forestry Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture | A website dedicated to trees in the U.S. The information would also be relevant to Canada. | https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/table_of_contents.htm |
| Pollinator Partnership | A guide to selecting plants for pollinators | https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/Manitoulin.LakeSimcoe.2016.ver17.pdf |
| Seeds of Diversity | From their website:”We are a group of seed savers from coast to coast who protect Canada’s seed biodiversity by growing it ourselves and sharing it with others. Every year, we multiply the most vulnerable seed varieties that we can, exchange seeds with each other, and keep those varieties alive and in cultivation for future gardeners to enjoy”. They also have a data base that lists where you can source specific seeds. | https://seeds.ca/sw8/web/ |
| Invasive Species Centre | Good resources on invasive species in Canada | https://www.invasivespeciescentre.ca/invasive-species/invasive-species-resources/#fact-sheet |
| Homegrown National Park | A website that promotes Doug Tallamy’s initiative to create linked wild(er) spaces from private land. | https://homegrownnationalpark.org |
| Ontario Rock Garden Society | To support the planting and care of rock gardens and hardy plants in botanic and public gardens | https://onrockgarden.com/index.php |