Victoria Badham joins today from the Toronto Wildlife Centre. Thousands of calls are handled on the hotline in the busy part of the year. Rescues, medical care , rehabilitation and education are all components of this charity's mission. Victoria answers questions and dispels myths around the wildlife that show up in our urban gardens. What to do and what not to do. Building a healthy community for people and animals in Toronto.

https://www.torontowildlifecentre.com/

Dr Elaine Wiersma research at Lakehead University highlights the special opportunity that gardeners have to make positive change as stewards, conservationists, guerilla gardeners, advocates, learners and teachers. We discuss her new project - Whispers From the North, a nursery she opened in 2021 in Pass Lake Ontario. Special species like Early Figwort, Northern Sweetgrass and Poverty Oat Grass are discussed.

https://www.whispersfromthenorth.ca/

Matrix Gardening:

https://wildones.org/matrix-landscape-design-with-benjamin-vogt/

Social Media sensation Grant Minkhorst is hooked on gardening. He wants you to jump in and make mistakes. A clever and often hilarious communicator , we talk the joy of flowers, starting from seed , and pest management .

gardeninggrant.com

News- How To Start Your Garden for the Season

https://globalnews.ca/video/11200929/how-to-start-your-garden-for-the-season

Grant recommends:

https://www.ted.com/talks/rebecca_mcmackin_let_your_garden_grow_wild

Sean James is an ecological landscape expert. With his extensive horticultural knowledge he creates gardens that are public pleasing. Bold features, drifts of plants and seasonal vignettes make up his designs. This episode is jam packed with plant choices that can bring both birds and bees to your garden. Some plants of note are Bladdernut , Black Cherry, Silky Dogwood and Arrowleaf Aster.

Notes

https://www.seanjames-consulting.ca/

Sean James YouTube

https://youtu.be/1K8x-vUkoMI?si=Z53QzXPjhZ25yhVO

https://landscapeontario.com/about/

In this episode you will meet community builder & Toronto Master Gardener Jen Morley. Jen cares about the natural world and does her part right in her neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. She entered the Master Gardener training program in 2023 and has fast become a rising star.  A skilled writer, editor and communicator with a knack for making connections and bringing people together. Listen in as we talk about her ongoing leadership role in the Girl Guides, a successful grant application for PollinateTo funding, and her ongoing studies that are assisting her on The Shift. Enjoy.

Notes & Link

PollinateTO

https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmental-grants-incentives/pollinateto-community-grants/

Girl Guides Video

https://youtu.be/yeXP4v891nQ?si=i16UJomAb74N2iij

In today's episode you will hear from Andrea D'Silva the owner of Swallowtail Native Plants an online specialized seed company.

Why is growing plants from local seed important and what seeds are easy to try if you are new to growing native plants from seeds.

Winter is the time to buy seeds and Andrea gives great tips on how to have success with germination. Blue Flag Iris , Wild Basil and Prairie Smoke are a few special species we discuss.

www.swallowtailnativeplants.ca

Andrea's Native Plant Easy to Start List

In this episode we continue on the theme of naturalized gardens and out dated by-laws that penalize gardeners who want to do their part for nature. The City of Burlington is taking ecologist Karen Barnes to court over her naturalized garden, that was deliberately planted, maintained, free of noxious weeds and not obstructing any sidewalk or sightline. It's been a battle that has seen her front and back garden mowed down by the City.

Listen in to Karen joined by her daughter Julia as they detail the case based on constitutional grounds and their aim to set a strong precedent in support of Canadians’ rights to freedom of expression through gardening.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2025/08/29/news/ontario-naturalized-garden-charter-challenge

Donate

https://smallchangefund.ca/campaign/protecting-naturalized-gardens/

Douglas Counter goes to court in Counter v City of Toronto (2002) to express his pro-environmental views of how to manage a garden on privately maintained public property. Listen to a passionate gardener who fought and won this case for all Canadian gardeners. Recorded in Nov.2025

Contact Douglas: [email protected]

Spacing Toronto |  https://spacing.ca/toronto/2024/08/21/from-drainage-ditch-to-vibrant-pollution-absorbing-habitat/

Fireflies- -Ontario Nature

 https://ontarionature.org/fireflies-of-ontario-blog/

The Garden Shift is back for 2026.

In this episode we define & explore common botanical terms used in ecology and horticulture. What is a weed? What makes a plant invasive? Is a naturalized plant bad for an ecosystem? Ryan Godfrey, Senior Conservation Research Associate Specialist at WWF Canada, makes sense of it all.

Use the chart found in this link to follow along:

https://wwf.ca/stories/botanical-terminology-invasive-ornamental-plants/

Listen in as we close the year with TMG Pat Concessi and Tena van Andel. This is a tell all- as we share real stories from our own gardens. Don't miss the last few minutes when we are joined by researcher David Lawrie from the Toronto Region and Conservation Authority- he will outline the work to create safe passage for an endagered species who you might recognize from The Garden Shift podcast cover.

https://wildones.org/about/honorary-directors/larry-weaner/

https://trca.ca/conservation/environmental-monitoring/searching-for-salamanders/