The weeks leading up to opening day at GreenUP Ecology Park Native Plant Nursery are among the most vibrant of the year.
Each day offers a new surprise, from migrating birds to short-lived blooms of native woodland plants in the Lath House and along the woodland trail.
It is also a bustling time, as GreenUP staff and volunteers work together to reopen the park for educational programming and prepare for the nursery to open for the season on the Victoria Day long weekend.
Ecology Park is a space created by and for the community, so it is fitting that so many hands are involved in bringing it to life each year.
One such partnership is the Trent Learning Garden alternative settings placement, a collaboration between the Trent University School of Education and GreenUP that brings teacher candidates to Ecology Park for an immersive, two-week placement in early May.
“During the placement, teacher candidates have the opportunity to plan for and engage in garden-based outdoor education activities at Ecology Park,” explains Kelly Young, a faculty member at the School of Education. “The placement involves making connections to the Ontario curriculum and developing environmental leadership skills.”
The teacher candidates have plenty of fun while potting plants, composting, tidying gardens, and removing invasive plants.
Another longstanding collaboration is with the Green Industries program at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary school.
Each year, high school students learn to grow herbs and vegetables that are offered for sale on opening weekend at the nursery.
By getting their hands dirty, the students benefit GreenUP while developing fundamental skills that serve them in the horticultural industry and beyond.
Then there is opening weekend which brings hundreds of visitors to the park at once. Many volunteers are needed to set up, direct visitors through the market, and assist with carrying trees and plants to vehicles. Volunteers are invited to register to help out at greenup.on.ca/volunteer/.
The GreenUP Ecology Park Native Plant Nursery will open for the 2026 season on Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There will be thousands of native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, ferns, grasses, and vegetables available for purchase. (Pro tip: bring a wagon, bin, cardboard box, or wheelbarrow to use while shopping, because GreenUP has a limited number of carts available.)
This year, there are more than a dozen new species available for sale, including many woodland and wetland sedges, which are grass-like plants that “green up” early in the spring and support many pollinators and other wildlife.
Pickerel weed and American sweetflag are other new additions, which customers will find alongside other water-loving plants in the new market pond display.
GreenUP’s online stock list has more information about these and other species available for purchase. The stock list, updated every one to two weeks throughout the season, is available at greenup.on.ca/native-plant-nursery/.
As always, the Peterborough and Area Master Gardeners will be on hand to provide advice on native plant selection and other horticultural best practices.
Rain barrels, compost canes, gift certificates, compost, and woodchips are also sold at the nursery.
However, compost and woodchips will only be available for pick-up beginning Sunday, May 17, as vehicles will not be permitted in the park on opening day due to the volume of people expected.
This year, GreenUP Ecology Park’s season opener will feature fun for the whole family.
Visitors can spend time in the natural playscape, take in a live musical performance with Newberry Enterprises, and visit fun and engaging community tables.
Speak to staff and board members about how to support GreenUP through donations, volunteer opportunities, or share ideas about how GreenUP can reinvigorate Ecology Park as an environmental education destination for children and families.
After opening weekend, the native plant nursery will be open Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until Friday, October 7.
Ecology Park is located at 1899 Ashburnham Drive. Visitors are asked to park in the Beavermead parking lot just north of Ecology Park or walk or roll their way in along the Trans Canada Trail.
For more information about Ecology Park and the native plant nursery, visit greenup.on.ca/ecology-park, email ecologypark@greenup.on.ca, or call Ecology Park staff at 705-927-1104.
