Clearview Wildflower Project creates community
A community is growing around a shared interest in seeing more native pollinator plants throughout Clearview Township.
In the fall, 1.5 million native wildflower seeds will be distributed to those who have signed up for the Clearview Wildflower Project,facilitated by Creemore resident Brenna Lattimore.
Sierra Club Canada is planting 10 million seeds across Canada in partnership with Dutchman’s Gold, an Ontario-based honey and beehive wellness company, and Lattimore is getting in on the action.
She signed up to be a community organizer, having launched a Facebook group and promoting the project at a farmers’ market booth. Outofthat–inoneday–75people had signed up. That number has now doubled.
Caylee Fehr has signed up for the Clearview Wildflower Project and has already created a plot in anticipation of the fall distribution of seeds.
Having an interest in nature, and a desire to make her large Stayner yard welcoming to critters, she sees her participation in the project as something she can do to help instil in her young daughter a knowledge and caring for the natural world.
“We take so much from the environment every day but often give very little back. By planting wildflowers, I hope to do my smallpart in supporting pollinators locally. In a place like Stayner that is growing so quickly, the natural environment is being lost and rarely replaced. Native wildflowers are one small way to help restore that balance,” said Fehr. “I’d love my daughter to grow up with an understanding of that connection, to see the magic of butterflies, bees, and birds in our own yard, and to recognize how small actions can make a difference. If that can also inspire other young people in the community, the way Brenna’s efforts have inspired me, then even better.”
She also sees it as an opportunity to learn and be part of a supportive community of like-minded people.
“There is a high level of awareness about the importance of putting native species in the landscape and a willingness to put in the time and effort,” said Lattimore.
“It’s a nice feeling,” she said, “it’s nice to feel like they are a part of something. I get my hope from this sort of thing – action and community engagement.”
The project supports people, not only with seeds, but with knowledge and enthusiasm.
The plants are low-maintenance but the seeds can be difficult to germinate, said Lattimore. Some species need to be subjected to low temperatures, a process called cold stratification, before they will germinate.
The environmental scientist in her is motivated to collect some data, with the goal to maximize the germination rate and loosely track the plants’ health.
The goal of the community is to share knowledge and encouragement toward the desired outcome of supporting the wide range of birds and insects that depend on the native plants, some of which are quite selective about their habitat. Those insects are called specialists, with the monarch butterfly being the most famous, but there are others. The American Lady has two primary larval host plants: Pearly Everlasting and Field Pussytoes.
The hope is that people who grow native plants will help provide much needed habitat and they will start to see more insects in their garden.
“We are doing what nature would have done had we not paved over everything and introduced invasive species,” said Lattimore. “These plants evolved with our insects, which they need to survive.”
Lattimore will be organizing the seed distribution at a fall workshop. She warns that 1.5 million wildflower seeds doesn’t look like a huge haul. For example, an eighth of a teaspoon of Mountain Mint could contain 1,600 seeds.
Anyone on the mailing list will be kept up to date. To join, email brennaL@sierraclub.ca and join the Facebook group.
Trina Berlo photo: Caylee Fehr, pictured with her daughter Delilah, has prepared a plot for the Clearview Wildflower Project
