At the south end of one runway at the Winnipeg International Airport, on Silver Avenue and the Yellow Ribbon Greenway Trail, members of the St. James Horticultural Society (SJHS) have been cultivating garden plots since 1938. The Society itself is the second oldest horticultural society in Manitoba, organized by thirteen neighbourhood gardeners in 1914.
Looking beyond their individual gardens, Society members are also interested in supporting the natural environment and especially the pollinating species so critical to gardens and habitat everywhere.
As many Nature Manitoba members are aware, the numbers of important pollinators (such as bees) have been decreasing over the last few years, with habitat loss and the use of certain insecticides contributing to this decline.
The SJHS decided to transform an area of fill on the grounds of their garden plots by planting 30 species of native prairie wildflowers, grasses and shrubs, creating an abundant and colourful prairie garden. Designed as a “one-stop-shop”, plants were selected to provide host, pollen and nectar sources, as well as a diverse morphology, to attract a wide variety of pollinators over three seasons.
SJHS gardeners during the early stages of planting the berm in 2023, photo by Lois Grieger
The garden will serve pollinating species including native Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies), Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, ants, some flies), Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), and Trochilidae (hummingbirds). Some will forage and nest over the spring and summer, while others may also find it a good spot to overwinter. The berm was deliberately located near Truro Creek, in hopes of increasing its ecological impact by being near a riparian corridor.
Plants such as bog violet and pearly everlasting were well-established by the fall of 2023, photo by Lois Grieger
As the SJHS’s grant application explained, “the site will serve as a nursery for plant materials, ideas, expertise and skilled workers - a way to serve our own education and ecology mandate into the future.” By establishing a patch of native prairie plants to support our native pollinators, SJHS members hope “this will be the first of many pocket prairie restorations in the neighbourhood”.
By summer 2024, the plants had grown in and were flowering, including three-flowered avens and golden alexanders, photo by Lois Grieger
Written by Diane Kunec. This is the first in a series of articles highlighting the projects undertaken by the recipients of the first Nature Manitoba Native Habitat Grants, awarded in spring 2023.