Written By Jan Sims
KOMOKA - The spring planting season may be a few months away, but in the heart of winter we can still be thinking about gardening.
On January 10th, the Middlesex Pollinator Team hosted an event at the Komoka Wellness Centre titled Learn to Winter Sow Native Plants.
“The purpose is to give people an easy and inexpensive way to grow their own native plants from seed. Our seeds are native or near native seeds locally grown from the Komoka area. People will learn the importance of growing these native seeds to help with bio diversity and also to help support our local eco system which includes butterflies, bees and other insects which are on the decline,” says organizer Pat Fowler.
This is the second year the Pollinator Team has hosted the event, and it’s proved to be very popular. “This is an easy system which mimics nature as most seeds need something called cold moist stratification (CMS) which means they need a period of cold to ensure proper germination, some seeds may need 30, 60 or 90 days of CMS,” says Fowler.
Participants are given a container, seed and soil, as well as information on how to care for them. “The containers have holes top and bottom to allow snow or rain to keep the seeds moist for the duration. They are placed outdoors in a sheltered spot and left to about April or May when germination should take place and then can be taken out of container to plant in their garden,” says Fowler.
“No real maintenance is needed unless a dry spell within that timeframe and then a bit of water can be added. Also, it is perfectly fine to have the containers covered in snow as this mimics how seeds are naturally covered in winter months,” adds Fowler.
As well as helping to create beautiful, natural gardens, the event helps children appreciate the local habitat. “There are many seeds easy to grow like this such as Black Eyed Susans, Swamp and Butterflyweed, milkweed, Prairie Smoke, Bee Balm and many others,” says Fowler.
