Winter Pollinator Resources
We have self-guided learning in the community garden with a video tour with Madame Beespeaker showing plants that support our pollinators; a series of BINGO Cards with descriptive narrative and will have a Winter Pollinator Map. A huge thank you to TD Parks People grant to support our Winter Pollinator project.
Winter Pollinator Map
Pollinator Plants In Our Garden
In this video, Madame Beespeaker discusses the plants we grow to support pollinators year-round. Filmed Jan. 2021 in the garden.
Winter Pollinator Bingo
See how many pollinators you can find in the garden or in your own garden. See if you can make a line. Read the descriptive narrative of the cards to learn more and help you on your self-guided pollinator walk. Pictures are taken by Lori Weidenhammer, in the garden.
Pollinator Winter 2021 BINGO Cards
Goldenrod is one of the best flowers for an autumn garden, attracting and feeding a wild variety of insects. In fall and winter the seeds feed hungry songbirds. How many other fluffy seeds can you find in the garden?
Maple Key: On windy days, the maple trees shed their seeds which flutter to the soil in a whirling dance. If you look very closely, you might see that they really do look like the wings of an insect! The tiny flowers of some maple trees are much loved by bees.
Blueberry: In winter, the blueberry bushes have shed their leaves to reveal their lovely red stems and leaf buds. Even the new leaves are red when they first appear. Can you find any? In the spring, the bumblebees with buzz inside the bell-shaped flowers and drink the sweet nectar.
Woolly Lamb’s Ear: When the wool carder bee emerges in the spring she will scrape the fur off the leaves and carry them away in the form of a tiny ball to line her nest.Males defend their favourite plant and attack other bees to protect the nectar and the nesting material.
Heather is one of the earliest bee plants to bloom in winter. On warm days you will see big bumble bee queens filling up with nectar to give them the energy they need to find a nice warm cavity in the ground to make their nest.
Magnolia buds have fuzzy coverings that function like mittens to keep the tenderbuds cozy while they develop in winter. The flowers are pollinated by beetles.
Lavender is a warm climate plant with small silvery leaves that help reflect the hot sun and conserve water. The scent of the flowers will bring hungry bees into the garden. Can you find other plants with silver leaves in the garden?
Evergreen Huckleberry: The leathery leaves of evergreen huckleberry appear in all sorts of colours from red and burgundy to rich shades of green. Bumblebees love the spring blossoms and birds, bears, and humans like to eat the delicious dark purple berries.
Winter Blooming Jasmine: If you look behind the field house (where the washrooms are located) you will find a vine with yellow flowers. Anna’s hummingbirds love to drink the nectar from these bright blossoms.
Garlic Chives have seed heads that look like undersides of umbrellas. Some of the little black seeds will fall to the ground and grow new plants. Others will feed hungry songbirds. It's important not to over-tidy the winter garden because seeds,decaying leaves and stems provide food an habitat for wildlife
Snowberry: Even if we don’t get snow, we will have some beautiful white berries in our garden for the birds. Bumble bees, honey bees, and small mining bees love the nectar in the little pink blossoms in spring and summer.
Turkey Tails: There are a lot of tree stumps in our neighbourhood and they grow a collection of interesting fungi called turkey tails. Tree stumps and snags can provide homes for beetles and cavity nesting bees and non-stinging wasps.
Leeks provide delicious winter food for humans and if a few are left to blossom will feed the bees on warm days.
Oregon Grape: The dark purple berries may have been harvested to make jelly, but the leaves are colorful all winter long. Blue orchard mason bees love the fragrant yellow blossoms in spring.
Broccoli is one of the plants that can overwinter and bloom early to provide nectar for the first bees to emerge in late winter and early spring. Brussel sprouts and kale have similar blossoms, each with four pretty yellow petals.
Fennel is an example of a plant that you will want to remove the seed heads because they can reseed themselves too readily and become a nuisance. But if you leave the hollow stems, bees can use them for nesting.
Witches Butter is a kind of jelly fungus that grows on tree branches. Sometimes you can even find small dabs of it on wooden fences. Although some fungi are edible,others are very toxic so it’s best to leave them alone.
Dinosaur Kale: Kale leaves can be green or purple or green and purple. They can be crinkly, wrinkly or smooth. How many kinds of kale can you find in the garden? Kaleis a delicious and nutritious food that is even better in the winter because frost makes it less bitter tasting. Did you know you can eat the blossoms too?
Kinnikinnik or “bear-berry” is a low-growing evergreen shrub that produces bright red berries. Bumble bees love the bell-shaped flowers.
Fern Spores: Turn over the leaves of ferns to find the tiny spores that they use instead of seeds to reproduce.
Pinecones contain seeds of evergreen trees. Sometime you find them tightly closed and other times they have opened up to reveal the thin seeds. Can you find an example of each kind? Try making a pattern on the ground with the cones, leaves and rocks you find on your winter walks.
Salal is an evergreen plant with tough, leathery leaves. The dark purple berries are a nutritious superfood. Bumble bees love the blossoms and often turn themselves upside down to drink the delicious nectar.
Shield Bug: On warm winter days you might find insects like this shield bug warming itself in the sun. Some shield bugs use odour as a defence so we call them stinkbugs.
Cherry bark is often grey or brown with short lines called horizontal lenticels. InJapan, cherry trees are known as sakura, and people write poems called haiku celebrating their beauty.
Sage is an herb with silvery hairs on the back of the leaves. It’s one of the “scratch and sniff plants”. Try rubbing your fingers on these leaves and smelling the beautiful aroma that might remind you of Christmas dinner.
Thyme: If you find the plant with the tiniest leaves in the garden, chances are it’s a very strong smelling plant called thyme, which rhymes with time. How many other words can you think of that rhyme with time?
Strawberry leaves are poking through the dried leaves that fell off the trees in the fall. Did you know you can make tea from strawberry leaves? In June the delicious berries will develop and ripen to a bright red colour. Small bees love the white flowers.
