Native Species Garden Planning
- Butterflyway Rangers
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Springtime (and butterflies!) just around the corner
Story by Val Morton and Hana Boye
News about declining biodiversity can feel overwhelming; the problems and challenges too big for any one person to tackle.
To change that perspective, Douglas Tallamy, a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, promotes the idea of creating "Homegrown National Parks" by "renaturing" the backyard of your home with native plants to create critical wildlife corridors.
Every garden, no matter how small, has the potential to become a thriving habitat for wildlife simply by replacing non-native plants with native ones.
The David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) Butterflyway Project is important because it is a similar initiative; one that recognizes everyone can make a difference. The spaces that we have in our backyards give us enormous potential to nurture biodiversity. Nurturing biodiversity in Lions Bay has special significance because, as part of the Átl’ḵa7tsem/Howe Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region, we are part of an ongoing commitment to the United Nations to strive for sustainability.
Currently there are 20 different pollinator gardens in Lions Bay. This includes some village gardens such as the Mary Comber Miles Indigenous Plant Garden (aka ‘Mary’s Garden’) and the Sunset Drive Trailhead Garden.
In order to qualify as an official Butterflyway on the DSF map, a minimum of 12 gardens are required.
We would love to have more participants! If you would like to join, please contact Val Morton and Hana Boye through the Lions Bay Butterflyway Facebook Page. Even a small patch of appropriate native plants that attract pollinators can be part of this project.
Nationally, the David Suzuki Foundation also has a call out for applications for new Butterflyway Rangers. You can receive free online training, expert support in native plants and pollinators, and can become part of a country-wide community of people creating habitat where they live. But you'll need to act fast. Applications are open until February 25, 2026. Click HERE for more information.
Here in the Village, our twin objectives are to continue promoting the growth of native plants while reducing invasive plants in Lions Bay.
We do this by cultivating and giving away native plants, nurturing the growing number of native plant gardens in Lions Bay, collecting and saving seeds, and sharing these seeds and ideas with people who are interested. We’ll continue our work of removing invasive species from targeted areas, and we’re planning a village-wide ivy pull in early September. In September, we want to encourage everyone in the village to pull and fill a bag of invasive plants.
To help with this work, we invite anyone who is interested to come out to some or all of our monthly hour-long gardening sessions. Our hope is to connect people and to have fun while promoting biodiversity. Our tentative schedule includes:
March: Ivy Pull beside the Lions Bay Fire Station
April: Plant Identification and spring cleaning/pruning/dividing at Mary’s Garden
May: Plant Identification and planting at the Lions Bay Municipal Garden
June: Plant Identification and weeding at the Sunset Trailhead Garden
August: Seed savings and plant division at the Sunset Trailhead Garden
September: Ivy Pull at a chosen location
October: Seed savings and plant division at Mary’s Garden
If you’re interested in more information and details about the gardening sessions, please check the Lions Bay Butterflyway Facebook Page.
For further information about native plants, butterflies, bees and more, check out the following resources:
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