The Bloom & Buzz Newsletter

A Message from the Library

We hosted the second of our three summer plant exchanges/giveaways this past month. We’ve loved seeing hundreds of you take home free native plants for your gardens. Our last plant exchange/giveaway for the year will be on September 12, 2026, at Britannia Beach, near the Trolley Station. We hope to see you there!

While our summer plant giveaways continue, we are also harvesting and packing seeds as we prepare for seed giveaways this fall. We are always deeply appreciative of donations of seeds so that we can see more native gardens in our communities. Check out the section below about what to harvest this month and how to donate seeds, and if you have any questions about harvesting seeds from specific plants, visit the plant profile in our online catalogue for details. You can also contact us at info@wildflowerseedlibrary.ca.

As we harvest seeds and receive seed donations, we are also looking for volunteers to help us pack the seeds, which is a great at-home activity for teenagers looking to fulfil their volunteer hours! We have a variety of local coordinators that would love your help in Alta Vista, Barrhaven, Kanata, Nepean, and Orléans. If you are interested, please send us a message at volunteer@wildflowerseedlibrary.ca and we will put you in touch with your closest coordinator!

Our volunteers also continue to add descriptions and photos to our online native plant catalogue. The catalogue is a great resource to learn more about specific native plants, and also to help with harvesting and packing seeds. Did you know that you can print seed envelope labels from the catalogue? If you are packing seeds, all you have to do is go to the profile of the plant you harvested seeds from, go to the Sowing Information box and click Download Seed Envelope Labels (PDF). Thanks for helping us distribute seeds! We really appreciate it!

Finally, this past month, Mélanie presented to Pollinator Partnerships Canada members on how to start a local seed initiative. Huge thanks to Pollinator Partnerships and their Bee City Canada program for supporting the spread of native seed libraries across Canada!

Upcoming Events

• Folding Zines

  • When: Saturday, August 1, 10:00 am

  • Where: 6218 Ravine Way, Ottawa, ON, K1C 2V4

  • About: The Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library has partnered with the Ottawa Public Library for National Truth and Reconciliation Day in September. Like we did last year, the Seed Library will be providing the public library with zines (small magazines printed on a single sheet of paper and folded in a specific way to look like a book) about native plants and containing a package of seeds from a native plant. We need help folding the zines in advance of National Truth and Reconciliation Day.

• Native Plant Giveaway

  • When: Saturday, September 12, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

  • Where: Britannia Beach, near the Trolley Station

  • About: Join us at Britannia Beach for our final plant exchange/giveaway event of the season! Come and pick up some free native plants; no donations are required. If you have native plants to give away, please check out our webpage for more information.

Seasons in the Garden

Full Moon Date: August 28, 2026

What to Harvest This Month

Contact us at volunteer@wildflowerseedlibrary.ca to drop your seeds off at one of our locations in Alta Vista, Barrhaven, Kanata, Nepean or Orléans.

Volunteer Spotlight & Community Stories

This month’s volunteer spotlight highlights the work of Ioana MacDonald:

Ioana started donating seeds and seedlings to the Seed Library a few years ago, and began volunteering in-person at Seed Library events about a year and a half ago. She enjoys playing ‘personal shopper’ for first-time attendees at Seed Library events who may be overwhelmed by the amount of kindness and community buzzing around. Ioana likes chatting with them, listening to what seeds or plants they are looking for, and helping them choose the right ones for their conditions.

Ioana’sinterest in native plant gardening was originally sparked by a staredown with a robin early one spring morning. A few days later, she saw the same robin flying up to feed its babies in a nest with a caterpillar in its beak. Her curiosity stemmed from that event and led her to not only the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library, but also to starting a family-owned social enterprise alongside her partner Colin and their three children. Ioana is the Ideator and Head Grower at micronursery Localeaf, based in Aylmer, QC, which focuses on growing native plants, shrubs and trees locally and sustainably from seed. Every plant they sell helps fund local biodiversity projects, school gardens, tiny urban forests and the work of Canopée Localeaf, their non-profit wing.

When asked what her favourite native plant in her garden was, Ioana said, “I don’t have a single favourite, but Golden groundsel (Packera aurea) is currently blooming in several spots in my garden, and attracting many small bees that I am enjoying watching.”