Let's Take a Tour — Pollinator Garden Edition!
by Sarah MacGregor, Assistant Educator
It’s been four months since the opening of Wild Allies: Native Plants and Pollinators exhibit. Since then, staff have had fun connecting with visitors about the importance of pollination. Whether your time is spent learning a fun fact, admiring the incredible photos or dressing up as a butterfly, we hope that you check out this cool new space. Until then, let’s share a little about a special exhibit connection — our pollinator garden!
This new pollinator garden is filled with native flowers planted with help from our friends at Satinflower Nurseries. You’ll find the garden outside, at the back of the aquarium, facing Beacon Park. This space is our way of offering a helping hand to native pollinators.
If you have already seen the garden — check it out again! In the last few months we witnessed how the garden changes with the season, each species takes a turn showing off its colours. This rotating display of flowers means visiting pollinators have the food they need all spring and summer.
Images: Pollinator garden initial planting, April, May, and June.
For staff, these plants are a highlight of the new exhibit and an opportunity to learn (and teach) another aspect of the region’s biodiversity. The hidden world of plants and pollinators is fascinating. Using six examples of species from our garden, here are some cool things we think you should know. And why you might want them in your own garden!
Few-flowered Shooting Star (Primula pauciflora)
One unique native bloom that appears in the spring is the few-flowered shooting star. Reminiscent of a comet and its tail, the flower's fuchsia petals point up from its downturned yellow and black center. While the inverted flower does not produce nectar it is still sought after by pollinators for its protein rich pollen. This is particularly important for bumblebee queens feeding their new colonies in the early spring, the time of the shooting star’s brief flowering period. The plant’s dependence on bumblebees is furthered by the fact that the flowers require buzz pollination. A tactic unique to bumblebees and select native bees, buzz pollination uses body vibrations to release the pollen from the flower.
Broad-leaf Stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium)
Did you know Vancouver Island has native succulents? One of the most common is broad-leaved stonecrop which can be found growing along open rocky areas including cliffs or seaside bluffs. Their small waxy rounded leaves are blueish-green (some with red or purple) and grow clustered together, carpeting the ground. This colourful foliage is present throughout the winter and produces bunches of yellow flowers in the spring and summer. These star-shaped flowers attract pollinators including butterflies and beetles and are especially loved by native bees. Broad-leaved stonecrop can also be grown in pots, on rock walls or even on a green roof, thanks to its ability to resist drought and grow in nutrient poor soils.
Sea Blush (Plectritis congesta)
If plants can be considered cute, sea blush could certainly qualify. Its tufts of small, light pink flowers at the top of long stems give a certain charm to this pollinator favourite. This wildflower loves to grow in open meadow habitats, but its ability to grow in a variety of moisture and soil conditions means it can grow almost anywhere it can soak up the sun. It begins blooming in early April, making it a great food source for early pollinators like mason bees and bumblebee queens. Thick patches of sea blush can bloom until early summer helping many other pollinators through their life cycles. The Taylor’s checkerspot is one of several endangered butterflies that use sea blush as a host plant.
Great Camas (Camassia leichtlinii ssp. suksdorfii)
The most iconic wildflower of Southern Vancouver Island is likely camas. Its six petaled purple or indigo blooms cover Garry oak meadows in the spring. Natural camas habitat in British Columbia is declining, with Garry oak ecosystems covering less than 5% of their historical extent. This habitat loss is due to agricultural and urban development, invasive species, and separation of Indigenous peoples from their lands and culture. Camas has been described as a “pollinator magnet species.” A diversity of pollinators are attracted to their colour, sweet scent, and accessible pollen. The relationship between a native plant and its pollinators is co-dependent; protecting and restoring camas abundance and distribution helps pollinators, which then benefits future camas!
Woolly Sunflower (Eriophyllum lanatum)
This yellow native flower attracts a diversity of pollinators including bees, flies, moths, and butterflies. It is even a host plant for the painted lady butterfly! Its numerous bright flowers have a long season. Blooms can be present for many months during the spring and early summer. While not an actual sunflower, this plant does love sunny spaces and is drought-tolerant because of the fine hairs on its foliage that prevent water loss. Woolly sunflowers are left alone by grazing deer, and do well in rocky and sandy soil. Or even in a well drained pot. Talk about hardy!
Farewell-to-spring (Clarkia amoena)
After the early spring flowers have gone to seed, the farewell-to-spring brings a pop of colour to gardens in late spring and early summer. The cup shaped flowers with their four light pink to magenta petals are a sign summer is near. While this plant needs to regrow from seed each year, the farewell-to-spring is able to self seed, once planted it can regrow each year without assistance. Their abundant blooms are a source of nectar for bee and butterfly species. The petals are also used by some leafcutter bees to line the inside of their nests!
Native plants are well adapted to local conditions; they need very little maintenance once established. By creating spaces within our communities where native plants can grow, we help connect pollinators between the fragments of wild habitat where these plants still thrive. If you have a green space, large or small, consider becoming a pollinator protector by planting native species.
To access and learn more about sustainably sourced native plants on Vancouver Island, check out Satinflower Nurseries.
Visit Wild Allies: Native Plants and Pollinators daily 10:00am - 4:30pm during July and August. Fall hours: closed Wednesday.
