Projects
Projects currently underway
Kanata North Pollinator Patch
demonstration garden
Soon after seedlings planted August 2023
24 Ontario native plant species to support diverse pollinators with variety of colorful blooms from April through October.
What appears to be tall grass is a cover/nurse crop of oats for native wildflower seeds to be sown after the first hard frost. The garden will look a little uneven for a year or so. 🌱Most native wildflower seeds tend to follow a progression of sleep, creep, leap, over a 3-year period.
Before it became a garden
KNPP full of non-native invasive plants before it became an Ontario native plant garden.
KNCG Friendship garden
Early September 2023 surrounded by non-native invasive plants before expansion
Smothering the weeds before it became a garden
June 2023
KNCG Friendship garden expansion in progress
Cover/nurse crop of oats planted for native wildflower seeds to be sown after first hard frost
Volunteers clear non-native invasive plants
Canadian Wildlife Federation Wild Outside Youth joined the KN RegenS in a collaborative effort
Talented young artists use non-toxic paint to decorate border rocks for the garden pathway.
At 1,131 sq. ft. the new Kanata North Pollinator Patch is hard to capture in a single image. The 5-September-23 adjacent infographic shows the seedlings heavily mulched due to a heat wave and stiff competition from long-standing perennial weeds.
A successful pollinator garden must provide: pollen-rich flowers and nectar for food, nesting sites, butterfly host plants to feed their caterpillars, and a variety of flowers of different shapes and sizes with continuous blooms from April to October.
This garden contains all of the above through 24 Ontario native plant species including:
Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum
Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta
Butterfly Milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa
Canada Anemone, Anemone canadensis
Canada Columbine, Aquilegia canadensis
Canada Milk Vetch, Astragalus canadensis
Common Blue Violet, Viola sororia
Hairy Beardtongue, Penstemon hirsutus
Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Coreopsis lanceolata
Little Bluestem grass, Schizachyrium scoparium
New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea
Philadelphia Fleabane, Erigeron philadelphicus
Prairie Smoke, Geum triflorum
Showy Tick-trefoil, Desmodium canadense
Shrubby St. John’s Wort, Hypericum prolificum
Smooth Blue Aster, Symphyotrichum laeve
Smooth Rose, Rosa blanda
Stiff Goldenrod, Solidago rigida
Sundial Lupine, Lupinus perennis
Upland White Goldenrod, Solidago ptarmicoides
Virginia Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum virginianum
Wild Bergamot, Monarda fistulosa
Yellow Coneflower, Ratibida pinnata
🌱 There’s a neat phrase to describe the progression of a native planting from seed:
Sleep, Creep, Leap.
SLEEP: The first year, perennial native seeds germinate, but primarily channel energy down into their root structures. Top growth is minimal; the planting seems to be “asleep.”
CREEP: Year two brings more foliage growth, but it may appear a bit juvenile or gangly; this is the slow, “creeping” development.
LEAP: The third year, native perennials “leap” into action and show their true potential, with sturdy foliage and eventual flowers.
credit: Prairie Moon Nursery (a great resource for detailed native plant information)
Volunteers in Action
Bee in the know fun facts:
*Female bees sting, but only in self-defence or in defence of their hives.
*Male bees have no stingers.
*Most species of bees are solitary and never aggressively defend a home space.
*Most bee stings come from honey bees.
*Foraging bees are passive and not aggressive. They’re focused on gathering as much nectar and pollen as they can.
