Natvik Design Inc.

UPDATE: This talk will also be delivered online via zoom to the Master Gardeners Association of Alberta on May 6 @ 7:00pm. The cost is free for MGAA members and $15 for the general public. A recording of the talk will be available to all how register for an additional week after the live presentation. You can register by using the link to the MGAA website in the comments.

The April 16th date hosted by the Friends of Fish Creek is sold out!

Native bumblebee action in the wildflower garden!

Here are a few Penstemon species blooming in the garden today. Penstemons are incredibly beautiful and easy to grow in western gardens. Most species grow best in a gravelly soil mix, topped with crushed stone.

Prairie-crocus (Pulsatilla nuttalliana)
-in the wild & in the garden!

Nothings says spring like emerging prairie-crocus flowers in Alberta. The first blooms can appear as early as late March on hot, dry, south-facing slopes. The flowers supply early-season food for many species of native bees and other insects. Prairie-crocus are well-adapted to the intense freeze-thaw cycles that are typical during spring in Alberta. The presence of prairie-crocus flowers usually indicates high-quality grasslands and meadow habitats. The best places to find prairie-crocus include unplowed prairie grasslands throughout Alberta, montane meadows, and sub-alpine meadows in the Front Range. The prairie-crocus is not actually a crocus at all. True crocus species are in the lily family. The prairie-crocus is a pasqueflower, which is a type of anemone in the buttercup family.

Prairie-crocus make excellent long-lived perennials for sunny gardens. They are slow-to-mature and take 3-5 years from seed before they start to flower. After that, individual plants can live for decades. In the garden, prairie-crocus can be grown in almost any well-drained soil type. However, they perform best when planted into a lean, rocky soil. Here are a few pictures of prairie-crocus in the wild and in the garden.

Prairie Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha) has quite showy flowers, compared to most native grasses. Their flowers appear to glow when they capture the morning and evening sun. In the wild, Prairie Junegrass is a tiny plant. When given space in the garden, it is often 4 to 5 times the size of wild plants. It is short-lived perennial with a typical lifespan of 3-4 years. However, junegrass will self seed in the garden in rocky soils.

Spring growth in our prairie garden today...

Plants visible include:
Pulsatilla nuttalliana (Prairie-crocus)
Festuca campestris (Foothills Rough Fescue)
Geum triflorum (Prairie Smoke)
Oxytropis splendens (Showy Locoweed)
Opuntia polyacantha (Plains Prickly-pear)
Yucca glauca (Plains Yucca)

Prairie-crocus (Pulsatilla nuttalliana) flowers are blooming everywhere in local grasslands after the recent warm weather.

Sunrise in the prairie garden (from left to right):
1. Achillea borealis (Northern Yarrow)
2. Allium schoenoprasum var. sibiricum (Giant Wild Chives)
3. Monarda fistulosa var. menthifolia (Mint-leaved Bergamot)
4. Echinacea angustifolia (Narrow-leaf Coneflower)
5. Festuca hallii (Plain's Fescue)
6. Campanula alaskana (Alaskan Harebells)
Nov 3, 2023 - Calgary, Alberta

TUFTED HAIRGRASS (Deschampsia cespitosa)

OVERVIEW
Tufted Hairgrass is a widespread native grass across the northern hemisphere. It is native to all 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada!

ECOLOGY
-cool-season, bunchgrass that emerges in early spring
-grows naturally on gravelly shorelines of lakes and rivers, rock outcrops, wetland edges, and alvars.
-produces nutritious seeds eaten by winter songbirds (e.g., Dark-eyed Junco, American Goldfinch, Bobwhite Quail, many native sparrows).
-stalks are resistant to decay, and serve as excellent nest-building material for many ground-nesting songbirds.

DESIGN QUALITIES
-excellent backdrop for summer-blooming forbs
-attractive enough to be placed in foreground of the garden
-early to green up in spring with fine-textured leaf blades emerging from a tidy clump
-wispy seed heads emerge by mid summer and are magnificent when backlit by morning or evening sun
-golden fall colour lights up the autumn garden
-excellent winter interest with seed heads that look amazing covered in frost
-tolerant of periodically wet soil and of drought
-grows best in poor soils (gravel or sand) and in full sun
-will grow in part sun, but will produce mostly foliage (few seed heads in shade)
-does well on green roofs with at least 15cm growing medium depth

PLANT PORTRAIT: Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

OVERVIEW
Little Bluestem is a versatile native grass with many ecological and aesthetic attributes. It is native from Alberta to Quebec and all the way south to Texas.

ECOLOGY
-warm season, bunchgrass that emerges in late spring.
-grows naturally in grasslands, alvars, sand dunes, and oak savannas.
-larval host plant for several species of skippers (a group of small butterflies).
-produces nutritious seeds eaten by winter songbirds (e.g., Dark-eyed Junco, American Goldfinch, Bobwhite Quail, many native sparrows).
-stalks are resistant to decay, and serve as excellent nest-building material for many songbirds.

DESIGN QUALITIES
-excellent backdrop for summer-blooming forbs (e.g., Hairy Beardtongue, Cylindrical Blazing-star, Upland White Aster, Nodding Wild Onion).
-early-blooming forbs are ideal companion plants for Little Bluestem (e.g., Prairie Smoke, Moss Phlox).
-dark-green to blue-green foliage in summer.
-turns a beautiful reddish-brown during fall.
-stalks persist with snow for excellent winter interest.

Our green roof guide is now available!

MANUAL OF EXTENSIVE
GREEN ROOF HORTICULTURE
FOR THE LOWER GREAT LAKES REGION

A practical guide to plant selection and growing mediums for low-maintenance extensive green roofs (EGRs) in the Lower Great Lakes region.

Includes over 50 tables, 150 photos, planting plans, and detail drawings.

Plant guide includes plant profiles and planting lists for 100 and 150 mm extensive green roofs under various conditions (sun, shade, sloped, flat roofs).

Written for landscape architects, architects, landscape designers, green builders, sustainability consultants, horticulturalists, property owners, and anyone else interested in designing and/or building extensive green roofs with optimal performance and aesthetics.

Created by Mathis Natvik, a graduate of the University of Guelph’s Master of Landscape Architecture program who has been designing and building green roofs since 1999.

Visit our website to order a copy:
https://ecologicalgardendesign.com/manuals.html #/