Garden

Joyful Gardener: Thoughts, Tips and Tales

Essential Workers of Another Sort

What power each gardener has, whether you till and toil in a large acreage or in a small back yard plot! By planting a diversity of flowering plants, you are helping to ensure the survival of a whole variety of pollinators, particularly butterflies and bees. They rely on nectar and pollen as a food source.

Speaking of pollinators, did you know that Southern Ontario is home to approximately half of the more than 855 known species in Canada? Did you know that wild bee species are essential for approximately one out of every three mouthfuls of food we eat?

That’s why we should be concerned about the serious decline of bees, who are considered to be the number one pollinator linked to our food sources. Not only are pesticides, even at very low levels, wreaking havoc on bees – so too is climate change.

Whereas butterflies seem more able to adapt by moving north of their usual thermal zones, bees at their southern ranges are not, and hence are declining in significant numbers. Gardeners can help these insects to thrive. Provide a water source like shallow birdbaths, changing the water frequently. Provide flat-faced flowers like daisies, where butterflies can land and rest.

Both bees and butterflies are attracted to asters, butterfly bush, bee balm, zinnias and coneflowers. Bees also favour hosta and sedum. Other flowers that attract butterflies include alyssum, salvia, daylily and many more. Not to be forgotten is the milkweed, favoured by both butterflies and bees. But most importantly, it is the only plant that can sustain the monarch butterfly.

More Fun Facts:
Canada has more than 800 native varieties of bees – none of which is the honey bee, a European import. Ontario has more than 400 different species of bees.
Ninety percent of earth’s flowering plants rely on pollinators.

Let’s all do our part by creating pollinator-friendly gardens to help keep our food chain viable, with the help of those other essential workers – bees and butterflies.

For More Reading:

It’s Almost Too Late: Canada Protects honey bees but native bee species are becoming endangered

Attracting Hummingbirds & Butterflies

Impact of Climate Change on Bees and Food Production

Information on bee pollination. Nigel Raine, Rebanks Family Chair, in pollinator conservancy at U. of Guelph. Windsor Star. Jan. 2019.

Gardening for Butterflies. Thelma Beaubien. 2017.

Photo by Swierina Stratford

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