Cally’s garden

Cally has planted two 37-square-metre areas with native wildflowers in her backyard in Stittsville and plans to add more. She says:

“We moved to our house in June 2012. The backyard of our newly built house was mostly “fill” with a layer of topsoil and sod. We started with a small garden bed created by removing the sod and composting it. The first plot was a herb plot or kitchen garden, but in 2020, I became interested in native plants because I heard about their important role in supporting pollinators and the local ecosystem. While searching for more information about native plants, I heard about Seedy Saturdays and the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library (OWSL). I was very happy to know that many people are concerned about the biodiversity crisis and are active in supporting pollinators.

“We got started by planting some swamp milkweed and cardinal flowers, which we purchased at Seedy Saturday in 2018. We attended our first OWSL seed exchange and tried winter-sowing, which I heard about through the Facebook group of the OWSL. To my surprise most of the seeds germinated and I planted them in the soil, and here we are three years later. From seeds made available for free through the OWSL we have winter-sown more species in each of the past few years, and now have many new seedlings in various stages of growth.

“Earlier this summer, we removed sod for another native plant bed that is intended for native plants that like full sun and dry soil. I save seeds from most of the native plants in our garden and pack them for the OWSL’s annual seed exchanges in the fall. Our interest hasn’t waned, and we are planning to remove more sod this summer for more native plant and pollinator garden beds.”