Category: Rosewood Pollinator Garden Group

A couple of our gardeners attended a talk and workshop today where we learned a great deal about winter sowing of native plants. We also came away with some free seeds to try in our pollinator gardens!

photo credits to P.L.

There’s nothing so rewarding about a pollinator garden as when we get to catch a glimpse of local bees and butterflies actually feeding from the flowers we’ve planted, watered and nurtured for the entire season.

As the growing season ends, our volunteer gardeners have been doing some mulching and weeding, but also collecting seeds for next spring. Here we are collecting seeds from some Joe Pye Weed, Stiff and Zig Zag Goldenrod, and some Bottle Brush Grass.

The Black-Eyed Susans are still flowering, lending a little bright yellow glow to this late autumn, Hunter’s Moon season.

In recent weeks, students from Grades 1 and 2 at the local schools have been visiting the Rosewood Community Pollinator Gardens to explore tree life cycles, the significance of native plants in enhancing Toronto’s biodiversity, and the roles of pollination and environmental stewardship. These visits will continue throughout the year as part of their studies on plant life cycles.

The students have shown great enthusiasm and curiosity, eagerly observing various pollinators like butterflies, bees, and birds at work in the gardens. After the holidays, garden group members will engage the students in winter sowing, helping them grow native plants that will be planted in the gardens in 2025 and shared with students for their home gardens. Additionally, the students will create their own sunflower patch in the gardens using seeds harvested from this year’s sunflowers. The Rosewood Pollinator Garden Group is also assisting Alexmuir Junior Public School in establishing a pollinator garden as part of the school’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

This September we were able to partner with our local elementary schools and have some of their students visit our gardens. The students did some planting and winter sowing of native plants, in the process learning about native plants and their importance in saving our pollinator friends.

We also received a very generous donation of tree stumps and mulch from Birch Cliff Tree Care, providing some additional mulching, habitat and seating.

Who we are: The Rosewood Pollinator Garden Group was established in September 2023. Our group of 25 gardeners are from the Rosewood Community. They are of different ages, cultures and backgrounds. While our group has expert and novice gardeners, we all learn from each other. We also offer volunteer hours to high school students and will involve local elementary schools to engage students in creating pollinator friendly gardens. The Rosewood Pollinator Garden Group is a proud recipient of the Certificate of Recognition, presented by Councillor Jamaal Myers, for outstanding contributions to the community.

What we do: Our main goal is to rehabilitate the Rosewood Community Gardens. These are located on the Northeast and Northwest corners of the intersection at Alexmuir Boulevard and Finch Avenue East. We are creating pollinator-friendly gardens to help preserve and increase the population of pollinators in our city. Some of the pollinators that we are trying to help are butterflies, bees, moths and birds.

What we are growing in the community gardens: Most of the plants that we are growing are native to Canada. These include, Serviceberry trees, Black-eyed Susans, Echinacea, Golden Rod, Bee Balm, Sunflowers and Butterfly Milkweed. Native plants provide pollinators with food, nectar and nesting sites.

If you would like to join our group or need more information, please email us at: rosewoodpollinators@gmail.com

Our Proud Partners and Sponsors
We are grateful to the following partners and sponsors for helping us to create our beautiful community gardens:
– Scarborough Rosewood Community Association
– Canadian Tire, Agincourt
– Birchcliff Treecare: https://birchclifftreecare.com/
– Pollinate TO
– Cliffcrest Butterflyway, A David Suzuki Foundation Community Project: https://www.cliffcrestbutterflyway.com/