.About Us

.BOW POINT NURSERY is a Specialty Grower of Native Plant Material of Southern Alberta

The nursery has been at it's present location since 1988. We grow plants from seed and cuttings collected from areas as close to the nursery as possible. In searching out a seed source, we always look for native stands growing in the most open exposed sites as possible. Seedlings of these plants perform in a manner superior to the species.

BOW POINT NURSERY is located west of Calgary in a low, frost prone, windy site, subject to the brunt of the chinook winds at an elevation of (1200m)4000 ft. This site has a clay loam soil high in organic matter. We do not water the plants growing in the field. If they require higher levels of moisture than what is provided naturally, they are not suitable for our market.

We started growing native plants out of frustration with the lack of suitable plant material available for the chinook zone west of Calgary. As the natives grew and out-performed many species currently available on the market, we phased out the common ornamentals and concentrated on the species indigenous to the aspen parkland west of Calgary. We have expanded the species to include those which appear on the prairies east and south of Calgary. We are now expanding the testing of plants from the West Castle area, higher foothills, mountain regions, and Montana natives. As these additional species prove themselves, they will be included in future editions of this catalogue. It is with confidence that we are able to ship in any direction. Our plant material has performed well in many sites - to the west of us into the foothills and mountain areas , east onto the prairies, to the south into Montana, and north of the Red Deer River.

Testing is done at the nursery in the seed beds and in production rows. Seed is planted into outside beds to germinate and grow without protection. Seedlings as a rule are left in the seed beds for two years, then if vigorous and healthy, they are transplanted to the production rows. If the plants perform well in the production rows for several years, they may then be planted into various landscape sites for further testing. If after several years of observations the plants are deemed truly chinook hardy they are propagated for general production and sales. This is our process of selection - those unfit for this environment do not survive.