Newsletter #9 - July/Aug 2021 |
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Help us protect more pollinators in Mississauga - share this newsletter with your friends and family! |
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Above: Celebrating all milkweed species, in their full glory during July and August. This image shows a butterfly weed inflorescence and a bumblebee sipping nectar with its long tongue. Photo @2021 Peeter Poldre. |
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Message from the President Dear BB Members and Supporters, Mid-July. It’s the thick of summer. After Blooming Boulevards’ very busy spring, I’m thinking hammock, lakeside breezes, a good book and tinkling ice in a tall glass. What I find myself actually doing, though, is reorganizing my garden. More wood chips added to the path, more nonnatives replaced with natives, more stones collected for the retaining wall… and at the end of the day, stepping back and feeling happy. How wonderful it is to reflect back on the many gardens we installed this season and especially, the many interesting people we’ve connected with in the process. From adventures with seed-gathering and propagation volunteers, learning together with webinar hosts and attendees, getting to know the hopes and dreams of prospective stewards during garden site visits and plant deliveries all the way to seeing so many of you at the plant sale - it’s been a deeply rewarding six months. We look forward to an active fall, with more webinars and lots of volunteer opportunities for those who want to help collect wildflower seeds and propagate plants for our 2022 gardens. Take care, be well, and stay cool, BB friends. Garden-on! 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. |
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Our Second Annual Native Plant Sale was held on June 19 & 20 -What a weekend!So great to see everyone. Thanks for making our plant sale a great success! Check out the video and share the fun! |
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More good newsWe still have several hundred lovely native plants left over from the plant sale. Can you find a spot in your garden to tuck them in? Plants are $3 each, but if you buy 2, you'll get 1 plant free. Deadline is July 18th! Call Murray & Mary Ellen, 1065 Henley Rd., Applewood Acres (905 281-8540) to arrange purchase and pickup. |
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Current plants still in hand - while quantities last: - Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata
- Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum
- Smooth Aster, Symphyotrichum laeve
- Indian Grass, Sorghastrum nutans
- New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
- Dotted Mint, Monarda punctata
- Stiff Goldenrod, Solidago rigida
- Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea
- Little Bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium
- Prairie Dropseed, Sporobolus heterolepis
- Heath Aster, Symphyotrichum ericoides
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80 new BB native pollinator gardens link Mississauga parks! |
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Above: Ward One Councillor Stephen Dasko stopped by to lend a hand during BB's big pollinator garden installation at Malicki-Sanchez in Port Credit. L to R: Councillor Dasko, Murray, Toya, Jeanne and Wayne. |
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This spring we donated plants and helped 76 Mississauga residents and their families create their eagerly-anticipated native boulevard gardens. Lucky neighbours can enjoy the gardens, which are thriving and already are starting to bloom. As well, we're proud of the FOUR big municipal/institutional/commercial establishment gardens we helped to create to benefit pollinators and humans alike. Be sure to stop by to admire these new residential street gardens in your neighbourhood and the big ones at the Applewood United Church, in front of the Bradley House at the Bradley Museum, in front of Malicki - Sanchez Law in Port Credit and in three Clarkson BIA-planted raised beds on the Lakeshore in downtown Clarkson Village. To our rapidly growing number of Blooming Boulevards Garden Stewards, huge thanks. You rock our world! |
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Our 80th garden: Volunteers organized by the Clarkson BIA were happy, despite the sweltering heat, to finally install their native pollinator plants in Clarkson's street side tree planter boxes. The project was delayed by the need to remove the existing lily of the valley. Great job by a great group! Photo ©2021 Jeanne McRight |
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Above: We welcomed Ron and Eileen Orenstein as new Blooming Boulevard members and were delighted to help them install a pollinator garden this spring. Photo: Adrienne Marcus Raja. Meet a Member How a boulevard garden took flight in a pandemicby Liz Primeau For a fascinating chat on the birds and the bees, as well as butterflies, dragonflies, plants and all manner of botanical beings, I recommend a visit to Ron Orenstein and his wife, Eileen Yen, two of the newest members of the growing Blooming Boulevards' community, who live on a pleasant suburban street in north Mississauga.
It's unusual to find them at home. They're usually traveling the world, often on cruise ships, where Ron gives talks...Read more >> |
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BB Garden BuzzNative garden to-do list for July/August - Monitor your garden for pests through the summer months. Severe problems are rare for native plants but in some years aphids, milkweed bugs and Japanese beetles are numerous. Please do not use pesticides. Removal by hand works well: brush these insects off plants into soapy water, squish aphids or blast with strong water spray. Milkweed bugs may be removed the same way. Your plants will likely bounce back the next season. It helps to remember that a native garden is an entire ecological community, and plant-animal interactions will need time to find a balance.
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Japanese beetle on common milkweed leaf. Photo©2021 Peeter Poldre. |
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Large milkweed bugs on a common milkweed seed pod. Photo©2021 Peeter Poldre. |
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- Continue weeding. Get weeds out before they go to seed or you'll have more work next spring. After your plants fill in, the weed seedlings will be shaded out.
- Deadhead (cut off seed heads) coreopsis and columbine to encourage reblooming. Leave last crop of seed heads on so plants can self-sow.
- Collect ripe seeds from early-blooming species. Place seeds in labeled paper envelopes. After air-drying for 2 weeks, store in ziplock bags in fridge. Sow in your garden in late fall, give to friends or donate to your local seed library.
- Take pictures of your garden as your garden grows and share them with us! So rewarding to look back on, and a great reference for next year.
- Top-dress around young plants with well-rotted leaves or compost. Keep this away from tender stems.
- Trim plants if they overhang sidewalks or street, and prune to control height if necessary.
- Water young plants during drought. Stick your forefinger into the soil. New plants need water if lower than top inch of soil feels dry.
- Protect plants against hungry nibblers - rabbits love tender young plants! Long-lasting, non-toxic spray repellents can be effective, as well as wire cages around tasty favorites.
- Observe and learn all about the pollinators in your garden: read Pollinators of Native Plants by Heather Holm.
- Watch for bumble bees and become a citizen scientist. Record sightings here >>
- Get the iNaturalist app for your smartphone to help identify and report sightings of wild fauna and flora.
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Why Native Plants? Part 5 Swamp milkweedAsclepias incarnata by Pamela Sleightholm Don’t be fooled by a swampy, weedy name. Swamp milkweed is a gorgeous, tall flowering native perennial that is currently buzzing with pollinators. As the name suggests... Read more >> Left: Swamp milkweed with eastern tiger swallowtail. Photo MonarchButterflyGarden.net |
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Second year boulevard garden challenges What happened to my Black eyed Susans? By Sheila Cressman You nurtured the little seedlings you received from Blooming Boulevards and watched them turn into strong plants by the end of the season. Now, you’re a boulevard veteran, and some issues have arisen. Here are some frequent questions from our second and third year garden stewards...Read more >> Below: left - Sheila's first year garden with black-eyed Susans; right - Sheila's second year garden, with fewer black-eyed Susans. Photos © 2019 & 2020 Jeanne McRight. |
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Too busy to pester - Bembix wasps by Pamela Sleightholm When we think about wasps, many of us will remember a run-in – an annoying buzz around a picnic or an inconveniently placed nest. These are the social wasps – living together with great interest in humans and our food. But there’s another kind of wasp whose lives and work generally go unnoticed by humans – Bembix americana, or sand wasps...Read more>> Left: Bembix wasp on black-eyed Susan. Photo ©2021 Peeter Poldre. |
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Announcing our new garden steward Facebook group!So many of our garden stewards asked for a forum where they could get together to share questions and info. What a good idea! We set up the group, and Jeanne and our BB expert advisors are there to monitor the group and answer questions when needed. |
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Attention BB garden stewards -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. It is our hope that neighbours will find each other and offer support, and maybe even organize a "Neighbourhood Pollinator Garden Hub". Join Garden Stewards Facebook Group >> |
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Education & Outreach News * Covid-19 update: We will be conducting our 2021 workshops as FREE online presentations with a question period afterward. Helpful information sheets are available as handouts, and emailed to you on request. |
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Mark your calendar Free Summer Zoom WebinarJuly 24, 10-11am - Design Your Own Pollinator Garden Learn how to provide food and shelter for native pollinators in your very own natural paradise. More free webinars coming up this fall: - Seed Saving 101
- It's Easy! Growing Plants From Seed
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Hate that weedy grass on your boulevard? Apply for a 2022 garden MEMBERS ONLY may apply early for a boulevard garden for spring 2022! If 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. It's a beautiful, easy-care landscaping upgrade and great for pollinators. What’s not to love? Left: Pat and Myrna Coleman, 2021 Garden Stewards, ready to plant their new pollinator garden with plants lovingly raised from seed by Blooming Boulevards' volunteers. Photo © 2021 Jeanne McRight | | |
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Membership Annual memberships cost just $10 (single) or $15 (family). These fees provide the resources we need to do our work helping pollinators in Mississauga.
Please renew your 2021 membership today, or apply for your first membership below. Left: Scott Neil, 2021 Garden Steward, ready to plant his new pollinator garden with 50 free plants lovingly raised from seed by Blooming Boulevards' volunteers. Photo © 2021 Jeanne McRight | | |
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Donate As a volunteer-run not-for-profit, every dollar donated goes to our work of providing habitat and food sources for native pollinators and animals. We rely on the generosity of donors who care about pollinators, native plants and the environment. | | |
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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 Murray Moore Tim Oliwiak Jim Judge, Advisor Communications Jeanne McRight Murray Moore
Liz Primeau
Pamela Sleightholm Photography Peeter Poldre |
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Blooming Boulevards is a proud recipient of a 2021 Community Grant from the City of Mississauga. Thank you for your support! |
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