Our pollinators are in trouble.
The decline in bee populations and overall pollinator health is due to a number of factors, such as threats to habitat, pesticide exposure, disease, and climate change, according to the Ontario government.
Now Bradford West Gwillimbury residents can do something to help.
The Bond Head/Bradford Garden Club is establishing a Pollinator Patch at the Danube Seniors Leisure Centre.
The six-by-six-metre patch of land will be planted with pollinator-friendly flowering plants this week as part of Ontario Garden Week, and the public is invited to donate non-invasive plants and help with the planting.
The event will take place June 9-11, June 13, and June 15-17 from 9 a.m. to noon each day.
Club members will be planting species that provide continuous bloom throughout the growing season.
The club is looking for non-invasive plants that provide food and shelter for pollinators. Some of these include coneflowers (echinacea), Joe Pye weed, hollyhocks, daisies, black-eyed Susans, lavender, and herbs.
Coming out to help? Bring a steel rake, hoe or spade, sunscreen and a hat, and a garden chair, and join members of the Bond Head/Bradford Garden Club at the Pollinator Patch.
