Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Pollinator Gardens - getting started


Pollinator Gardens -
supporting native pollinators

Hi! You've come to the PG blog...we're a group of people who want to help native pollinators like birds, butterflies, and bees (BBB for short).

We're doing that by planting gardens of native plants. Our flowers will give nectar and pollen to BBB's. Leaves and stems of these plants will provide food and nesting sites.

Most of all, a Pollinator Garden helps make people aware - aware of the many kinds of native pollinators we have, of how we can help them (many are in trouble!), and of how they help us. Each PG is a small step towards rebuilding native ecosystems for some of our most colorful, most interesting, most essential, and most misunderstood wild creatures.

My name is Clement Kent. I'm a gardener, a biologist, and a big fan of birds, butterflies, and bees.

As a gardener, I know how much many of us enjoy helping others grow beautiful gardens and learning from each other how to be better gardeners. I've enlisted the help of a great group, the Horticultural Societies of Parkdale and Toronto (what a mouthful - the Hort from here on - check them out!). They are helping fund this project and many of them are some of the first to have Pollinator Gardens. But the PG project isn't limited to Hort members - anyone can join.

As a biologist, I work with specialists in birds, butterflies, and bees. I know from these good folk that many of our native species are having a hard time coping with all the changes we've thrown at them - loss of habitat, poisoning by pesticides - and some are endangered. A few have even gone extinct. Don't take my word for it - follow these links to find out more about risks to birds, butterflies, and bees.

As a big fan of these beautiful, interesting, and useful creatures I know that they will benefit immensely if more of us know about them and how they live. Each of us can make a difference! That's why we're planning and planting Pollinator Gardens. Plus, it's win-win. They benefit, but so do we. We benefit from the essential ecosystem services they provide (pollination, being part of many food chains) but we also benefit from just having more of them in our yards and public places. They're fun to watch, great for kids and teachers.

Next time I post I'll describe how to join our project and give some details on plants and pollinators. Meanwhile, looking forward to your comments!