To mark Pollinator Week from June 19 to 25, the City of Airdrie has planted a new pollinator-friendly garden in East Lake Regional Park.
The garden was conceived by local Grade 6 student Ashlyn W. as part of the Good Shepherd School student’s winning entry for the Mayor for the Day Challenge. Coun. Ron Chapman and Ashlyn planted the first ceremonial plants for the new garden on June 15.
“We felt (East Lake Regional Park) was a great location due to the water source nearby for the pollinators,” explained Kendall Bampton, a development technician with the City’s parks department. “Through a volunteer effort, we acquired some native plant perennials we are going to use in that garden.”
Although the new garden will be geared more toward bees than other pollinators, Bampton confirmed it will still provide a great place for all pollinators to gather and feed.
“(The perennials) have all different blooming times … and we are making sure we have purple, yellow, and blue flowers which kind of stick out to pollinators a little bit more,” she said.
The garden will eventually also feature Saskatoon berry bushes, gooseberry bushes, some deadfall and open sandy areas to create an ideal wild bee habitat they can nest in throughout the winter.
“We probably won’t cut anything down in the fall either,” Bampton explained. “We’ll leave it so they will have a place to overwinter.”
The pollinator garden is just one project the City is working on to live up to its “Bee City” designation, according to Bampton. The City has also been planting various orchards in different areas which residents can visit and harvest from as they like.
The municipality is also actively working on planting more trees such as willows, whose blossoms in the springtime make for an ideal bee feast after first coming out of their winter hives.
There is also a volunteer-maintained pollinator garden in Silver Creek that is geared more toward butterflies and humming birds, confirmed Bampton, and different “pollinator beds” of flowers and pollinator-friendly plants located all around the city.
Bampton credits the policies of City council for supporting more pollinator-friendly spaces and the passion of Airdrie residents who seem to be pushing for more of such policies as well.
“It is great to see the community really wants to be involved in this,” she said. “Hopefully, we see more of people’s yards going toward this, and getting native plant material, and not just going with all your annuals, and getting something more sustainable that doesn’t need as much water.”
To officially kick off Pollinator Week in Airdrie on June 19, the lights of City Hall will shine black, white, and yellow in honour of bees and other pollinators.
