Thank you for coming to the first Pollinator Appreciation Day (PAD) event hosted by Wild Pollinator Partners/Partenaires de pollinisateurs sauvages (WPP-PPS)! This page is intended to remind you what you learned, who you talked to. We can add to it, so please let us know if we missed something important to you. If you didn’t make it to the event, you can still share the resources.
Berit Erickson of the Corner Pollinator Garden staffed our Wild Pollinator Partners exhibit and information table. It included a free raffle to win a starter set of 27 plants for pollinators. Photo by Pam Gullen.
We hoped the event would
- Show you how to help pollinators
- Inspire you to plant at least one native wildflower or seed
These goals fit squarely within the mission of the Community Outreach Team at WPP-PPS:
- To increase the area, connectivity, and quality of biodiverse pollinator habitats and ecosystems in Ottawa and the Ottawa region by promoting and integrating native plants.
In other words, plant more native plants everywhere!
Help to get started
Two great local guides on how to start a native pollinator garden:
- The Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library’s Plan Your Garden page
- Just Do it! Beginner Native Plant Garden Design by Berit Erickson, owner of the Corner Pollinator Garden.
- A beginner’s guide to creating a pollinator garden using the 3 x 3 x 3 formula
Understanding why we need to help native pollinators and who they are:
- Pollinators: from flowers to food to our future from the Canadian Wildlife Federation
- Native Pollinator Introductory Sheet by Luca Fiorindi, WPP-PPS
Join the network
WPP-PPS is a network of people and organizations who are helping pollinators. You can become part of the network in a few ways.
- Add your garden to our map. Even a small garden or piece of land devoted to native plants makes a difference. Information on the existence of pollinator gardens helps us track progress toward achieving WPP-PPS’s mission: “Supporting wild pollinators, empowering people who care.” Send us (info@wildpollinators-pollinisateurssauvages.ca): your garden’s name, location, at least one photo, and a brief description.
- Sign up for blog posts. There’s a space in the right column of all blog pages where you can enter your email address; every time we publish a blog post, it gets sent to people registered there.
- Join our Facebook group: Wild Pollinator Partners – Partenaires des pollinisateurs sauvages. We publish links to the newsletter, blog posts, and events, as well as news, interesting info about pollinators, photos of pollinators in our gardens, and things we learn and want to share.
- Sign up for the newsletter (comes out about twice a year)
Tovah Kashetsky, a graduate student and bee researcher from the Forrest Lab at the University of Ottawa showed visitors the diversity of local native bees. Photo by Pam Gullen.
Groups that participated in Pollinator Appreciation Day
Wild Pollinator Partners
- Join us for one or more garden tours this summer – see full list and check our Upcoming activities for individual descriptions
- Resources (including sources of native plants, how-to information, and more about pollinators)
- Read about other pollinator projects in our area
- Learn about the pollinators in your garden
Master Gardeners of Ottawa Carleton
Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library
Canadian Wildlife Federation
- Pollinator garden planting tips
- Perfect plants for pollinators
- Paving new pathways for Canada’s pollinators
City of Ottawa
Ecology Ottawa
Pinhey Sand Dunes Restoration Project
OSEAN – Ottawa South Eco-Action Network
Monarch Teacher Network of Canada
Ontario Invasive Plant Council
Entomologists and bee researchers
People who have created and now manage pollinator gardens
Have questions? Please ask – info@wildpollinators-pollinisateurssauvages.ca
We want to help you help pollinators. Welcome to the WPP network!
Johanna Cutts and Joan Harvey, of the Monarch Teacher Network, gave away Butterfly Weed and lots of advice about helping Monarch butterflies. Photo by Pam Gullen.
Biodiversity Conservancy International exhibited their project to restore the Pinhey Sand Dunes, a unique ecosystem where they are creating a butterfly sanctuary. Photo by Pam Gullen.