by John Davidson Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) The Fletcher Wildlife Garden is included in one of the nine best gardens in Canada to visit, according to travel writer Katharine Fletcher. The article features several highlights in and around the Central Experimental Farm. About FWG, she writes, "Immediately adjacent to the Arboretum find the [...]
by John Davidson Michelle and other volunteers planted 1100 native plants on the south side of our pond today. One of the highlights of Fletcher Wildlife Garden—the Amphibian Pond—has undergone a major, and necessary reconstruction since last fall. Over the years, the pond had become a victim of invasive plant species which had [...]
By Ted Farnworth Environmental Commissioner Dr. Dianne Saxe (right) talks with Ted Farnworth, Sandy Garland, and Diane Lepage at the FWG On Monday, May 9, the Ontario environmental commissioner, Dr. Dianne Saxe, did a walking tour of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. FWG volunteers Sandy Garland and Ted Farnworth, along with Diane Lepage (OFNC [...]
by Michelle St-Germaine As I had a milestone birthday last year (I turned 50), I treated myself to a week in Paris alone and spent many hours in beautiful parks, contemplating life. In addition to this trip, I took a retirement course (yes, they exist!) and was pleased that I am on the right track [...]
by John Davidson Tricoloured Bumblebee at work in the FWG's Butterfly Meadow Punch “bees” into your search engine and, within seconds, you'll get a screenful of headlines, something like this: Why are bees dying? Plant flowers to help declining bee populations Could pesticides be limiting the ability of bees to reproduce? We are [...]
Alex MacDonald, of Nature Canada, demonstrated how to find bats using a small hand-held detector. by John Davidson “I can hear one, I can hear one!” The excited cry cut through the night at the same time as the device in the young boy’s hands burst into a cacophony of staccato crackles. This [...]
An American Robin getting a drink from still-open water in our creek by Sandy Garland This year, a group of FWG volunteers reported the smallest number of birds ever, although not the fewest species. The bitter cold over the weekend likely drove most birds into shelter. David Hobden, who leads this activity for [...]
by Sandy Garland Yes, it's about dog-strangling vine (DSV) again, our major preoccupation at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. We're making a bit of progress in some areas and noting that many native species (like walnut trees, goldenrods, and raspberries) are holding their own or even out-competing DSV. But there are places where DSV is so [...]
by Sandy Garland Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) On Tuesday, while working in the woods, our volunteer group came across a number of nightshade plants of two species. The same week, one of our Friday morning volunteers brought in another nightshade species with little white flowers. All this prompted some focused Googling and this [...]
by Sandy Garland Although last Tuesday was one of the hottest days of the year, Ted, Kate, Catrina, Melanie, and Mirko all arrived ready to work. We had decided to plant more trees - not the best time of year for this activity, but we needed to get the trees into the ground where they [...]
