Gray’s green thumb puts him on the bestseller list

From Michael Bennett
Reporter of the Initiative for Local Journalism
The Ridgetown Independent

Rick Gray’s green thumb in the gardening will soon turn into some money in his wallet.

The Ridgetown resident’s book, “The Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants of the Southern Great Lakes,” reached No. 4 on the Globe & Mail’s bestseller list for Canadian nonfiction.

“I’m completely overwhelmed by it; I’m still pinching myself,” Gray said of the book’s instant success.

Gray, also known as the Native Plant Gardener, presented his Introduction to Writing at Turns & Tales Cafe in Chatham in March.

Just 45 minutes after the start of his two-hour performance, copies of the book were sold out.

“The response has been overwhelming,” Gray said, as his book received five-star reviews on both Amazon and Good Reads and landed on the Globe & Mail’s bestseller list.

The 352-page book presents 150 different native plants, each on a double page.

Gray provides a detailed description of each plant – its sunlight and moisture needs, a distribution map showing where it is native, how big it grows, whether it is an endangered species, and more.

Gray received assistance from Shaun Booth, a former owner of a natural nursery and landscaping business in Orangeville, who provided some of the descriptive information on the plants.

“On average, for each of the 150 plants, there are at least four photos with a description of what the plant looks like as a whole, what its flower looks like up close, the leaves and the seed head to help you identify the plant at first glance and get an idea of ​​what it will look like in your garden,” Gray said.

Gray said he shot about 95 percent of the images in his expansive natural garden at his Lisgar Street home.

Gray, a retired professor, bought his home in 2004 when he was hired as a GIS technology instructor for the Ridgetown campus’s new environmental program.

He rented the house for four years while holding faculty positions at colleges in Brandon, Manitoba and Peterborough before retiring in 2018 and returning to Ridgetown.

Gray transformed the backyard into several gardens with exclusively native and near-native plants that attracted attention not only locally but throughout Canada and North America.

“Native plant growing is the fastest growing sector in horticulture; it’s really booming right now,” Gray said. “People are looking for native plants to feed butterflies, bees and other pollinators.”

The book is available locally at Turns & Tales in the Scotiabank building on King St. W. in Chatham, as well as at Chapters and Indigo bookstores and online at Amazon.

Gray said he will perform an average of three times a week in Ontario and Michigan through mid-June.

He also accepts bookings for garden tours at his home in Lisgar Street by emailing [email protected].