Native Plant Sale
The Native Plant Sale is an event that occurs once annually in May, and MC needs volunteer help for only TWO days: Preparation Day (Friday in Bracebridge) and Sale Day (Saturday in Bracebridge, Huntsville, and Gravenhurst). If you enjoy working with plants, in a team, and getting your hands a bit dirty, this is a great fit for you!
Role Responsibilities
FRIDAY – Prep Day:
- Work with a partner to organize various plants into their specific orders
- Pay close attention to what plants belong in each other and what pick up location they belong to.
SATURDAY – Sale Day:
- Work with staff to process payments in either Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, or Huntsville
- Retrieve orders and complete a quality check to ensure all plants are accounted for
- Answer questions about some plant species (if you are able to).
Qualifications
FRIDAY Prep Day & SATURDAY Sale Day:
- Able to lift and carry up to 15lbs
- Comfortable working in a team in a fast-paced environment
- Strong attention to detail.
Why we do it
Beyond being an awareness and fundraising opportunity for Muskoka Conservancy, encouraging the planting of native species has beneficial effects for the surrounding environment and allows a large diversity of species to utilise the area.
The benefits of planting native species include:
- They are ideally adapted to the environmental growing conditions of Muskoka
- They require less water
- They are low maintenance
- They are cost-effective
- They provide habitat for local species.
We offer a variety of native plants at the sale. They include species of trees, seedlings, shrubs, ferns, grasses and flowers. Plants can be categorized based on their habitat preferences, such as shade vs. sun or wetlands vs. drylands.
* Volunteers report to Jan McDonnell, our longtime lead volunteer who spearheads this event. After many years of service, the 2026 Native Plant Sale will be Jan's last as lead volunteer. Are you potentially interested in taking on this important volunteer role? Let us know!
