Planting for Pollinators Across Scarborough and Beyond

Thanks to last month's Pollinator Pathways event at Guild Park, small native plants will make a surprisingly big difference.

Volunteers distributed more than 600 native plants thanks to Guild Park’s recent Pollinator Pathways event.

More than 600 pollinator plants recently went from Guild Park to dozens of home gardens for fall planting. This happened after volunteers from Friends of Guild Park and the Guildwood Butterflyway Project welcomed almost 100 people to our first-ever Pollinator Pathways event.

Stickers on the Pollinator Pathways Community Map show where native plants will grow from Guild Park across Scarborough and beyond.

Participants placed 46 butterfly and flower stickers on our community map, showing where their plants are taking root from Pickering to west Toronto. Visitors also learned about native plants from Sandra Bill of Toronto Nature Stewards — and some got to experience the unforgettable sight of two newly emerged monarch butterflies being measured, tagged and released for their arduous migration to Mexico.

The entire event was made possible by the Park People Nature Connect Fund. Friends of Guild Park was one of 34 park organizations across Canada selected for this special funding.

The result was a fun family celebration on a sunny September Sunday. Hundreds of native plants found new homes and a community Pollinator Pathway has started spreading out from Guild Park, one garden at a time. Thanks to everyone who came to Guild Park to help make a difference.