Garden Wisdom Blog — pollinators

This blend of North American native wildflower species was selected for areas with cold winters and hot summers. The ideal region straddles the Rocky Mountains and foothills, from BC’s central interior to Calgary, and from Jasper National Park down to central Oregon and western Idaho. This cold hardy blend can take a fairly harsh winter, and return each spring to feed wild pollinators and increase biodiversity. It’s composed of 100% native wildflower species. Check out the list of Upland Blend Wildflowers Ingredients: Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) Deerhorn Clarkia (Clarkia pulchella) Globe Gilia (Gilia capitata)Lewis Flax (Linum lewisii)Munro's Globemallow (Sphaeralcea munroana)...

This is a list of the twenty-one component species of our Great Lakes Wildflower Blend, and it includes annuals, biennials, and perennials. While this blend will grow in nearly any garden, its components are all selected natives to the Great Lakes region. By that we mean from the Canadian Shield in southeast Manitoba to New York State, and from Illinois and Indiana to southern Quebec. This blend contains no invasive species. Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) Clasping Coneflower (Dracopis amplexicaulis) Dwarf Evening Primrose (Oenothera macrocarpa) Grey-Headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella) Lance-Leaved Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata)...

Our Butterfly Blend wildflower ingredients include the following species. These were chosen specifically for their nectar rich flowers to which butterflies are drawn. The type of butterfly attracted to your flower patch will depend on where you live, but this mix includes flowers that are attractive to Monarch butterflies, swallow-tails, skippers, admirals, and many more. This blend is also attractive to hummingbirds and wild pollinators like bumblebees, hoverflies, and other beneficial insects. Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta),  Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata),  Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa),  California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica),  Candytuft (Iberis umbellata),  China Aster (Callistephus chinensis),  Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus),  Dwarf Godetia...

It’s early July, and squash plants of all types are beginning to bloom on farms, in gardens, and even in balcony containers. Every year at this time we start hearing from would-be squash growers with a mysterious complaint: The plants appear healthy, the leaves are bright green, plenty of flowers are opening, but the fruits seem to wither from the blossom end. Instead of producing nice, plump fruits, they turn from green to pale yellow. Some just fall off the plants. This is the result of incomplete squash pollination. Let’s look at how squash pollination works. Male squash blossoms, borne...

Purple Tansy is the common name for one of the garden’s supreme workhorses, Phacelia tanacetifolia. Gardeners who have had trouble with fruit setting on squash, melons, or cucumbers need to learn how to improve pollination with Phacelia. Phacelia is a fast-growing annual that is very easy to manage, and it never gets weedy. Because it matures so quickly, it can be planted until the end of June. Its lacy foliage forms a rosette of leaves that produces from its centre a 100cm (36″) tall flower spike. Each of several inflorescences opens gradually over several days, revealing a series of nectar-rich,...