Gone Wild

I met Hartley and Anne-Marie (above) at the farmer’s market last year, because, well, they were selling plants – need I say more?

Early in the spring, there are always more vendors selling plants than fresh produce. Mostly it’s pretty basic: pots of herbs, annuals and a few cottagey perennials. But there’s also Otto with his Japanese maples, someone who sells bonsai, and another booth that focuses on water plants.

Hartley and Anne-Marie’s sign read, “Gone Wild: native ornamental plants for the urban habitat.” I think I probably squealed when I saw it.

It’s exciting because it’s tough to find retail sources for native plants here in Vancouver. Many carry some of the more marketable plants like ferns or the more ornamental shrubs, but just try to find Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) or Vanilla leaf (Achyls triphylla) at your local nursery!

Hartley happens to live just around the corner from me, so, yesterday, on the way back from the greenhouse, he kindly dropped off a snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) and an evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), which I’ll add to my “mostly-native” plant bed. (Despite James’ plea for me not to plant snowberry, it’s not an invasive plant here – so I’m planting it anyway!).

Gone Wild carries a great selection of native and ornamental trees, ferns, perennials, shrubs, and groundcovers. You’ll find them at the farmer’s market come April – or contact Gone Wild directly.

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