Prologue

In spring of 2024 we purchased our first home. After years of renting in various cities across Canada, we finally had a place to call our own, and free reign to realize our dreams.

As neither of us are very fond of mowing lawns, we had always planned to turn whatever yard space we ended up with into a diverse, colourful, and pollinator friendly garden.

These things take time. The summer of 2024 was spent on the basics - fixing up the house, building & planting our raised vegetable garden beds, and otherwise settling in.

We left a good portion of the front yard to ‘grow wild’ in an effort to see what might come up naturally. With spring came dandelions, buttercups, and fleabanes. These were closely followed by bush vetch, St. John’s wort, and daisies. Later on, goldrenrod, and asters made their appearance. A surprising amount of colour, and life was unlocked just by 'letting it go’.

Come fall, we were ready to start working towards a full-fledged pollinator garden. With cold finger tips and determination, we planted a few dozen flower bulbs - namely crocuses, tulips, daffodils, anemones, snowdrift, and irises.

Spring

The arrival of spring marked an end to a long, snowy winter, and the appearance of the first few early blossoms.

The first to show themselves were muscari & crocuses. We had dotted these along future 'paths’ we had outlined in the yard. Their colours were a true delight after a long, white winter.

Daffodils, wild (and planted) strawberry, and forget-me-nots came next. The deer don’t tend to touch daffodils, making them a reliable early bloomer.

Song sparrows visited often.

The buzzing bush

The azalea bushes that border our front steps bloom in spring, luring in dozens of bumblebees, and occasionally hummingbirds!

At times it would seem like the entire hive was visiting the bushes at once - a distinct “bzzzzz” could be heard from a few feet away.

Early Summer

Daisies, buttercups, and fleabanes joined the party.

The pinkish fleabanes alongside the gold coloured buttercups made ‘golden hour’ truly something special, though the fleabanes like to close up as the light dwindles which makes it hard to get a picture showcasing their full beauty at that hour.

WildFlowers

In early spring I tore up a few sections of the yard and spread a mix of wildflower seed. The arrival of their blooms in mid summer brought with it a rush of pollinators, and insects of all types.

Poppies have been especially popular, and colourful!

Bachelor buttons have been a mainstay, continually producing blooms from early-mid summer straight through to the moment I write this (mid September).

The queen

I was delighted to welcome this visitor - most likely a female monarch given the lack of obvious ‘nodules’ in the wing pattern which denote males.

Her favourites were clover, and later in the season goldenrod (though I was too slow to capture that visit!).

We’re aiming to seed some milkweed this fall, with the hope of making these visits recurring.

Late Summer

The raised vegetable beds contribute!

A handful of leeks from last year had come up in the spring, which I left in as an experiment. As they flowered in later summer, the bumblebees were quick to arrive!

This moth also appreciated the leek flowers.

Radish flowers (I always let a few go to seed) were popular with honey bees, and also made for an interesting culinary accent.

This honey bee also enjoyed a face full of mustard flower.

Also present was this Hickory Tussoc caterpillar. Touching these will leave you with a rash similar to poison ivy, so best to leave them be.

Sunflower

During our time in Edmonton I grew sunflowers each year - most grew to over 6ft due to Edmonton’s longer growing season, and lack of ‘predatory’ deer.

I tried using seeds I’d saved from those blooms last year, with limited success. This year I picked up a few varieties better suited to the East Coast, and while the deer did enjoy their fair share, we still managed to get a few blossoms!

Brown-Eyed-Susan

Late last summer we planted a perennial brown-eyed-susan, which started to bloom in early August. A few weeks ago I found this little inchworm crawling along it.

His friend joined him shortly after.

Autumn

Okay, so we’re not quite into “fall” yet, though the mornings are crisp and things are dying back.

Unless you’re a small, white aster of course, in which case you’re just getting started.

Balance

Dragonflies are an important part of the ecosystem. They help control inspect populations, namely mosquitos – helping to maintain an ecological equilibrium.

I was quite happy to spot these wee folk.