Pollinator Garden and Meadow
Oshawa is home to five pollinator gardens on City-owned land. Our main pollinator garden and meadow located at Delpark Homes Centre features native plantings to attract pollinators such as birds, bees, and butterflies.
Why are pollinators important?
Garden plantings can attract more than 1000 species of pollinators who help flowering plants develop seeds or fruit. This process is vital to maintaining the earth's ecosystem and food supply. To help prevent the decline in pollinator populations, the City provides suitable habitats in our gardens.
Pollinator plants in city gardens
| Botanical name | Common name |
|---|---|
|
Asclepias tuberosa |
Butterfly Milkweed |
|
Achillea millefolium |
'Saucy Seduction' Yarrow |
|
Aster novae-angliae |
'Vibrant Done' New England Aster |
|
Bouteloua curtipendula |
Side Oats Grama |
|
Echinacea x |
'Hot Coral' Hot Coral Echinacea |
|
Echinacea x |
'Flamenco Orange' Flamenco Orange Echinacea |
|
Echinops ritro |
'Veitch's Blue' Globe Thistle |
|
Elymus canadensis |
Canada Wild Rye |
|
Hemerocallis |
'Happy Returns' Daylily |
|
Hemerocallis |
'Tigger' Daylily |
|
Kniphofia |
'First Surise' Red Hot Poker |
|
Lavandula angustifolium |
'Munstead' Lavander |
|
Leucanthemum superbum |
'Becky' Shasta Daisy |
|
Liatris spicata |
Blazing Star |
|
Lobelia siphilitica |
Great Blue Lobelia |
|
Monarda didyma |
'Purple Rooster' Bee Balm |
|
Nepeta faassenii |
'Walkers Low' Catmint |
|
Oenothera fruiticosa |
'Glauca' Sundrops |
|
Pachysandra terminalis |
Japanese Spurge |
|
Rudbeckia fulgida |
'Goldstrum' Black-eyed Susan |
|
Salvia verticillata |
'Purple Rain' Whorled Sage |
|
Solidago sphacelata |
'Golden Baby' Goldenrod |
|
Sorghastrum nutans |
Indian Grass |
|
Tiarella cordifolia |
Foamflower |
What you can do for pollinators
Rethink your lawn and garden routine by not mulching and tidying your yard in the fall. Instead, leave bare ground, berries, seed heads, leaves, twigs, dry stems and dead branches to provide habitat and shelter during the winter months.
In the spring, hold off on your garden clean up until late spring early or early summer to give pollinators a chance to emerge before disturbing their habitat.
Create a pollinator garden by:
- Ensuring a continuous succession of flowering plants from spring to fall;
- Planting a variety of native plants that are rich in nectar and pollen; and
- By offering shelter and nesting opportunities. These may include woody stems, bare ground, or bee-nesting houses or blocks.
Resources
- Create a pollinator-friendly garden for the birds, bees and butterflies - David Suzuki Foundation
- Pollinator Health - Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
- Pollinator Plants Great Lakes Region - The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
- Pollination Guelph - Resources
- Durham Field Naturalists Butterfly Garden