In her article in the spring 2015 issue of ON Nature, Lorraine Johnson demonstrates how neighbours are creating pollinator habitat and restoring ecological connections in towns, suburbs and cities across the province. She provides the example of Palmerston Square Pollinator Patch – a small but diverse community garden that took root in west Toronto in 2014 […]
Field Trip: Tree spotting
A guide to Ontario’s rarest trees By Lorraine Johnson The loneliest tree in all of Ontario must surely have been the redbud found on Pelee Island in 1892 by botanist John Macoun. Growing on the sandy soils of Fish Point, at the south end of Pelee Island, this single specimen was buffeted by wind and […]
Natural invaders
Non-native plants can be an eco-catastrophe, degrading sensitive habitats and diminishing biodiversity. Where and how to draw the battle lines in the fight against alien species is now a topic of heated debate. By Lorraine Johnson
Urban Nature: Help for city trees
For too long, they have suffered from the ravages of the urban environment. Now some municipalities are taking a kinder approach to caring for our street trees By Lorraine Johnson Money Trees In the arsenal of arguments that justify municipal funding for street trees, the Town of Oakville has recently added some compelling economic muscle. […]
Endangered ecosystem: Carolinian zone
by Lorraine Johnson Botanists have wrangled over its proper name for more than a century. Scientists still debate its boundaries. But in the 23 years since Ontario Nature first published a special issue of this magazine (then called Seasons) devoted to Carolinian Canada, the unique nature of this region has been celebrated by naturalists and […]
A garden of rarities
The Ojibway Prairie Complex is the largest protected tallgrass habitat left in the province. Now the cornucopia of rare flora and fauna that depends on the prairie is threatened by a multi-million-dollar bridge project by Lorraine Johnson Alan McKinnon guides me along a muddy trail leading to the Detroit River, reminiscing about a childhood spent […]