Acadia’s annual Native Plant Sale will take place on the Formal Lawn of the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens at Acadia University in Wolfville. It’s the large lawn just to the South of the Walled Garden (enter main gates and turn left!).
This is one of the best sources of hard to find native plants in Nova Scotia. It is very popular, so get there early!
The next member’s meeting will include a hike at Kidston lake, near Spryfield. Please meet at 6:00pm so we get the maximum amount of daylight. The difficulty level should be easy.
From Herring Cove Road – take the Old Sambro road to the intersection; go straight onto Rockingstone road; go past Leiblin Drive on the right to an intersection; go straight still on Rockingstone (waterway on the right and large school on the left), continue to end. Rockingstone has a small parking area. Turn right onto Feldspar, go 4-5 carlengths and turn left onto Fieldstone. Follow Fieldstone to the end at a small parking area where you will see a gate. The Park is gated but the gates were still open on May 15 at 8:30 pm. If closed, park in the parking area. If open, go through the gate and follow road to end at a small parking lot near the lake. We will meet at the parking lot inside the Park.
If the gate is closed Park outside the gate and walk into the Park and meet at the end of the road (in the parking area).
Nature Nova Scotia has its annual general meeting On May 23-25 in Debert. They have offered the Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society a booth to reach out to other people attending the event. Charlie Cron is available to set it up, but would like some assistance from any NSWFS members who might also be there. If you are planning to attend the AGM and are willing to spend a bit of time to help man the booth (it would not conflict with any other ongoing events), please contact novascotiawildflora@gmail.com
Lyonia ligustrina Photo: Jennifer Clifford – iNaturalist
Coreopsis rosea Photo: Bob Kennedy
Lyonia ligustrina is commonly known as Maleberry or, on iNaturalist as He-Huckleberry. It is related to blueberries and huckleberries, but is extremely rare in Canada. In fact there is only one know site which is about 40 minutes outside Yarmouth. Several members have been to see the plant, but not when it has been in bloom – so this is a field trip to the known site to try to find it in bloom. We will start the hike at 10:00am on Saturday July 19 at a location to be announced near the site. It is suggested that people travelling a distance stay overnight at the Comfort Inn in Yarmouth on July 18 (or another place of your choosing).
A second trip is also planned in August to Wilson’s Lake and other nearby sites to view some of the Coastal Plains Flora unique to southwest Nova Scotia. Many of these should be in full bloom – including the very rare Rose Coreopsis. Because of requests to do it on a weekend, it has been moved to Aug 15-17. If you wish to participate in either trip, please contact us at novascotiawildflora@gmail.com for more details
These are some pictures taken on the hike by Steven McGrath :
Near Uisge Bàn Falls Provincial Park there is a large colony (over 400 plants) of Western Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus). No one knows how it got there, though I heard one credible tale that a Swiss couple living in the remote region over 100 years ago may have introduced it as a garden plant. The next nearest natural occurence on iNaturalist is in Montana, nearly 4700km away – although there is one occurence escaped from cultivation near Economy, NS and a couple in the Northeast US.
NSWFS Jeff White and Bethsheila Kent will be leading a hike to see these plants in the afternoon of Friday May 9. The location is outside of Baddeck, Cape Breton. If you wish to participate in this hike, please contact Bethsheila Kent directly mombird48@gmail.com. She can recommend accommodation in the area if you wish to stay overnight. Check with Bethsheila first, but I believe it is a fairly easy walk to the site.
Our 2025 AGM will take place at the Museum of Natural History at 1747 Summer Street on Monday Apr 28 at 7:30pm. It will also be simultaneously streamed on Zoom.
If you are a NSWFS member, you should receive an email zoom invitation with attached agenda, minutes from last year’s AGM and financial report. Please contact novascotiawildflora@gmail.com if you do not receive it.
Following the AGM, the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre will make a presentation of their most recent activities documenting the flora of the Maritimes.
The trip to Smiley’s will be on Sunday May 4. Both Charlie and Bob have conflicts on Saturday so we are doing Sunday. We expect a moderate amount of rain this day.
Charles Cron will lead the trip to Smiley’s Park near Brooklyn to view the newly emerging spring ephemerals. Some plants will be in bloom but many will still be in bud.
Approach Smiley’s from Highway 14 Exit 5 from 101 to St Croix and Three Corners or Through Mt Uniacke to Ashdale. The bridge on Clatyon Mckay road is still out: there is only one exit and entry to the park off hwy 14. Follow the road signs. Parking is outside the Park. The Nature Trust property on Meander River is also accessable from the same parking area. Plan to visit both sites. Meet at Parking area at 09:00 hrs. About 3 hrs. to see most items. Then to Hebert River for Blue Cohosh emerging if time permits. Bring lunch or snack and water. Bring rain gear. Hiking boots or rubber boots ok.
Click here for details
Jeremy will go through the recent updates to the barrens classification that was published in 2020 and discuss some of the new types that are now recognized. Then he will talk about some of the new research on dynamics: the possible role of fire and other disturbances in the creation and maintenance of some types of barrens. Finally, he’ll discuss these issues in the context of recent trips to other regions with barrens (Newfoundland & S. Labrador; Finland and Norway).
Jeremy Lundholm is a plant ecologist with a PhD from the University of Guelph. His research focuses on tidal wetland restoration, biodiversity on barrens, and vegetation classification. He works for TransCoastal Adaptations at SMU and CB Wetlands and Environmental Specialists as a Senior Research Associate.
An email will soon be sent to NSWFS members with the Zoom link.
This year’s Celebration of Nature will be hosted by “The Cliffs of Fundy” and will be held May 23 – 25.
The Cliffs of Fundy are happy to be the Host Club for the Celebration of Nature 2025. Our Venue will be at the Debert Hospitality Centre, May 23rd, 24th, 25th. The room rates and meal rates are VERY reasonable, and we hope all the members will encourage your club members to attend. Many activities are being planned for the weekend event.
A Silent Auction will be held, with Nature Related items from $5.00 to $500.00. Many artists and friends of Nature have promised to contribute.
Jan 17th, 2025. Isle Haute in the Minas Channel was declared a National Wildlife area in the Cliffs of Fundy UNESCO Global Geopark .
Details of the event, including the schedule of activities and registration details are found here: https://naturens.ca/events/
In general, materials on this website may be used under Creative Commons license/Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5.
Please see the About Us page for contact addresses.
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