Tag: Bees

The Butterflyway Project

June 9, 2022 – Native plants in bloom on labyrinth:

Lupins are in full bloom and buzzing with bees. Blue camas is blooming. 3 tender dwarf native red columbines are near the Butterflyway sign in the labyrinth. Just planted two pearly everlasting plants (native plants).

Thank you, Patti, for weed-whacking and edging the labyrinth. Volunteers needed to pull up the grass that crept into the garden beds. Also, yes, there’s still buttercups.

I’d love to share with you what’s growing and have you help with taking out what’s not supposed to be growing!

We are starting on June 18, with taking out periwinkle. It’ll be a multi-year project. here’s information from the Invasive Species Council of BC. The good thing is that it’s all contained in areas that have borders, so we’re starting with the patch around the big arbutus tree.

Common periwinkle

May 25, 2022 – Shade Garden Native Plants

We have some shade garden native plants including bunchberry and kinnickanick needing a crew to help plant.

Bunchberry

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ARUV

If you can help, please contact Mary – we can meet up or I can show you the project and you can do at your own time!

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES

Wednesday June 1 – Pollinator Workshop plus optional potluck/foraging/socializing 5:30pm on

Pollinator Workshop

Saturday June 18 – 12 noon – Join youth from Invasive Species Council of BC to pull out periwinkle and plant native species

Pollinator Pathway and Workshop

Needed: If you have property with native plants that spread, we’d greatly appreciate donations of any of the following: kinnickanick, bleeding heart, heart-leaved arnica, salal, pearly everlasting, trillium. Contact UnitarianMary@gmail.com to arrange.

 

PREVIOUS UPDATES AND EVENTS

Saturday, May 21 – Bee Day at Maplewood Flats/Wild Bird Trust Email if you’d like to meet up. You need to book a ticket

https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/wild-bird-trust-of-british-columbia-15382019658

APRIL 22 – JUNE 6, 2022  Coast Salish Plant Exhibition: Celebrating Indigenous Ecosystems at Maplewood Flats

April 27, 2022 — Thank you to the Enviro team for allocating $100 for 20 native plants grown by Environmental Youth Alliance and to John Boyle and Ron Gibson for arranging reservation of the garden bundles.

May 7 from 10am-12noon, we hope to plant these native plants. All worker bees welcome. Karen Theroux will be coordinating use of tools etc. so just show up. If you like to wear gardening gloves, bring your own.

 

April 9, 2022 — Working with Patti of Buildings and Grounds, two areas (as well as the labyrinth) have been identified as #butterflyway pollinator pathways:

  1. Under the apple trees on northwest side of property. This is fairly sunny and has a watering system for summer. We plan to plant at least 50% native plants that need some sun, as well as some spring bulbs. Cathy will be at the 3rd Saturday grounds crew work party – Come along and lend a hand!
  2. The area between the parking lot and sanctuary where the daffodils are blooming right now has a lot of periwinkle (an invasive species). We’ll be removing the periwinkle and planting native plants that like a shaded or semi-shaded spot.
  3. Some plants will be added to the labyrinth – It’s already pollinator-friendly with lupin, yarrow and many other plants

Want to contribute to this project? Fill out this form, and we’ll contact you. https://forms.gle/EdDehWweb1AUKgNa7

If you’re on facebook, follow this page for news. We want to connect with our neighbours to encourage more butterfly pollinator gardens nearby.

Just search for Butterflyway – South Vancouver or click here: https://www.facebook.com/ButterflywaySouthVancouver

Save the dates

April 16, a couple of us are meeting up at Maplewood Flats/Wild Bird Trust Coast Salish plant nursery in North Vancouver at noon. Bring your bagged lunch.

On April 24 after the Earth Day worship service, there will be an information display about butterflies and native plants outdoors and then a workshop in Lindsey-Priestley. Native Plant workshop

February 23, 2022 by Cathy Sevcik

UCV has been officially accepted into the David Suzuki Foundation’s program – “The Butterfly Way Project”.  The goal of the program is to establish consistent habitat for our native bees and butterflies.  This program has been active since 2017 and is part of a larger movement of “Rewilding Communities”

Pollinators are essential for keeping our ecosystem healthy.  As part of this program, we are tasked with planting at least 12 pollinator patches.  Some of these will be on the UCV campus and our small group of volunteers will be looking for ways to spread these pollinator patches to neighbouring growing spaces.

Some of our group have already met with the organizer of the Balaclava Pollinator Pathway. We look forward to collaborating with this group in a variety of ways: such as sharing seeds, attending events and learning from each other.  This initiative has the potential to provide our members with means to making a difference in our ecosystem and making connections in our city.  We are aware that some UCV members are already butterfly rangers in different areas of the city and look forward to collaborating with them also.

In addition to sponsoring planting events, we hope to provide educational and social opportunities surrounding this initiative to the wider UCV community and our neighbourhood.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime, if you are interested in being involved in a hands-on manner, please complete a volunteer form on our website here: ucv.im/pollinatorpathway

from Cathy Sevcik and Mary Bennett, new Butterfly Rangers

 

UCV’s Enviro Team voted to support this project at the February 29, 2022, meeting.

Links:

Musqueam Artist Pollinator Plant Map

https://davidsuzuki.org/story/musqueam-artist-helped-create-the-first-indigenous-pollinator-plant-map/

Scroll down on that page to see posters of 8 native plants with the Musqueam names

Attract butterflies with native plants – Western Canada

https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/attract-butterflies-with-native-plants-western-canada/

8 popular butterfly species in Metro Vancouver (from David Suzuki Foundation 2019 Butterfly Ranger tool kit).

Click to access DSF-8-Butterfly-illustrations-Lower-Mainland.pdf

Dialogue in Bee Time — May 20th is World Bee Day

Photo: Bumble bee queen (Bombus sylvarum) on blueweed (Echium vulgare)
Photo Credit: Ivar Leidus CC by SA 4.0

Dialogue in Bee Time

We revisit a talk given by Dr. Mark Winston on his book tentatively titled, Dialogue in Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive


Dialogue in Bee Time, photo of Mark Winston

Earth Day
April 22, 2012

Dr. Mark Winston
Guest Speaker


Dr. Winston is recognized as the world’s leading expert on bees and pollination.


single quote

Bees are in trouble today. And bees have something to teach us. It’s about the resilience of nature, human hubris, and the limits to our human ability to manage climate change

According to Dr. Winston, there are over 20,000 species of wild bees, many hundred species of wild bees in Canada, and 57 species of wild bees in Vancouver. Wild bees nest in the ground, in twigs and in abandoned mouse dens. Honey bees (domesticated bees) were introduced to British Columbia in about 1857.

Dr. Winston says, honey bees are telling us we can only push things so far. Wild bees are telling us that diversity is good. Providing space for that diversity is to our human advantage. Bees are not the same as people. But like us bees are social and live in communities that interact with the nature around us. …