Success Story Profile - Friends of Nature
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Jackie Lynch wants to help you overcome your fear of ornamental grasses! Her business, Friends of Nature, specializes in these striking plants that are rapidly becoming landscaping fixtures for their beauty and versatility. Jackie also grows cannas and a wide variety of other garden plants, which she sells directly to customers. In her diverse business, she retails organically grown plants, provides gardening/landscaping services, hosts garden tours, delivers talks on gardening and ornamental grasses for various groups, is actively involved with Project Share, sells winter arrangements & living wreaths, and in 2006 was on the panel of judges for the annual Trillium Horticultural Awards contest.
Jackie comes by her talent and love of gardening from her grandmother, who farmed produce extensively for the family pantry. After working for Heritage Perennials in Niagara-on-the-Lake for almost 10 years, Jackie felt that it was time to spread her wings. She completed the Business Development Centre’s Business Basics and SEB programs, which she feels contributed greatly to her success. In December, 2004 she got her feet wet with her first Winter Garden Walk, opening up her business to the public shortly afterwards. From there, her business has grown right along with some of her towering Northern Pampas Grass.
Jackie’s own property is a testament to her skill. A greenhouse capable of holding up to 1,000 plants sits at the back of her 97.5 metre long lot, and between the greenhouse and the main house her gardens meander through ‘rooms’ that lead the viewer through different moods. Visitors are particularly attracted to the peaceful Butterfly Garden, and often sit on the bench to enjoy the beautiful foliage and wildlife. Clumps of her signature ornamental grasses provide texture in the summer and a sculptural quality in the frosty winter sun. Jackie loves the grasses for their movements in the breeze, the gentle rustling sounds that they make, and the way their forms catch the light.
Her community also benefits from Jackie’s love of plants. For 2 years she worked on giving a barren stretch of Victoria Avenue in Niagara Falls some vitality and beauty: the Niagara Falls Horticultural Society, of which she is a member and past vice-president, planted gardens at the front of the Niagara Falls Armoury, which will be celebrating the upcoming bicentennial of the War of 1812.
Recently she became involved with Project Share in Niagara Falls. She felt a kinship with the Project’s Community Garden, which empowers the less fortunate in the community by enabling them to grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables, and she began to work with the Project in a variety of ways. This year Jackie’s annual Winter in the Garden Walk on December 17th will also collect donations for the Project’s food drive. She feels strongly that no one should be hungry, especially at Christmas. For the night-time walking tour through her gardens, she strings her property with special holiday lighting and serves hot cider as participants enjoy the winter foliage.
Friends of Nature is open during the warmer months from Wednesdays to Saturdays. Visitors can view the plants the way they might look in their own gardens, as Jackie arranges them in pots throughout the property. There are arches and sculptures tucked into interesting spots, and customers may be accompanied by some of the Silkie Chickens that Jackie raises as a sideline. The chickens, a breed from Asia, are covered from crown to claws in a distinctive fluffy cloud of feathers. Jackie was introduced to them by a contact who was purchasing them for her daughters, and she fell in love with the cuddly birds. They not only clean out grubs in the garden, they also make great pets, have edible eggs, and their manure makes a excellent fertilizer.