January 15, 2010
Visitors to the site may take their own tour, or one of the scheduled tour dates. Paul Morris shows map of the trails available on site.
Acorus Restoration grew from passion for the environment
By Allan Dennis
Paul Morris has combined his love of plants, passion for the environment, a science-based education, and his solid business sense to create Acorus Restoration Native Plant Nursery.
Located in Walsingham, just north of Lake Erie’s famous Long Point peninsula, Morris purchased a 95-acre farm back in 1995. He saw the potential to create a business that he envisioned would specialize in native plants, especially for the wetlands. The location already had a greenhouse and an excellent forested area. “At the time, I was working in Toronto for consulting services and felt, back then, that much of what was going on was only lip service in regards to native plants.” Morris took his masters degree in biology and moved to the somewhat remote area of Walsingham.
“I named the business Acorus, which is the botanical name for sweet grass,” says Morris. His vision is now reality. Sweet grass is just one of the 350 species of native plants at Acorus. “We are the largest and most comprehensive supplier of native plants in Ontario and have expanded our nursery to include plants suitable for wetland, woodland, prairie and meadow. Given enough lead-time, we are able to supply appropriate species for any sized project,” says Morris.
Morris is proud of the fact that plants grown at Acorus are from seed collected in a process he describes as ecologically responsible. “We are Certified Seed Collectors, according to the standards set by the Ontario Forest Gene Conservation Association.” All the plants are indigenous to southern Ontario. Morris says that using local native plants results in a product adapted to local conditions. Native plants have a higher survival rate. Many of the seeds are hand-collected on the farm, and somein the wild.
Along with the large variety of plant material, Acorus also offers biological and ecological restoration consultation services. Most of the wholesale business is in the GTA and southern Ontario. Customers include nurseries, developers, landscapers and conservationists. Wetland plants are the largest component of business. With a huge variety of native plants, Acorus is able to meet specific requirements for restoration and naturalization projects. “We are able to oversee a restoration project from start to finish. In the initial stages of a project, we conduct biological inventories, ecological land classification, environmental impact assessments and wetland evaluation. After collecting the information, we design a planting plan, grow the plants, and do the planting and follow-up monitoring.”
Three years ago, Acorus opened a retail division. Despite being located in a low-traffic area, many people take the time to visit the garden centre in order to locate unique native plants. “We are finding that there is a growing interest in native plants among consumers,” says Morris. Acorus has created trails that run through the property’s sites that demonstrate areas such as prairie, woodland, wet meadow, marsh and stream ecological restoration. Visitors to the site may take their own tour, or take part in one of the scheduled tour dates. “We also offer a variety of workshops on habitat creation and natural gardening,” says Morris.
Looking back on his goals when he created the business, Morris says, “Part of what I set out to do was foster the health of a broad range of ecosystems. I wanted to make our nursery a valued resource.” Acorus now boasts a half-acre display garden featuring over 100 native plants. “It gives people a chance to see how beautiful native plants can be in the garden.”
Acorus has been a member of LO since 2006. It presently has six employees, including Paul Morris and his wife Stephanie. There are six greenhouses on site. The business has developed an online catalogue accessible through the company’s website www.ecologyart.com.
Paul Morris is one of those rare people able to profit from his passion, while improving the world around him.
Paul Morris has combined his love of plants, passion for the environment, a science-based education, and his solid business sense to create Acorus Restoration Native Plant Nursery.
Located in Walsingham, just north of Lake Erie’s famous Long Point peninsula, Morris purchased a 95-acre farm back in 1995. He saw the potential to create a business that he envisioned would specialize in native plants, especially for the wetlands. The location already had a greenhouse and an excellent forested area. “At the time, I was working in Toronto for consulting services and felt, back then, that much of what was going on was only lip service in regards to native plants.” Morris took his masters degree in biology and moved to the somewhat remote area of Walsingham.
“I named the business Acorus, which is the botanical name for sweet grass,” says Morris. His vision is now reality. Sweet grass is just one of the 350 species of native plants at Acorus. “We are the largest and most comprehensive supplier of native plants in Ontario and have expanded our nursery to include plants suitable for wetland, woodland, prairie and meadow. Given enough lead-time, we are able to supply appropriate species for any sized project,” says Morris.
Morris is proud of the fact that plants grown at Acorus are from seed collected in a process he describes as ecologically responsible. “We are Certified Seed Collectors, according to the standards set by the Ontario Forest Gene Conservation Association.” All the plants are indigenous to southern Ontario. Morris says that using local native plants results in a product adapted to local conditions. Native plants have a higher survival rate. Many of the seeds are hand-collected on the farm, and somein the wild.
Along with the large variety of plant material, Acorus also offers biological and ecological restoration consultation services. Most of the wholesale business is in the GTA and southern Ontario. Customers include nurseries, developers, landscapers and conservationists. Wetland plants are the largest component of business. With a huge variety of native plants, Acorus is able to meet specific requirements for restoration and naturalization projects. “We are able to oversee a restoration project from start to finish. In the initial stages of a project, we conduct biological inventories, ecological land classification, environmental impact assessments and wetland evaluation. After collecting the information, we design a planting plan, grow the plants, and do the planting and follow-up monitoring.”
Three years ago, Acorus opened a retail division. Despite being located in a low-traffic area, many people take the time to visit the garden centre in order to locate unique native plants. “We are finding that there is a growing interest in native plants among consumers,” says Morris. Acorus has created trails that run through the property’s sites that demonstrate areas such as prairie, woodland, wet meadow, marsh and stream ecological restoration. Visitors to the site may take their own tour, or take part in one of the scheduled tour dates. “We also offer a variety of workshops on habitat creation and natural gardening,” says Morris.
Looking back on his goals when he created the business, Morris says, “Part of what I set out to do was foster the health of a broad range of ecosystems. I wanted to make our nursery a valued resource.” Acorus now boasts a half-acre display garden featuring over 100 native plants. “It gives people a chance to see how beautiful native plants can be in the garden.”
Acorus has been a member of LO since 2006. It presently has six employees, including Paul Morris and his wife Stephanie. There are six greenhouses on site. The business has developed an online catalogue accessible through the company’s website www.ecologyart.com.
Paul Morris is one of those rare people able to profit from his passion, while improving the world around him.