PG at DG

That's Pollinator Gardens at Dufferin Grove to the uninitiated. We had a pleasant afternoon meeting people at the organic market at the park, thanks to help from Anne Freeman - thanks Anne! Ten people joined our mailing list - and it's especially nice to note that several of them are teachers, since we are looking forward to doing in-school pollinator gardens.

Since I last posted to the blog, about 60% of a large garden bed at High Park has been planted with pollinator-friendly plants. This was done with the assistance of several PG project members and a great squad of High Park staff - many thanks to Cheryl, Tanya, and several others whose names I forgot to write down! I'll be getting our final spring order of plants this weekend and finishing High Park planting soon. Meanwhile, here are shots of the beginning of the High Park PG:

 Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba (donated by Valerie Knapp - thanks!) waiting to go to the park...

Laying out the garden - note how long it is! It runs down from the redbud trees at the top towards Grenadier Pond at the bottom. The soil is sandy and light, so all the plants were chosen to survive dry conditions.

 Getting ready to dig the plants in...

A goatsbeard, Aruncus dioicus, under the redbuds. This shade tolerant native came from my garden, and will be the first of our plants to bloom with long white spires in June.

So, now that we've got our first PPG (Park Pollinator Garden) planted, we're delighted that this Sunday (May 30, 2010) we'll be helping staff at Dufferin Grove Park refresh a native planting at the southwest end of the park.

That's all for now - next post will have a native plant list.