What plant should I grow where? What plant is this in my garden? What types of plants grow well in shade or in certain soils?
Selection – Consider adding some Native Plants
What is a Native Plant? The definition proposed by Rick Darke and Doug Tallamy in their book, The Living Landscape provided me with this quote “A plant or animal that has evolved in a given place over a period of time sufficient enough to develop complex and essential relationships with the physical environment and other organisms in a given ecological community.”
Choosing the Right Plant – Databases for Identification and selection
Mushroom Expert (good for ID of mushrooms but also has very extensive Tree list & pics too)
Northern Ontario Plant Database
Native Plant Choices and Sources (local zone 5-6 Southwestern Ontario, Canada)
- Upper Thames Conservation area – pdf of native trees, shrubs and vines
- Upper Thames Conservation – pdf of Southwestern Ontario Nurseries that Sell Native Plants, Trees & Seeds
- Canadian Wildlife Federation Encyclopedia of native plants
- CANPLANT – Native plant database
- Kayanase Greenhouse
- Maajiigin Gumig Native Plant Greenhouse
- Native Trees and Plants
- Ontario Native Plants
- Ontario NativeScape – Wildlife and Habitat Management
- Orange Dog Natives
- St Williams Nursery and Ecology Centre
- Windover Nurseries
- Baseline Nurseries
The Plant List – is a working list of all known plant species. It aims to be comprehensive for species of Vascular plant (flowering plants, conifers, ferns and their allies) and of Bryophytes (mosses and liverworts). Collaboration between the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden enabled the creation of The Plant List by combining multiple checklist data sets held by these institutions and other collaborators.
What Tree is It – great site for identifying trees – by Leaf, by Fruit, by Name (common or scientific)
Michigan Flora database – intended both to be an evolving illustrated companion to the Field Manual, presenting photographs of the species and their diagnostic features, and build on the foundation of the Field Manual by incorporating updates and new discoveries.
Related Design article – Ten Tips for Year-round Interest in a Garden
About The Author: Armstrong
A life-long nature and plant lover. Active with London Fanshawe Horticultural Society since 2008 and a Master Gardener with London Middlesex Master Gardeners since 2011.
More posts by Armstrong