Planting For The Future
By John Swartz
Visitors to the Port of Orillia may notice something is different about it. The beds around several trees on the south side of the building have been there since construction a few years ago, but unless you have a reasonable memory you might not pay attention they aren’t just plots of dirt any longer.
That’s because last Saturday morning Matt Thomson and some volunteers planted almost a dozen varieties of native wildflowers in each bed.
“We had a lot of prep work to do first thing this morning starting at 9 (a.m.) and we were just plugging away putting some plants in until 2 o’clock.” Thomson said. He had help from members of the Orillia Horticultural club and the Lions Club.
Thomson has been tracking local flora and fauna for several years, writing about the things he finds on his daily bike rides along the back roads of the ara, and posting information on his Facebook page. He had a program on Rogers TV called Ardtrea Nature Nut and has been advocate of protecting the wildlife found in Orillia and the surrounding area.
He had his eye on the beds at the port for a while.
“Originally it was a City staff person that approached me and said if I wanted to turn this space into gardens then go for it. They provided no budget, but I was able to get some community sponsors; I got Parklane Landscapes, the Orillia Lions Club, Orillia Home Hardware, Orillia Home Depot and we had some coordination with the Orillia Youth Centre. Kevin (Gangloff, youth center director) had been fantastic arranging some connections to the local retailers.”
He only used one variety of tall grass, but unlike how they’ve been planted in other garden beds around the downtown, when they grow out people will be able to see they’ve been planted in a pattern.
“We’ve got more plants to put in here. The goal is to provide some educational signage for the community, to explain what the plants are, what they are attracting, and the value of native plants are,” Thomson said.
For this season the gardens may look sparse, like there is room for more plants, but if you are familiar with the wildflower planting project at Kitchener Park, it took a couple of years for them to fill in like a wall along the shoreline (mainly to keep the geese from coming out of the water onto the soccer fields). Plants were selected so there will different varieties blooming all summer long.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Supplied) Main: Matt Thomson and his garden at the Port of Orillia.
