​Discover plants that will grow in our area despite being ‘not hardy’ according to their label.  Mary Ann will share information on some of the unusual plants that she’s successfully grown in both her former rural Ottawa garden and in her current Maitland garden.  She will provide some cultivation tips that she’s learned from trial and error over the years. 

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Mary Ann Van Berlo is an avid gardener who enjoys everything horticulture.  She collects plants and her 2.4-acre garden on the St. Lawrence River has many uncommon varieties.  Mary Ann is not afraid to push the zone limit, and grows a number of plants that shouldn’t really be hardy in this area.   In June 2017, Mary Ann’s garden was featured in Ontario Gardener Magazine.

Note: Ben O'Brians Presentation was Cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.

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Josie Pazdzior will be presenting in Ben's place

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As another gardening season approaches, it’s a good time to think about how we garden in relation to the urgent environmental issues facing us. Our aim is always for beautiful garden spaces, of course, and rock gardens can be a part of this. But can we really do anything substantive to help preserve and create biodiverse, wildlife-friendly landscapes, and deal with climate change? (Yes!) Josie will talk about the best practices for encouraging a healthy ecological system within your own lovely garden and beyond.

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Josie has been active in the Ottawa area gardening community since the late 1990’s, working as a volunteer with the Master Gardeners, the Ottawa Horticultural Society, Canadensis, and the Ottawa Valley Rock Gardening and Horticultural Society. She studied horticulture at Algonquin College, and continues to learn with Master Gardeners and to take advantage of all the opportunities available to us. Josie has had a small personal business consulting and coaching, helping people design their gardens and solve garden problems. She makes sure to emphasize the importance of following best practices to support biodiversity and our native ecology. But rocky landscapes, alpines and other small plants are the ones that really excite her imagination. She finds growing them from seed can be fascinating, even when some don’t germinate as we wish!

This talk will look at what an alvar is and what
makes it a special environment. Ken will
present a wide variety of the native plants that
grow in the Burnt Lands, working through the
seasons from May to September. Some of
these plants are restricted to alvars, some are
more widespread.​

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Ken is a graduate of the University of Guelph with a BSc in Wildlife Biology. He has lived most of his life in Ontario and in eastern Ontario for the past 44 years. He retired in 2014 after working for 33 years in the federal Public Service.

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Says Ken, “I have been interested in the natural world since as far back as I can remember. I am interested in almost everything so, as I
often say, I am a lousy specialist. I am a fairly serious birder but am also very interested in botany and entomology, especially butterflies
and dragonflies. I blame my sons for broadening my focus to include the last two groups. I enjoy having broader interests: when the birds get quiet later in the morning, the insects become active and the plants are always available at any time of day, so I’m never bored!”
He is a member of both the Ottawa Field Naturalists and the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN). He is currently working as a volunteer on the third Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas. He leads walks, does presentations for many organizations and has helped with many bio-blitzes and bird and insect counts across eastern Ontario. He is active on iNaturalist. Last year he was awarded the MVFN Champion for Nature Award.