My biggest passion is to grow native plants from seed, including prairie plants, grasses, shrubs and trees. It is magical to see a seed, often as small as a dust speck, grow into a beautiful flowering plant within a few months. Nature is abundant. From hundreds of seeds nature disperses, one lucky seed might land in a perfect location under perfect conditions, be overlooked by hungry creatures and grow into a healthy plant. I teach you methods to get high seed germination rates and tricks to care for the seedlings to become healthy plants. 

Growing plants from seed is also critical conservation work. Every plant that is grown from seed is an individual with a unique genetic makeup. Almost all ornamental plants offered in nurseries and garden centres are clones or produced from cell tissue. That means plants of one species are all genetically identical. Biodiversity is not only significant on the species level but also on the level of genetic diversity within one species. Greater biodiversity makes ecosystems more resilient. In our turbulent time of climate change, we need the greatest possible genetic diversity in plants so they can adapt to change. Since native plants became more popular, the big nursery machinery has started to produce native plants in mass through cloning. They chose plants that cater to our human preference in aesthetics and growth habits but do not consider the needs of bees and butterflies - because they are often even unknown to science. We are just starting to discover the complexity of nature's fascinating relations.

Additionally, the nursery network distributes plants way beyond their ideal geographic range. But we can grow native plants from locally sourced seeds, which will be better adapted to our ecoregion. So let's get started.