Newsletter #12 - Jan/Feb 2022 |
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Help us protect more pollinators in Mississauga - share this newsletter with your friends and family! |
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Above: Chickadee launching itself from a staghorn sumac after lunching on its berries! Rhus typhina is a valuable native tree with flowers and leaves that feed abundant pollinators in summer, and fruit that supports over 300 species of birds in winter Photo @2021 Peeter Poldre. |
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Message from the President Dear BB Members and Supporters, Hurrah, it's January and the new year is already presenting us not only with daunting challenges but also with exciting and wonderful possibilities. Working together as members supporting biodiversity, we are learning how to find solutions when things get tough, and how to make the most of opportunities when they present themselves. A confession: my favorite thing about late winter is the chance to plan and dream. I've been stratifying seeds and imagining these small miracles as mature plants blossoming all over the city. Gardeners get caught up in seed catalogues, garden books and blogs, courses and workshops. They all promise good things to come. This year BB is focusing on growth - more plants, more gardens, more workshops, more programs. There will also be interesting opportunities for volunteers of all ages and abilities to get involved hands-on. Tell all your friends and help us spread the word! Cheers, Jeanne |
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“Sustainability is no longer about doing less harm. It’s about doing more good.” - Jochen Zeitz Want to do more good? Here's how: Join our efforts to provide food and nesting sites for our threatened bees, butterflies and other pollinators. |
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PartnersA new pollinator garden at Victory Park! Believe it or not, on December 13th we were gardening again - this time as partners with Mississauga Parks and Forestry staff, who had built a beautiful raised bed complex at Victory Park in Malton, located in Mississauga's northeast. We had already collected most of the seeds locally from wild and restoration sources. All of the species are drought-tolerant and indigenous to Mississauga. A kiosk is planned for the centre area, with information about the plants and garden. It will be fun to stop by in the spring to watch the young native seedlings germinate, and by August some should be blooming! Stay tuned for updates! |
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Above: Mississauga's Victory Park Pollinator Garden in Malton - freshly sown raised beds. Photo ©2021 Felicia Radassao. |
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Our volunteer designer Mary Ellen Moore created the planting design, and volunteers from BB worked with Mississauga Parks and Forestry staff to sow our seeds on that bright, cold December morning. Thank you Murray Moore for your sowing expertise and Heather Doyle for your photography! |
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| | Parks & Forestry's team leader Felicia Radassao studying Mary Ellen's planting design sketch. |
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| | BB's Jeanne and Murray sowing seeds. |
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| | We had fun working together with Parks staff! Photos © 2021 Heather Raithby Doyle |
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Meet a Member Mohan Iyer, Inspired - and Taking It Slowly by Heather Raithby Doyle This is a story of a suburban garden transformed, and how native plants helped a life change course. |
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Above: Mohan collecting echinacea seeds in his native plant garden. Photo ©2022 Heather Raithby Doyle. In 2008, Mohan Iyer moved with his wife Aditi and daughter Aranya to a suburban house in Mississauga, Ontario. New to Canada from India, he watched and learned as his neighbours worked on their lawns: “It was all about fertilizing, mowing and trimming. I worked very hard to keep the grass green.” It didn’t take long before Mohan, who until recently worked in manufacturing but has a master’s degree in ecology, began to learn more about plants native to this area. He removed a strip of lawn along the fence and planted Joe-Pye weed. |
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“You could see the transformation: the moment you started growing native flowers there were more bees….It was beautiful. I kept adding more natives,” he says...Read more>> Left: Ruby throated hummingbird sipping nectar from a cardinal flower. Photo by Mohan Iyer |
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Why Native Plants? Radiating Beauty: the Staghorn Sumac by Mohan Iyer, Mississauga Master Gardener |
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Looking for an easy-care small native tree that is gorgeous in every season, beloved by pollinators and birds, and can replace invasives like burning bush, alpine current and Tatarian honeysuckle? Then look no farther - staghorn sumac fits the bill! Rhus typhina, the staghorn sumac, is a large deciduous shrub or a small tree with crooked trunks and branches and velvety twigs that resemble the antlers of a stag. It's native to the eastern United States, southern Ontario and east into Quebec. Smooth sumac, R. glabra, is very similar...Read more>> |
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Plant Propagation Winter Sowing Native PlantsText and photos by Diana Westland, Mississauga Master Gardener Winter sowing is a way of forcing the dry plant seed out of dormancy, by simulating the freeze / thaw conditions found in the wild. Many native plant seeds in Ontario require a period of what is called ‘cold stratification’ before germination can take place. Seeds are sown in artificial individual greenhouses. This protects them from foraging by birds and animals in fall...Read more |
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Pop bottle greenhouses for outdoor native plant propagation. Photo © 2021 Diana Westland. |
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Up close and personal: Insect and wildflower photography It’s winter…Let’s go outside and take some native plant photos!!?? Text and photos by Peeter Poldre |
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On a cold, cloudy winter’s day, I ventured out with my Nikon F2.8 105mm macro lens to see what might be interesting. The clouds provided a wonderful soft, even light. I came across wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) isolated against a background of freshly fallen snow...Read more |
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Planning a butterfly garden? Include both native nectar and host plants for the specialists! by Pamela Sleightholm and Jeanne McRight |
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Above: A monarch butterfly enjoys the nectar and pollinates this swamp milkweed's flowers. Photo ©2021 Peeter Poldre. Many Lepidoptera (the family of butterflies and moths) are specialists, dependent on specific plants for nutrition and habitat. The plants and insects evolved together for hundreds of thousands of years, developing symbiotic relationships where each offers essential benefits and services to the other. A familiar example is monarch/ milkweed symbiosis. Monarch adults are butterflies that enjoy nectar from many flowers but also deposit eggs on milkweeds and in the process, pollinate the plants. In return, milkweed is the sole host of the monarch caterpillars. There are many other native plant hosts suitable for butterfly gardens that feed specialist butterfly caterpillars. To learn more about specialist butterflies and the host and nectar plants they need...Read more>> |
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BB Garden BuzzNative garden to-do list: January/February - Do some garden planning. Where can you tuck in a few more native plants? What about making a woodland garden in a shady spot under trees? Is this the year you tackle your boulevard? What about helping a friend design a native plant garden? Find recommended native species here>>
- Order native plants and/or seeds! Looking for sources in Ontario? The Credit Valley Conservation Authority maintains a list of Native Plant Nurseries. Grow some native plants from seeds! See our list of recommended native seed sources and order them now.
- Take a course or attend a presentation! Register for a free BB webinar, or attend Jeanne's free presentations at the Riverwood Conservancy. Other great programs are offered by groups across the province and by organizations such as NANPS,
- Stratify your native plant seeds in the refrigerator. This will prepare seeds for sowing indoors in early March, so they will be ready for your garden in mid-May.
- Sow seeds outside directly on bare soil, in containers or trays, or in translucent jugs.
- Protect woody plants against hungry nibblers during the winter months. Wire cages around tasty favorites will discourage rabbits, and bark wraps discourage mice. Deer require more elaborate structures.
- Get the iNaturalist app for your smartphone to help identify plants and wildlife, and report sightings of wild fauna and flora.
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Year of the Garden Call for Spring Volunteers |
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- Help us plan Mississauga's first native plant garden tour! - Sign up your native plant garden to be part of the tour. - Pitch in and lend a hand. There are a variety of events and activities to choose from - it's fun! - Do you have experience with fund raising initiatives? Please get in touch - we need help as we develop and extend our programs this year. - We are looking for people with management skills to help with administrative and supervisory activities. It's an exciting time to get involved in our growing organization! Volunteer here>> |
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Above: One of BB's three fall seed collecting teams learning the how's and why's! Photo ©2021 Jeanne McRight. |
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Education & Outreach News * Covid-19 update: We will be conducting our workshops as FREE online presentations with a question period afterward. Helpful information sheets are available as handouts, and emailed to you on request. Upcoming topics this spring: Low Maintenance Native Boulevard Gardens Learn how to replace your high-maintenance turf with a drought-proof, salt resistant, no-mow boulevard garden! All you need to know about plant selection, design, installation and care in this comprehensive workshop. REGISTER HERE Design Your Own Native Pollinator Garden Learn all the best ways to provide food and shelter for natve pollinators, while delighting your family and neighbours with textures, shapes and colours. You will learn to assess site conditions and create a beautiful garden design that meets the needs of pollinators, plants and people. The challenges of tough sites such as boulevards and balconies will be addressed and design templates will be available for download. REGISTER HERE Birds and Blooms Learn how to be thoughtful in your backyard gardens about providing natural food, shelter, water and space to our native bird species. Birds provide humans with a tremendous amount of ecosystem services, but how can you repay the favour? Guest Presenter: Stephanie Keeler from The Riverwood Conservancy REGISTER HERE Wildflower All-Stars for Sun or Shade Beautiful native wildflowers will make your garden come alive! Go beyond black-eyed Susans - discover our local wildflowers and their amazing variety of shapes and colours. Indigenous to southwestern Ontario, these easy-to-grow beauties are beloved by pollinators. Learn which native plants will work best for you and your garden. REGISTER HERE Native Plants for Tough Sites Frustrated by dry shade, slopes, windy balconies, infertile soil or other garden challenges? Struggle no more - there are beautiful native plants adapted to thrive in tough conditions. Get inspired by all the solutions that native plants can offer, and learn how to choose the best species for those problem spots in your garden... REGISTER HERE |
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Attention BB garden stewardsYou're invited to join our garden steward Facebook group! This is a group just for you! Now all Blooming Boulevards' garden stewards can connect with each other. Your photos, observations, tips and questions are welcome and will be helpful to others. Join the Blooming Boulevards Garden Stewards Facebook Group here>> |
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| | Become a member Annual memberships cost just $15. Enjoy our many member benefits, which include our newsletter, access to activities and gardens, and voting at our AGM. Your membership fee helps provide the resources we need to continue supporting pollinators and biodiversity in Mississauga.
Join us/renew today! | | |
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| | Garden applications now OPEN!Are you a Mississauga resident and a BB member? If so, you may apply for a boulevard garden to be planted this spring! We will assess your site, and after your application is accepted, we will provide you with up to 50 FREE native plants so you can create a LOW MAINTENANCE boulevard pollinator garden. What’s not to love? | | |
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| | Your donations are needed As a not-for-profit organization run by volunteers, every dollar donated goes to our work of providing quality nesting habitat and food sources for native plants, insects and birds, and fostering our community's wellbeing. We rely on the generosity of donors who care about biodiversity and want to help. | | |
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Thank you! - Blooming Boulevards is thrilled to have the support of the City of Mississauga, the Riverwood Conservancy, the Mississauga Master Gardeners and the Cloverleaf Garden Club.
A huge thanks to all our members, volunteers, supporters and donors who continue to help us provide habitat to pollinators and protect the wild plants and animals that share our urban neighbourhoods. We can't do this without you!
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Our 2021 - 2022 Board of Directors Jeanne McRight, Founding President Sheila Cressman, Secretary Mary Jean Kucerak, Treasurer Wayne Cardinalli Angela Jordan Murray Moore Tim Oliwiak Peeter Poldre Pamela Sleightholm Communications Jeanne McRight Pamela Sleightholm Photography Peeter Poldre |
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Blooming Boulevards is an incorporated Ontario not-for-profit organization and a thankful recipient of funding from the City of Mississauga. |
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