Pollinators
Let’s keep Kelowna buzzing with pollinators
Pollination is essential for many plants, including agricultural crops like apples and peaches, and plays a key role in maintaining biodiversity. Many pollinators, like bees, butterflies, and birds, are disappearing because they can’t find the variety of plants they used to depend on.
Pollinator meadows
The City is committed to supporting pollinators by growing pollinator meadows, maintaining many natural parks, and supporting community gardens. We encourage residents to help out our little friends by planting pollinator-friendly plants at home. The WaterSmart program offers plant rebates based on the Okanagan Xeriscape Association’s drought tolerant plant list, many of which are pollinator-friendly and are easy to grow.
No-mow or reduced mowing pollinator meadows provide food, shelter, and nesting areas for pollinators while offering important environmental and social benefits, including:
- Retaining moisture in the soil, meaning happier plants during hot dry weather.
- Reducing ground temperatures, helping keep the community cool.
- Reduced use of motorized landscaping equipment.
- Creating natural, colourful landscapes for residents to enjoy.
- Plan to provide food in all seasons by planting flowers that bloom in different months. Some pollinators only like to sip nectar from only one type of plant. Variety is important!
- Include plants with a variety of flower shapes (because bees have different tongue lengths), colours and sizes to attract a diversity. Bees have good colour vision and like blue, purple, white and yellow. Butterflies and hummingbirds are especially attracted to red.
- Reduce night time outdoor lighting or turn off outdoor lights when not in use as many insects and birds are highly sensitive to artificial light. Lights can impede their navigation, reproduction, and ability to find food.
- Leave seeds for the birds to eat over winter and don’t cut back flowers until late spring. Flower heads are natural bird feeders that help avoid some of the problems that can come from artificial bird feeders that spread disease.
Buzzing for more pollinator-friendly yard tips? Learn more from the Native Bee Society of British Columbia.
