:: James Fletcher 1852-1908 ::
The Fletcher Wildlife Garden is named after James Fletcher, Dominion Entomologist and Botanist. He was based on the Central Experimental Farm (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) where he was also the Chief of the Entomology and Botany Division from 1887 until his death in 1908.
However, his interests extended beyond plants and insects as they relate to agriculture, to natural history in general. He was a founding member and later president, of The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, the parent organization which oversees the FWG. It was thought fitting to name the garden after this eminent naturalist.
James Fletcher was born in England, in Kent County, moving to Canada in 1874.
An issue of The Ottawa Naturalist (Vol. 22(10): 189-234, 1909 was dedicated to the life and work of James Fletcher.
PLease click on the photo to open this gallery.
JUN-1990
Dedication of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, June 1990
This is the official dedication of the FWG. After this event, work on the garden began in earnest.
I don't know who everyone is in this photo, but the President at the time, of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, Roy John, is in the back row, wearing a Tilley Hat. And of course, the Ottawa Town Crier is there!
Dedication of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, June 1990
Part of the official dedication of the FWG. David Tomlinson, who created the award-winning design for the Fletcher Garden is on the far left of the photo.
Fletcher Wildlife Garden at the entrance to the garden, 1993
Today, you cannot see the barn at all. The area between the sign and the barn is now a flourishing woodlot. This sign stands at the intersection of the road into the garden and Prince of Wales Dr.
Looking west to the Butterfly Meadow, spring 1991
The area in the foreground is now full of shrubs and trees, thickets that provide nesting habitat for birds and cover for small mammals. The Butterfly Meadow is beyond the row of conifers.
Butterfly Meadow, 1993
Here you can see the land has been cleared for the next part of the Butterfly Meadow. To the right of the photo, the area has been planted with lots of ox-eye daisies.
Butterfly Meadow
Another view of the Butterfly Meadow, probably in 1993, when it was first created. The shot is looking northward toward the Ravine and the Interpretive Centre.
Butterfly Meadow
This shows the first creation of the Butterfly Meadow, probably from 1993.
14-JUL-2009
Butterfly meadow, July 2009
Fireweed, brown-eyed susan, yarrow, feverfew, these are only some of the plants you see in this photo.
Planting the New Woods area of the garden, May 1992
This open field is now full of tall trees and shrubs! Here, we are looking east toward the baseball diamond around which our Hedgerow now runs.
Planting the New Woods, spring 1992
This view is looking north to the entrance road into the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. The baseball diamond (not part of the FWG) is to the left, and behind is more of the New Woods waiting to be planted in 1992. Planting continued for several more years, with the last large planting of new trees occurring around 1996. Scouts continued to plant trees here and there in the new woods, for a few more years after that.
14-MAY-1992
Planting the New Woods
This area is now full of tall trees which look as if they grew up naturally and have been there for longer than 20 years! Just shows how a mowed field can transform into a woodlot in 20 years!
Planting the New Woods area of the garden, May 1992
This open field provides a clear view toward the barn (now painted red, but back then it was green), and Prince of Wales Drive. Today you can barely see the barn and the road.
Tree planting - the new woods, oct. 1992
Here the view is eastward to the Ash Woods, the wooded area in the distance. Today this site is a dense woodlot of tall trees.
New Woods, April 2001
By 2001, although the trees planted back in the early 90's were beginning to grow, the area showed no signs of looking like a woodlot with tall trees and a shrub layer. When this photo was taken in 2001, we worried that it was never going to mature. However, we were not being patient. Once the trees were well established, it seemed that they just took off. Within a few more years, photos show this area filling in very nicely. In this photo, the view is southeast, with the Ash Woods off to the distant left, and the Old Field behind the conifers in the middle of the photo.
New Woods, April 2001
By 2007 there was a nice woodlot growing, as can be seen in the following photo.
25 June 2007
New woods in early summer, June 2007
Looking west toward Prince of Wales Drive, from the Amphibian Pond. Here you can see the dense growth of trees compared to the open fields of the photo above.
13 July 2007
The New woods in summer, July 2007
Looking north across the New woods. The Arboretum is beyond this area. In 1992, this was an open field with no trees or shrubs.
The Ash Woods, spring 1991
This photo shows the view south through the woods to Carleton University. Before we took over the site, it was regularly mowed and no understory or groundcover flourished. Today, you cannot see through the woods in summer for the dense understory, and even in winter and early spring, it looks very different from this old shot.
01-OCT-2008
Ash woods, October 2008
Seventeen years after the above photo was taken, the woods are now thick with vegetation. There is a flourishing understory, sub-canopy and ground cover.
The Ash Woods, 1990
We are looking east toward the Rideau Canal here. The semicircle in front of the trees, is in this photo, mowed grass. Today there are walnut trees, Manitoba maples, poplar, viburnums and lots of flowering plants.
North side Ash Woods, spring 1991
This area is now full of trees and shrubs, mostly red-osier dogwoods. However, it took awhile for the thickets to establish, as can be seen from the next photo, taken in 1999.
North side of Ash Woods, spring 1999
This photo was taken eight years after the above, and shows that although the red-osier dogwoods are starting to appear, they have not yet formed the thicket that is there now.
Old Field area - Spring 1991
As you can see, this is the old field before it became the old field! Here, it is still planted with crops. In this view, we are looking west.
05-OCT-2011
Old field area - October 2011
The old field area is now a very different place, and over the years has undergone several metamorphoses. Here, as you can see, the dominant vegetation is goldenrod, and beyond the goldenrod, out of sight, large stands of wild raspberry.
28 August 2006
Old woods in late summer, 2006
The view is to the southeast. In the beginning, the area in front of the tall trees was mowed grass. When this photo was taken, 16 years later, it had evolved into an area of dense thickets of red osier dogwood, birch, asters, goldenrod and many other plants.
Spring 1991
Looking east toward the Amphbian Pond (only there was no pond at the time the photo was taken)
The area in the foreground is now the New Woods, full of trees, while the area in the distance, before the conifer thicket is now a thriving pond!
Looking north to the Amphibian Pond, spring 1991
The pond had not yet been created when this photo was taken. However, it now sits below that slope (with bare patches). The open grass in the foreground now has many trees and shrubs and bird boxes. In this photo we are looking north toward the Arboretum (the trees in the background).
The site of the Amphibian Pond, summer 1990
Looking west toward the barn and Prince of Wales Drive. This grassy area is now a large pond with frogs, turtles, muskrats, a beaver, nesting birds, dragonflies, etc. etc. A flourishing ecosystem created out of a mowed patch of grass!
Amphibian Pond site, 1991
We don't know who took this photo, but we do know it was just prior to when the pond was created in October 1991. This photo is looking west toward to barn. The great expanse of meadow is now a well-established pond with frogs, turtles, dragonflies, muskrats, etc. Already the slopes are showing a good growth of shrubs and other vegetation.
Constructing the dam at the east end of the pond, October, 1991
Looking northward across the dam to the entrance road into FWG. The Ravine is to the right.
Creating the Amphibian pond: Dam construction, Oct. 1991
Looking west toward the barn and Prince of Wales Drive. Today, the area between the pond and barn is full of tall trees. Oh yes, and the barn is now red. Where the wide open grassy area is, our pond now exists.
28-OCT-1991
Creating the Amphibian Pond: Dam construction Oct.1991
In late 1991, we began work on a big project, creating the Amphibian Pond. The first step was to build a dam at the end of the mowed site and before the Ravine (on the right). However... the initial plan for this site was to create a Sedge Meadow, NOT a pond! I guess the fates had a different idea because the site soon filled with water once the dam was constructed, and a pond it has been ever since. And we are very glad it is.
28-OCT-1991
Creating the Amphibian Pond: Dam construction, Oct. 1991
Another view of the dam construction. We are looking west toward Prince of Wales Dr.
Amphibian Pond, April, 1992
Looking west to the barn and Prince of Wales Drive. As can be seen, the pond is now full of water, just 8 short months after being constructed in October, 1991. Today, only the barn's roof can be seen abover the trees, and trees, shrubs, grasses, flowers cover both the areas all around the pond. The pond itself is full of cattails and other aquatic plants.
August 1992
Looking east to the newly created Amphibian Pond, 1992
The pond is now just over a year old and is already filled with water. The grass in the foreground has grown quickly now that the site is left unmowed. Today, the view to the pond is through trees of the New Woods.
Amphibian Pond, 1993
The pond has been established for nearly 2 years now, and you can see that there is some aquatic growth in the pond. Around the pond, things are very different today. A hedgerow curves around the baseball diamond (which is not part of the garden site) and tall trees (the New Woods)block views to the barn and Prince of Wales Drive in the distance.
Amphibian Pond, perhaps 1995 or 1996
This photo is undated, but is probably from 1995 or 1996, as a photo from 1993 shows no cattail growth and here, the cattail growth is well-established. The photo is looking west past the barn, which is now red, and obscured by the tall trees of the New Woods which surround the pond and block views of much of what is seen here.
18 June 2007
Look at the difference: The pond in early summer, June 2007
As can be seen, that flat green meadow, became a cattail filled pond, surrounded by lush growth of trees, flowers and shrubs. The barn, green in the early photos, is now a bright red.
Backyard Garden, 1992
This photo is looking west toward the Interpretive Centre, across what would soon become the Backyard Garden (BYG). Here you can see that it was just a flat mowed expanse of grass. Contrast it to what it looks like now!
01-OCT-2012
Backyard Garden - October, 2012
Contrast this shot, with its lush beds, trees, shrubs and flowers, to the first shot of the BYG in 1992 when it was one long rectangle of mowed grass! This is the garden, 20 years on!
Creating the Backyar Garden, October 1992
Looking east over the Arboretum to the Rideau Canal. Today this site is full of shrubs, trees, flowers, and you cannot see either the Arboretum or canal.
Building the Backyard Garden pond, Nov. 1992
Another view of the pond construction in the Backyard garden. Today, the pond is surrounded by shrubs, trees and flowers, and is home to many green frogs, and once, even a young painted turtle.
Building the Backyard Garden Pond, Nov. 1992
The pond was one of the first things to be created in the new Backyard Garden back in 1992. In the following photos you can see how it looked the following year.
BYG pond, newly constructed, 1993
This photo is looking east from the back of the Backyard Garden toward the Interpretive Centre. In the 19 years since this photo was taken (as of 2012), the garden has undergone a dramatic transformation, but the pond still exists, although it looks very different.
The Interpretive Centre and Backyard Garden, 1993
Looking toward the Interpretive Centre, past the new pond. The garden is now beginning to take shape.
23-JUL-2009
The Interpretive Centre and Backyard Garden, July 2009
This is the garden 17 years later!
Backyard Garden, 1993
Looking east from the Interpretive Centre toward the newly created Backyard Garden pond. The recently created rockery is on the right of the photo.
Interpretive Centre - 1996
This was shortly after we began using the building more regularly as our headquarters for the garden, a meeting space, a library, and an interpretive centre. You can see that it still looks stark, with no plantings around the perimeter. We do have a bulletin board and a little box on the door for pamphlets.
06-OCT-2009
Interpretive Centre - October 2009
Here, more than a decade after the previous shot, the building looks less stark. We've added a pergola, trellises, and a number of plants to soften the plainness of the building.
19-Jun-2010
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19-Jun-2010
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19-Jun-2010
FWG 20th anniversary
Included in the photo are back row, L to R: Jeff Harrison, Allan Reddoch, Tony Denton, Helena Garcia, Lesley Berenger, Henry Steger (?), Eleanor Zurbrigg, Charlie Clifford, unknown, Dave Moore, Connie Clarke, Cecile, unknown, Ann MacKenzie, Peter Hall, Roman Popadiouk(?), John Sankey
Second row, L to R: Joyce Reddoch, Eileen Chivers, Frank Pope, Enid Frankton, Betty Campbell, Daphne Griffiths, unknown, unknown, David Hobden, Marilyn Ward, Carol German, Gillian Boyd, Ken Young, Brigitte?
Sitting, L to R: Renate Sander-Régier, Elizabeth Gammell, unknown, Vijara Mendis, Sandy Garland, Claudia Burns (behind Sandy), Jeewa Mendis, Andrée, Gretchen Denton, Annie Bélair, Barbara Riley
19-Jun-2010
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19-Jun-2010
20th anniversary celebration
19-Jun-2010
20th anniversary celebration
Claudia Burns and Betty Campbell
