Newsletter #23 - Nov/Dec 2023 |
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Help protect pollinators in Mississauga - share this newsletter with friends and family! |
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Above: Seed time! Meet one of our 3 volunteer native seed collecting teams, cheerfully gathering local seeds for our 2024 gardens. This fun and interesting hands-on training program is in full swing during October and November. Photo: Jeanne McRight Message from the President Dear BB Members and Supporters, Outside my window the brilliant autumn mosaic turns brown and flutters to the ground, while backyard wildlife provisions for winter. It's similar what BB is doing: actively gathering resources and looking forward to a quiet month or so to rest and recoup. |
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You need to know that our members, supporters, and especially our volunteers are our most valuable assets. In four years, despite two years of Covid, your contributions of time, effort, expertise, suggestions, ideas, materials and funds have resulted in 300-some habitat gardens citywide, an influential education program, and a website with over 15,000 visits from all over the world. Over 12,000 volunteer hours were invested this year alone in our varied programs that included people of all ages and abilities. Still, we need to do more to make a significant impact on environmental wellbeing in this city. That means more plants and larger projects, so we will implement organizational structural changes that will enable our growth. If you are a current member, find out more about our year and plans for 2024 by attending our AGM on November 16. If not yet a member or need to renew, consider that if you sign up now, you’ll receive an AGM invitation and your membership will be good for all of 2024. Note that we are ALWAYS looking for volunteers. Check out the current volunteer opportunities in this newsletter, and be part of the BB hands-on experience! Last but not least: boulevard garden applications are open for 2024 gardens! Many of our garden stewards will tell you that the experience of boulevard gardening with native plants is a joy and a revelation. Why not find out for yourself? Warmest best wishes, Jeanne |
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Sustainability is no longer about doing less harm. It’s about doing more good. - Jochen Zeitz Do more good — join our efforts to provide food and nesting sites for our threatened bees, butterflies and other pollinators: - Become a member - Apply for a native plant garden |
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We've been busyIt's a wrap... our newly expanded Spruce Park habitat garden is complete! |
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Stop by to see it! Spruce Park is located at 280 Angeline Street in south Mississauga's east Mineola area. |
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We doubled the size of the Spruce Park habitat garden we created in 2019, thanks to a group of over 100 BB and community volunteers working over 3 September weekends, funding from TD ParksPeople, support from Mississauga's Parks, Forestry and Environment Division, as well as student volunteers from two local secondary schools. We also had a very active outreach booth there, and offered interesting activities for volunteers and passersby to engage. What a rewarding project! Here's how we did it... |
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The Spruce Park Habitat Garden has been planted with native perennials species BB volunteers grew from seed. It will sleep over the winter. Looking forward to spring and summer 2024, when the new beds will be growing and flowering! |
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Kudos! Ward One's Environmental Stewardship of the Year Award was given to BB President Jeanne McRight, who was honoured to receive this recognition at the annual awards event on Oct. 26, hosted by Councillor Stephen Dasko. She had the opportunity to speak of BB's mission to the warmly receptive audience. Jeanne feels lucky to have this support from our city and its residents, and will continue to do her best to foster the wellbeing of all. Photo©2023_Heather Raithby Doyle. |
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We were Mississauga's PawPaw Parade hosts for Carolinian Canada's free giveaway. Murray and Mary Ellen Moore were among the six lucky local applicants who were given a total of 16 young native pawpaw saplings, thanks to Carolinian Canada. BB volunteer Nancy Chmelik made it possible by driving to London to pick up the trees. The fruit tastes custardy and banana-like. |
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Coming soon - our 5th Annual General Meeting |
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Discover what we've accomplished this year and hear about our exciting plans for 2024 Date: November 16 Location: Zoom This is a members-only event. All current Blooming Boulevards Members should have received an emailed invitation with the agenda and documents for review - look for it in your inbox (or your junk folder). |
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Meeting highlights: BB Members, look for your emailed invitation - it contains your registration info. *No invitation? Check with us - maybe you need to renew. We'll see you there! Questions? Contact us. |
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BB Garden BuzzNative garden to-do list: Nov/DecTo-do or not to-do, that is the question... Please use this information to make decisions that work best for you, your garden, and wildlife! Leave the leaves and save the stems to protect overwintering insects and nourish the soil. Most pollinators and other invertebrates spend the winter in or very near their spring and summer foraging sites - your garden. More info here>> Collect seeds as they ripen, clean and store them – or sow where you want more plants. Leave seedheads to self-sow, and to provide food for birds this winter. Remove invasive species on your property and in nearby areas. Water evergreens before the ground freezes. Protect plants against hungry nibblers. Wire cages around woody plants are needed to protect tender bark from winter foraging by rabbits and mice.. Read about native plant gardens and the wildlife they support. Consider expanding your garden in 2024 and think about its design.
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Meet a member New board member Aranya Iyer is for the birds in the best possible way by Heather Raithby Doyle |
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Blooming Boulevards members and supporters, meet Aranya Iyer. This 26-year-old dynamo is not only our Meet a Member for this month, she is also Blooming Boulevard’s newest, and youngest, board member. Below: Aranya is holding a white-throated sparrow safely in a bander's grip during an early morning bird banding session at Haldimand Bird observatory in fall 2023. Photo ©2023_ Rick Ludkin |
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If the last name sounds familiar, it may be because we featured her father Mohan Iyer in this space in January 2021. His love of birds and ecology has had a big impact on Aranya’s life. Aranya founded Field Research in Ecology and Evolution Diversified (FREED). The award winning company organizes weeklong and weekend workshops for students who are Indigenous, Black or racialized. She also hosts the series World of Birds where many of her videos get 300,000 plus views. Read Aranya's amazing story, including how she will contribute as a Blooming Boulevards Director, here>> |
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Below: Aranya leads a birding workshop at FREED 2022 with 2 students as they spot a small migratory bird in the canopy at Algonquin Wildlife Research Station. Photo ©2022_ Samantha Stephens |
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Garden Watch Why we need to remove invasive plants from our gardens by Heather Raithby Doyle |
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As a member of Blooming Boulevards, I learn about native plants and how they support the ecosystem. Invasive plants destroy that balance. As someone who has spent many hours removing invasive plants from the forest around Mississauga’s Adamson Estate, I would like to emphasize invasive plants are a huge problem, and they are very difficult to remove from natural areas once they get established. As gardeners, especially those that advocate for native plants, we should remove invasive plants from our gardens. These include English ivy, periwinkle, lily of the valley, goutweed, garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed and many more. To those who protest that these plants are contained in their garden, please understand seeds can unknowingly be dispersed through wind, birds, and foot traffic. |
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Uh-oh... Look what happened. Here's a heads up: this image shows how Vinca minor has escaped a nearby garden and overrun the woodland areas of the Adamson Estate in Mississauga. |
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Periwinkle is used by gardeners in landscapes where a shade ground cover is desired. It rapidly spreads mainly by stem runners and will overrun nearby woodlands, but can also spread by seed. Do you grow periwinkle in your garden? Highly invasive periwinkle is listed by the Credit Valley Conservation Authority as a CATEGORY 1 - Transformers species that excludes all other species and dominates sites indefinitely. Photo ©2023_Heather Raithby Doyle. |
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Upcoming volunteer opportunities |
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Exciting times! Many opportunities are opening up, interest is high, and we want to do more. We need people to help with administration, communications, and program activities – there's something for everyone. Interested? Let us know! It's an exciting time to get involved in our growing organization! |
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We welcome new board director candidatesIf you are able to contribute your experience, knowledge and skills to Blooming Boulevards by serving as a member of our board of directors, please let us know. |
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Plant propagation volunteers neededLearn how to grow native plants from seed! This is a fun learning activity open to all BB members and their families. Great for those experienced and also newbies! Activity duration March 1 - June 1. All materials, seeds, and indoor growing equipment supplied. Full ongoing instruction and support provided. Interested? Find out more & apply here>>
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Join us - become a member! Looking for a way to get involved in your community and help improve the environment? Look no further than Blooming Boulevards, a not-for-profit organization that engages volunteers in planting and maintaining native plants to create habitat for pollinators and other local wildlife. Join us in making a positive impact on the planet while beautifying our city! | | |
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Member gardeners and volunteers can join our private Facebook group This is a group just for you! Now all Blooming Boulevards' garden stewards, BB volunteers and member native plant growers can connect with each other. Share photos, observations, tips and questions and learn together in this lively private members-only group! Join the Blooming Boulevards Garden Stewards Facebook Group here>> |
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Members may apply now for a 2024 garden! Preliminary site visit assessment Assistance with city permit process Advice on how to get your new garden site ready for planting Up to 50 free native plants matched to your garden site Plant info, online garden workshops and presentations Aftercare advice
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Support our projects Your donations enable BB's creation of a pollinator habitat network across Mississauga. Can you help? | | |
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Thank you! Blooming Boulevards is grateful for the support it receives from 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 2022 - 2023 Board of Directors Jeanne McRight, President & Chair Jacqueline McKernan, Secretary MJ Kucerak, Treasurer Wayne Cardinalli Sheila Cressman Aranya Iyer Murray Moore Pamela Sleightholm Strategic Advisor Douglas Markoff Communications Jeanne McRight, newsletter Pamela Sleightholm, social media Heather Raithby Doyle, feature writer Photography Jeanne McRight (unless otherwise noted) |
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Blooming Boulevards is a registered Mississauga community organization and an Ontario not-for-profit corporation. We are a thankful recipient of funding from the City of Mississauga and TD Parks People, as well as our deeply appreciated private donors. |
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