ELORA – A gardening project that began during Culture Days last fall has grown and now organizers have put out the call for volunteers.
CW Native Plant Gardening is running its first planting bee at the Elora Centre for the Arts’ Native Plant Pollinator Garden on May 24, from 9am until all the plants are in the ground.
The pollinator garden was started last fall as a Culture Days project.
“I thought we should put the art centre on the garden map,” said Kari Olsen, one of the founders of the native plant organization, who noted the centre had just completed its outdoor walkway and was screaming for plants.
“I asked if I could do a pollinator garden and they said yes.”
The group spent time over Culture Days weekend prepping the soil and covering it with cardboard and mulch.
Over the winter volunteers attended a design workshop and did some winter sowing.
And thanks to a $1,000 grant from Pollination Guelph, they’ve been able to purchase native plants for the garden to go along with donations from local gardeners.
“So now we have hundreds of plants to put in,” Olsen said. “Now, after a winter of waiting, we are excited to be planting.”
On planting day, volunteers will be putting in over 50 different species of native pollinator plants that will flourish from spring through late fall and provide critical habitat for native pollinators.
Over 20% of North America’s native pollinator populations are at high risk of disappearing and they are said to be responsible for pollinating one out of every three bites of food we eat, Olsen said.
Many native pollinators have specialized relationships with their native plants for food and shelter and raising their offspring. So putting in habitat for them is important to sustaining their populations.
North American bird populations are also struggling due to habitat loss. Many birds rely on pollinators and native plants for food and shelter.
Adding native plants to any garden will go a long way to supporting pollinators like butterflies and bumble bees and to supporting local song birds.
The Native Plant Pollinator Garden is situated along the arts centre’s walking paths, which are open to the public.
This native plant garden will be a bit of a demonstration garden.
People can come to watch the garden develop over the next few years.
Native plants you’ll see include great blue lobelia, cardinal flower, many varieties of asters, Joe pyweed, corriopsis, milkweed, coneflower, black-eyed Susans, wild geranium and varieties of grasses.
Olsen said she replaced just about everything in her own backyard with native plants and years later is astounded to see birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects have returned.
“The bats are back,” she said. “To have this in my tiny yard, it’s very much alive.”
She’s excited to see the gardens at the arts centre grow and mature and reap the same benefits.
The planting bee is a family friendly, accessible event and happens rain or shine.
There will be several species of native plant seedlings to take home.
Bring tools and gloves if you have them.
And let organizers know your intention to attend by emailing cwnativeplantgardening@gmail.com.
