Newsletter #3 - Summer 2020 |
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Large Carpenter Bee foraging pollen from Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea |
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Message from the President Dear BB Members and Supporters, Summer is happy time for gardeners everywhere. Although living through COVID-19 has affected us deeply, solace can be found with the discovery of a first bud. Our yards have become more important than ever for stress-relief and well-being. Thankfully, our urban yards can be excellent places to support wildlife, while also providing recreation and food for ourselves and our families. Pollinators are one of the easiest groups of declining animals to support in a residential landscape, since even small spaces have the potential to meet the most basic needs of the entire insect life cycle—and even simple changes to our landscaping can make a huge difference to these animals. Despite COVID-19, pollinators still need our support, and we will continue our efforts to provide pollinator habitat networks throughout MIssissauga. Here’s how you can help:
Sign up/Renew your membership for the 2020-21 year.
Apply for a 2021 garden! Be an early bird and start planning your very own native wildflower pollinator garden. Volunteer to help us collect seeds and grow native plants! Register for a workshop and learn more about gardens and pollinators!
Donate! All amounts will be deeply appreciated and applied directly to keep our garden program going,
Your support means so much during this challenging time. Happy gardening!
Jeanne |
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Our 2020 - 2021 Board of Directors Jeanne McRight, Founding President Ramona da Cunha, Secretary Mary Jean Kucerak, Treasurer Wayne Cardinalli Angela Jordon Tim Oliwiak Jim Judge, Advisor Communications Murray Moore, Newsletter Martha Kantorczyk, Twitter Jeanne McRight, YouTube New Facebook page is coming soon. All photography © 2020 Jeanne McRight unless noted otherwise Thank you! Just a note... If you have a family member or friend who may benefit from the information in our e-newsletter, please share. Our newsletter is posted on our website, and your feedback is always welcome! |
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Announcement: Our 2020 AGM has been postponed to fall, with date TBA. Blooming Boulevards’ annual general meeting was to occur in August. The annual meeting will occur on a later date, to be announced. The meeting will be either online (Zoom) or a physical meeting. |
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Garden News Thirty-eight new gardens installed! |
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Gardens are so rewarding, especially when the world is going crazy all around us. Nurturing young plants and watching them grow, then reaping the rewards of blossoms and the wonderful pageant of pollinating insects that suddenly appear - what's not to love? In June we circulated a questionnaire among our gardens stewards, who returned them with many wonderful, positive comments and helpful suggestions. Thank you, folks - this feedback will be useful for our garden program next year. |
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Show off your beautiful gardens!Hey BB garden stewards - send us photos of your gardens as they grow. We'd love to see the pics, and we'll use them to make a slide show for our fall AGM. Here's a short little slide show for you to enjoy...:) |
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What a difference a year makes! First-season native prairie and meadow perennial plants typically spend their energies establishing deep root systems. To conserve energy, many species do not bloom the first year, and top growth appears slow. The second year is different - vigorous top growth and blooms. You will scarcely recognize your plants! The plants fill out and become taller, and most will be blooming. Be sure to water and weed your young garden while it is getting established. |
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Above left: Sheila's garden, first season, mid-August 2019 showing 8 weeks of growth. Lots of cheerful coreopsis and black-eyed Susan but not much else is blooming. Above right: Sheila's garden, second season, late July 2020. All plants have filled in. Purple coneflower, blazing star, mountain mint, and others are blooming now along with the black-eyed Susan. The asters and goldenrod have grown to their mature height - about a meter tall - and will bloom in fall. |
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Our first Annual Plant SaleThis year we decided to raise funds by offering members and the public our extra plants at a bargain rate of $2 each. The Plant Sale was held over 3 weekends in Jeanne's driveway, with COVID safety practices respected, and was a great success! Now we are planning to repeat this fun activity next year. Thanks to all members and friends who came and loaded up on these extra beauties for their gardens! |
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Two wonderful YouTube webinars, Episodes 6 & 7 of an excellent series called Garden for Wildlife from the World Wildlife Federation that we hope you will love - enjoy! |
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Extend your Coreopsis bloom Coreopsis will rebloom if you deadhead. Just give the entire plant a "haircut", removing the top third of growth including the spent flowers. New buds will form and you'll get a fresh display of colour! Then allow the second set of flowers to remain and make seeds. Seeds can be gathered when mature (seed heads will be dry and brown) and planted elsewhere from August til late fall, or allowed to fall naturally, increasing the number of plants in your garden. |
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Bumble bees. We like ‘em. If you have native plants, your native plants are feeding bumble bees. And the bees are pollinating your plants. Bumble bees are native bees. Check! They pollinate plants. Check! Compared to other bees bumble bees are slow in flight, so you can see them. You could be looking at an example of one of the 45 species listed by Bumble Bee Watch https://www.bumblebeewatch.org/ Just because bumble bees move faster than plants – slowly compared to not at all – does not mean that you can not photograph bumble bees! * Tips here: https://www.bumblebeewatch.org/photo-tips/ Do you want to encourage bumble bees to nest on your property? - Maintain a small pile of brush such as hedge clippings and woody plant material. This will provide cover for wildlife that will in turn create nesting habitat for bumble bees.
- Where possible, leave leaf litter in gardens and allow it to build over time. Doing so not only improves the soil, but provides cover for overwintering queens.
- Incorporate bunch-forming ornamental grasses where possible to provide additional cover.
- As with other ground nesting bees, altering tilling practices will limit the potential of harming bumble bees.
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What species is your bumble bee? Submit a photo to Bumble Bee Watch to learn the answer. "I might be stung!" Take this advice from Bumble Bee Watch: “Observing a bumble bee at a flower and taking pictures is generally a safe activity. Just be sure not to try to touch the bee or get too close. Be careful near nests and take photos from several feet (>1m) away if you come across one in your travels.” |
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Common garden pests: Japanese Beetles Japanese beetles are a destructive invasive insect herbivore. Its grubs eat turfgrass roots in spring, then emerge from the soil as adults in mid-summer to wreak havoc in our gardens. What you can do: - Remove the beetles by hand as soon as you notice thim.Tap the beetles off the plant and into a jar of soapy water. Some people use a hand vacuum for removal. Avoid crushing the beetles - that releases pheromones, a chemical that attracts other Japanese beetles.
- To discourage female Japanese beetles from laying eggs, STOP watering your lawn during July and August. Let it go dormant. *Start irrigating your lawn again in late summer and autumn to promote recovery.
- Reduce or eliminate your lawn. Roots of Perennial Rye Grass are some of the favourite food of Japanese beetle larvae.
- Another tip is increase your lawn height to 18 cm. Eighteen centimeters is seven inches, so... Maybe nine cm (3 1/2 inches).
More tips here: https://haltonmastergardeners.com/2019/05/31/what-can-i-do-about-japanese-beetles/ |
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Japanese beetles feast on a young Evening Primrose plant, a species that particularly attracts them. If Japanese beetles are a problem in your garden, it might be best to replace with repellant plants: aromatic mints such as Virginia Mountain Mint, Anise Hyssop, and Bee Balm. Alliums such as Nodding Onion are also good alternatives. |
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Education & Outreach News Mark your calendar |
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Sign up for a workshop!We share our passion for pollinators, plants and people by offering workshops and presentations by expert horticulturists. * Covid-19 update: We will be conducting our fall workshops as online demos (free) and/or in person as a hands-on experience ($!0 per person), depending on COVID safety guidelines at the time. Registrants will be notified before the workshop. |
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Fall workshop scheduleSept. 19 - Build a Bee-utiful Bee Hotel- Sept. 26 - Design Your Own Pollinator Garden
- Oct. 24- It’s Easy! Seed Saving 101
- Nov. 14 - Growing Native Plants From Seed
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Volunteers neededWant to lend a hand this fall? We could use a few people to help us gather and prepare wildflower seeds during October. No experience? No problem - we will train you! We'll use the seeds in spring to start our 2021 gardens! * All workers will be outdoors, masked and 2 meters apart. A skilled leader will help you identify plants and show you what to do. |
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What - We will visit permitted sites and collect ripe wildflower seeds from desired plant species. We will then clean the seeds and safely package them for overwinter storage. When - 4 seed-collecting sessions from early Oct.- mid Nov.@ 2 hours per session. Dates & times must be flexible, depends on weather. Interested? You can volunteer here: | | |
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Welcome New Members! We are proud to announce that we now have over 100 new members, doubling our membership from last year! Be part of our efforts to help Mississauga pollinators by becoming a new member, or if you've forgotten to renew, you can do so here. * Memberships are just $10 (single) or $15 (family) annually. |
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Want a garden? As a Blooming Boulevards member, you are eligible to apply for a boulevard pollinator garden! Garden applications are being accepted now. Deadline for 2021 garden applications is April 1, 2021. We have a 50-garden maximum and reservations fill up fast, so it's wise to get your application in early. |
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Together we can make a difference! We rely on the generosity of donors who care about pollinators, native plants and the environment. Your donations are important: they keep us growing and make our gardens happen. |
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