Recent Blog Post
The use of local (source identified ) seed and cuttings for use in local landscapes.
Southern Alberta – in all of its sub-eco-zones is a very unique area in which to attempt to grow plants for our landscapes. The area around Calgary, although classified as zone 2, has some particular weather and climate patterns which are unique to the region. The area is on the western edge of the Prairies / Great Plains and on the eastern edge of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. This geographic location leaves us with an interesting mix of attributes of the Prairies and the Foothills. We have the dry climate associated with the Prairies with open dry winters, spring rains, long dry periods in the summer and sometimes, but not consistently short periods of moisture in the fall. The plants that have evolved here to cope with this climate are able to withstand heavy frosts and frozen root zones through the winter. The unique aspect to our zones is the short seasons we have as an influence of the Foothills. The traditional Prairie habitat has long warm nights during the summer and a relatively long frost free period between late frosts and early frosts.
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We are entering our new season soon – if / when the weather permits. This season is a very important milestone for us and Bow Point Nursery and hopefully all of the people we have influenced. This is our 25th season – hard to believe, but true. From hay-field to forest in a relatively short period of time – and really , 25 years is a short period of time from – or so it seems, otherwise, it wouldn’t have gone by so quickly. There have been lots of learning , lots of trials, lots of failures, lots of efforts, and lots of fun in developing the nursery. It started as a concept of providing better quality plants grown in a more sustainable method. As time went by the native seed source plants are the ones which grew , thrived and survived the best and most predictably. The focus changed to almost entirely native woody plants and has been marketed as such for many years now. When we started there was no demand – or very limited demand for native plants. Now they ( and we ) are accepted and expected – we have driven that development of the market
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We do hear about the fact that we don’t post our prices. There are several reasons we don’t have the price list on the web site. The main reason is we firmly believe plant choices should be quality based as opposed to price based. We can not and have no desire to compete with the box stores on pricing. It is easy to compete with garden centres, box stores, hardware stores, or grocery stores on quality. Ask any of those who offer plants for sale about their seed sources – and you will be met with blank stares. Ask us about our seed source and you will be overwhelmed with the stories about seed collecting, growing seedlings and testing a multitude of plants within the nursery – all of our plants have a history, whether you want to hear the details or not.
Other reasons vary from just too lazy to put together a price list to the need to retain flexibility with our pricing – we might lower our prices if we really like you.
So for now, we don’t feel the need to post prices – we can
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Thank you very much for the kind and generous donation of pots and soil for our Sustainability Series event. We couldn't have done it without you! 
