Clifford and District Horticultural Society president Georgie Hutchison presented Wayne Pfeffer with the Edna Litt Memorial Adult Horticultural Award recently at the Clifford Community Hall.
Hutchinson drew the group’s attention to the Newsletter highlighting bus trips and the March meeting with guest Frank Sluys from Listowel Greenhouses.
The Ontario Horticultural Association is selling three types of tulip bulbs by May 30 with delivery expected in late August.
Ideas will be firmed up regarding the 55th anniversary of the society with plans to honours charter members.
Jean Yenssen introduced guest speaker Jayne Thompson, director of communications at Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. She focused her talk on the insects and animals which play a role in pollination.
Bees, bats, butterflies, moths, beetles, and the wind all work to distribute the pollen or nectar. Showy flowers entice insects to sample their sweet nectar while pollen laden ragweed await the winds. Six flower shapes have been identified to attract bees, the champion pollinators who enjoy native species of plants. The bee population is impacted by mites, pesticides, insecticides, loss of habitat, and disease. Some bees live in the ground and provide soil health.
Flies are the most unappreciated insect for their pollination services. 88 per cent of all flowers need pollinators to thrive as well as 30% of the food people eat. She encouraged planting native species like butterfly weed, milk weed, asters, phlox, clover, and violets and to create safe nesting spots for pollinators.
To help the flight of the butterfly, a group is promoting planting a pollinator strip of milkweed from Mexico to Canada. Wildflowers on clover leafs and on-ramps could rev up the pollinators, they suggest. Visit www.pollinationcanada.ca for further information.
