In October 2022, the Friends of Riverview Park Green Spaces and a group of volunteers planted over 370 pollinator seedlings of 25+ species of sun-loving, mostly native, perennial flowers and grasses in a 6 by 12-m oval garden. The project was funded as part of a 2021 federal Healthy Communities grant. The garden is located on City of Ottawa land that our community association stewards near the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and the Ottawa Hospital – General campus. Seeds came from the Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library, the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, and some local volunteers and were mostly started under lights.
We were amazed at how well the plants came through their first winter and how full the garden was even in its first year. Lots of pollinators visited flowers from June through October, and birds visited seed heads in the fall. You can find the garden just off the Hospital Link Rd (follow the path from the crosswalk 300 m east of Alta Vista Drive) or park in Riverview Park and follow the path from the end of Knox Cr. near Cluny Street.
See blog post: Riverview Park Pollinator Garden