Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
National Volunteer Week April 24 – 30, how will you celebrate? Help show the world what Saskatoon’s biodiversity looks like—grab your smartphone, the free @iNaturalist app, & join this year’s #CityNatureChallenge from April 29–May 2! Great for all ages; find details at FriendsAreas.ca
‘Volunteering is Empathy in Action.’
“If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
Atticus Finch a character in “To Kill a Mockingbird” author Harper Lee
Climb inside the skin of our native wildlife. Learn about the habitat for our herons, and where they might live as our cities grow larger and larger. Climb into the skin of a native butterfly and where they may fly to find a native pollinator flower that is not covered in pesticides. Climb inside the skin of the last remaining mammals and where they may live.
Volunteer with the City Nature Challenge. A great way to study range expansion and contraction, seasonal changes in morphology, the declining or increasing numbers of species at risk or invasive species. By observing local nature, everyone can support vital conservation research while connecting with nature and enjoying the outdoors.
Goldenrod Gall Fly Eurosta solidaginis Conservation Status: imperiled (S2S4) in Saskatchewan, CA (NatureServe)Ranked S2 by SCDC
Woodland Skipper Ochlodes sylvanoides Hairy Woodpecker male (note the red) (Picoides villosus)Spring Meadowlark.
Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!
Ethnobiology embarks on the scientific study of how human cultures interacted with the environment, and the ever-changing relationship with biota and organisms. Ethnobiologists investigate how human societies have used nature, and how do they view nature in the distant past, to the immediate present. They investigate the common lore or the folk knowledge of how humans interact with organisms. Traditional knowledge is rapidly being lost, and the field of ethnobiology is a process of knowledge acquisition and organisation for the management of useful plant and animal populations in the natural system and environment.
Besides wild animals, humans have been known to value the nutritional value of these plants. In addition to people and animals, worms and insects have an affinity for the nutrition value of the rose hips, so it is best to check for worms before eating a rose hip. According to Joseph Shorthouse in his report, Galls Induced by Cynipid Wasps of the Genus Diplolepis (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) on the Roses of Canada’s Grasslands, native rose plants “are host to insects in a variety of guilds, including leaf chewers, leaf miners, fluid feeders, stem borers, pollinators, and gall inducers.”
Rose hips with seeds and skins removed make jams, marmalades, catsup, jellies and syrups. Rose hips are tastiest for those used to a North American diet after the first frost which brings out the sweetness. This same rose hip pulp may be dried and ground into powder form as an addition to baking recipes or puddings. Young green rose hips can be peeled and cooked. Rose petals are known for their perfume.
Please be stewards of both the afforestation areas – Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities, do not harvest too many parts of the rose plant. Learn and check into the scientific names of plants, and make a good native rose plant identification from Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4 | Part 5. Nature is very diverse, and evolves and plant species may hybridize with each other. When in doubt, please leave the plant out before harvesting so that other visitors and animal foragers may enjoy the native roses. It is wise take only pictures and to leave no trace when visiting the Saskatoon afforestation areas to mitigate ecological damage. The afforestation areas are experiencing an exponential increase in the human footprint, and a little foresight will ensure that the plants are not extirpated from the greenspace. Consider where you are digging and harvesting: do you have permission? Who do you get permission from? Who owns the land, and who manages the land of the afforestation areas?
“If a man loses one-third of his skin he dies; if a tree loses one-third of its bark, it too dies. If the Earth is a ‘sentient being’, would it not be reasonable to expect that if it loses one-third of its trees and vegetable covering, it will also die?” Richard St. Barbe Baker
Buds and flowers or the soaked and boiled root cambium can be used in the making of rose water, a base for eye wash treatments. Leaves, flowers and buds can be infused in the making of teas. When using the bark of the rose bush for a tea decoction, muscles would find relief and diarrhea would be relieved. Flowers and flower buds may relieve diarrhea or stomach upset.
First Nations people sometimes smoked the inner bark-like substance of the rose bush like tobacco. There are reports that native persons ate the rosehip rinds, and left the seeds to grow again. Eating the layer of hairs around the seeds may cause irritation to the mouth and to the digestive tract. The rose hips may create diarrhea, if too many are ingested. A compress from the boiled rose roots would relieve swelling. The solution made from boiled rose roots could be gargled to relieve swelling of tonsillitis and sore throats, or mouth sores.
Besides the ethnobotanical uses of wild roses, rose wood can be fashioned into arrows and pipe stems. Rose hips would be used historically as beads before mass-manufactured beads were acquired through trade as early as the nineteenth century. The Cree called the Rosehip (singular); okiniy (plural); okiniyak ᐅᑭᓂᕀ
Do you think you would like to be an ethnobiolgist? Why or why not?
Debate the efficacy of native rose plants related to ethnobiology and health science, including developing materials to support the arguments for and against a posi៝tion. Would ethnobiological approaches contribute to mental, physical, or spiritual perspectives on health?
Do native rose plants provide any important macronutrients to maintain human, insect or animal health?
Do humans still rely on native rose plants for treating illness, disease, or to improve health and wellness? Are native rose plants a common garden plant for most city residents? How have communities and people changed historically to contemporary times? Could you purchase herbs, vitamins, essential oils from native rose plants in the local grocery store? in the health food store?
Have native rose plants contributed to traditional or indigenous rituals or ceremonies or in health care? Do native rose plants contribute in these same ways to any other culture world wide?
If a health care professional must weigh the following ethical decisions would a health care professional work hand in hand with an ethnobiologist?
What can be done for the patient? (intervention technologies)
Does the patient understand the options? (informed consent)
What does the patient want? (autonomy)
hat are the benefits? (beneficence)
Will it harm the patient? (non‐maleficence)
Are the patient’s requests fair and able to be satisfied? (justice)
Are the costs involved fair to society? (economic consequences)
When relying upon the various components of the native rose plant for health care; contrast – researching the differences, and compare -delving into the similarities through study those decisions made related to ethnobiology and health care from the various viewpoints of individuals who hold different beliefs.
How do plants – the native rose bushes, and animals – humans harvesting petals, root parts, and leafs interact to meet their basic needs?
What are some uses of the various parts of a rose bush plant based upon the form and materials that the plant is made of?
Compare the texture, and properties of the various part of the native rose plant. How do the leaves, petals, rose hips and stems compare with hardness, smell, flexibility, etc How do the characteristics of the rose plant create a useful feature for the plant in its survival? How do these same characteristics suggest that the various parts of the rose plant might be useful for a specific function, material source or usefulness for different objects.
How do people show respect for living things such as the native rose bush plants?
Describe and evaluate the methods in which the parts of the native rose plants may be used appropriately and efficiently to the benefit of themselves, others, and the environment.
How do humans and animals take note of their senses as they interact with a native rose bush. If humans were to eat the rose hip or smell the rose flower, what are some safety considerations?
What season would be great to find a rose hip? What time of the year would people locate a rose flower? Why do roses make these adaptations?
What are the consequences of combining a professional health care approach with the ethnobiologist report? Create and debate with arguments for and against a posi៝tion or hypothesis.
Do you know of another way that humans interacted with native rose bushes?
Nîhiyawak (Cree) refers to “those who speak the same language.[*]” The etymology of the nehiyaw has two roots; it comes from Nîwo translated as four and -iyaw or miyaw meaning body or souls, four aspect, four directional beings.[*, *,*,*,*]. Wahkohtowin is a word from the Cree language meaning those acts of being in kinship. Then there is the Cree word “maskihkiwiskwewiw” which loosely translated into English would be medicine woman[*]; “maskikiwiyiniwiw” meaning medicine man[*]. To fully understand ethnobotany, one must delve into the maskihkîy or medicine inherent in the native rose bush. This would be to take on the world view of the nehiyaw to be in true wahkohtowin with the rose bush, to speak the same language as the roses.
Identify both macronutrients and micronutrients found in the various plant parts of the native rose bush. Show how these sources and the amounts found in the native rose plant are necessary for health, and how they may affect the wellness of a human or animal.
Create a through scientific investigation into ethnobiology regarding native rose plants. Start with a question, then create a hypothesis, and then design a procedure to test the hypothesis with those details needed to collect and analyze the data.
What structural or physiological adaptations and methods does the rose hip employ to defend itself against predators?
Analyze and debate how the personal beliefs, culture and understanding effects the appreciation of place based learning with the environment is influenced by personal experiences and cultural understandings.
Discuss the roles of native rose plants as providers of medicinal, spiritual, nutritional needs of Western, First Nations, Métis and other cultures.
How many native rose bushes would you need to grow to sustain healthy eating practice for various ages, sizes and types of people for their lifestyle requirements?
What is appeal from the three native rose species to animals that live in the afforestation areas? Prickly Rose (Rosa Acicularlis Lindl.) the Prairie Rose (Rosa arkansana) and Wood’s Rose, or Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii)
What is appeal from the three native rose species to humans historically? Do the rose species offer the same advantages? Prickly Rose (Rosa Acicularlis Lindl.) the Prairie Rose (Rosa arkansana) and Wood’s Rose, or Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii)
Are there any other rose species which you may see in the afforestation areas? Why or why not?
Which rose species have you seen in the afforestation areas?
What happens from over-harvesting?
What is a hori hori?
Who owns the land, and who manages the land of the afforestation areas?
Can you establish native rose plants in your own yard, or in your community garden?
Brennont; et al. (October 24, 2018), Sessility (botany), Wikipedia, retrieved June 19, 2019
Britton, Nathaniel Lord; Brown, Addison (1970), Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Volume 2 of An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada: From Newfoundland to the Parallel of the Southern Boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean Westward to the 102d Meridian, Dover Books on plants. Dover Books. Courier Corporation, ISBN0486226433, 9780486226439, retrieved June 20, 2019
Conrad, C. Eugene (July 1987), Common Shrubs of Chaparral and Associated Ecosystems of Southern California(PDF), United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. Berkeley, California. General Technical Report PSW-99., retrieved June 20, 2019
Coxhead, Peter; et al. (June 17, 2019), Stamen, Wikipedia, retrieved June 20, 2019
Culver, Denise; Smith, Pam (June 26, 2018), Botany Primer(PDF), Colorado Natural Heritage Program. Warner college of Natural Resources. Colorado State University., retrieved June 20, 2019
Hauser, Alan S (2006), Rosa arkansana, Fire Effects Information System (Feis) Syntheses about fire ecology and fire regimes in the United States USDA, United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laborator, retrieved June 20, 2019
Rosa arkansana (Prairie Rose), Minnesota Wildflowers A field guide to the flora of Minnesota, 2006–2019, retrieved June 20, 2019
Runesson, Ulf T., Rosa acicularis Prickly Wild Rose, Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, retrieved June 20, 2019
Salick, Jan (1998–2014), What is Ethnobiology?, Society of Ethnobiology. partially excerpted from 2002 NSF Biocomplexity Workshop Report: “Intellectual Imperatives in Ethnobiology”, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, retrieved June 20, 2019
Soltis, Doug; Soltis, Pam; Edwards, Christine (2005), Core Eudicots, Tree of Life Web Projects, retrieved June 20, 2019
Species: Rosa acicularis, Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). USDA. US Forest Service Department of Agriculture, 2019 June 10, retrieved June 19, 2019
Stevenson, Dennis William (2019), Angiosperm Plant, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., retrieved June 20, 2019
Taylor, Thomas N.; et al. (2019), Rosids, first published Paleobotany (Second Edition), 2009. Republished. Science Direct. Elsevier B.V., retrieved June 20, 2019
Tbhotch; et al. (April 18, 2019), Plant Reproduction, Wikipedia, retrieved June 20, 2019
Tdslk; et al. (May 28, 2019), Achene, Wikipedia, retrieved June 20, 2019
Trondarne; et al. (May 30, 2018), Vessel element, Wikipedia, retrieved June 20, 2019
Wild Rose Comparison, The Friends of the Wild Flower Garden, retrieved June 19, 2019
Wild Rose (Rosa acicularis), British Columbia Outdoor Wilderness Guide. BC Adventure, 1995 – 2018, retrieved June 20, 2019
Wild Roses, Canadian Wildlife Federation, 2019, retrieved June 20, 2019
Wood’s Rose Rosa woodsii Lindl.(PDF), Plant Guide. United States Department of Agriculture USDA. Natural Resources Conservation Service., 1995 – 2018, retrieved June 20, 2019
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“The simple act of planting a tree, which is in itself a practical deed, is also the symbol of a far reaching ideal, which is creative in the realm of the Spirit, and in turn reacts upon society, encouraging all to work for the future well being of humanity rather than for immediate gain. ” Richard St. Barbe Baker
“We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of Trees. As far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more Trees – to Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
How can we determine which of the roses are which in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities?
Binomial nomenclature is a two-naming system featuring the first part of the name – the generic name– identifies the genus to which the plant or organism belongs, while the second part – the specific name or specific epithet – identifies the species.
The plants belonging to the genus Rosa can be characteristically described by flowers, leaves, fruit, and thorns.
The flowers of most species of native roses have five petals. Each petal is divided into two distinct lobes and is usually white or pink. Beneath the petals are five sepals. These sepals may be long enough to be visible when viewed from above and appear as green points alternating with the rounded petals. There are multiple superior ovaries that develop into rose hips bearing achenes. Roses are insect-pollinated in nature.
Rose in the Richard St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Bumblebee on rose
The leaves are borne alternately on the stem. In most species they are 5 to 15 centimetres (2.0 to 5.9 in) long, pinnate, with (3–) 5–9 (–13) leaflets and basal stipules; the leaflets usually have a serrated margin, and often a few small prickles on the underside of the stem. Most roses are deciduous.
Oddly pinnate leaf – imparipinnate Courtesy Maksim CC x 1.2
The leaves of the wild roses of the region are alternate, and oddly pinnated. Pinnation is the arrangement of the leaflets arise on both sides of a common axis. This common axis is referred to as a rachis which is the backbone or spine of the leaf. Each petiole or the stalk attaches the leaf to the stem or peduncle of the plant. The small leaflets, themselves have little stems called petiolules. The root pinna is from the Latin meaning “feather”, and these plants can be referred to as “feather-leaved” in everyday or informal usage. Oddly pinnated leaves are also called imparipinnate, both terms meaning that the leaf bears one lone leaflet at the terminal or top of the leaf, rather than a pair of leaflets.
The aggregate fruit of the rose is a berry-like structure called a rose hip. The hips of most species are red. Each hip comprises an outer fleshy layer, the hypanthium, which contains 5–160 “seeds” (technically dry single-seeded fruits called achenes) embedded in a matrix of fine, but stiff, hairs. Rose hips of some species are very rich in vitamin C, among the richest sources of any plant. The hips are eaten by fruit-eating birds such as thrushes and waxwings, which then disperse the seeds in their droppings. Some birds, particularly finches, also eat the seeds.
Rose Hip fruiting body bearing seeds within sepals (rose hip lobes) above
Rose Hip fruiting body bearing seeds within sepals (rose hip lobes) above
The sharp growths along a rose stem, though commonly called “thorns”, are technically prickles, outgrowths of the epidermis (the outer layer of tissue of the stem), unlike true thorns, which are modified stems. Rose prickles are typically sickle-shaped hooks, which aid the rose in hanging onto other vegetation when growing over it. Some species such as Rosa Acicularlis have densely packed straight prickles, probably an adaptation to reduce browsing by animals. Despite the presence of prickles, roses are frequently browsed by deer.
The amazing thing about the rose bush, is that it will do the best on alluvium soils which are seasonally flooded, which works out well at the afforestation areas located as they are in the West Swale (a low-lying area caused the Pleistocene Yorath Island glacial spillway.) However, that being said, the roses have a very high drought tolerance.
American Red Squirrel Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla Garrulus Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Mule deer, snoeshow hare, coyotes, squirrels, white-tailed deer and birds such as waxwings, pine grosbeaks, and grouse will nibble on the rose hip fare provided by the rose bush. Wild rose hips are high in both Vitamin A and Vitamin C. These animals, and birds will carry the seeds (achenes) away after nibbling on the rose hips, and through the digestive process disperse the seed in new areas. The achenes do not sprout immediately, in fact, the majority will sprout on the second spring after snow melt. The seeds require this period of dormancy and require the seasonal changes of warm and cold in order to sprout. In regards to the health of the animals, the crude protein is higher in the wild rose hip while the leaves remain on the trees. The rose hips remain on the shrubbery into the winter months, providing a much-needed snack during the cold days of the year for winter foragers when snow covers the ground. The pollen during the month of June is beneficial for many pollinators.
When trying to distinguish various species of wild roses, bear in mind, that species may hybridize with one another. The next chapter will delve into the taxonomic classification for species of roses at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities.
Activities and Questions:
Take a camera, ruler, pencil, and start a nature journal of your visits to the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities where you record observations and measurements about the observable characteristics of native rose plants, insects and animals around these plants. Record their blooming time, and when the petals drop off, and when the leaves turn colour in the autumn. Are all plants the same? Identify the number of leaflets, and their shape, record the colour of flowers, and the height of the plant.
Would a bug find it easy or hard to walk along the top surface of the rose bush leaf?
Would an insect find it easy or hard to walk along the underneath surface of the rose bush leaf?
Are there any eggs, insect larva, etc under the rose bush leaf?
Become a citizen scientist.
Stop and smell the roses! How do your ears, eyes, nose, mouth and skin relate to native rose plants for all the senses – hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch? Do other animals need their senses to interact with native rose plants?
Compare native rose plants with other forbes, and flora in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities. Which plants bloom at the same time?
Do you think pollinator insects, dogs, birds, and deers appreciate the smell of the native rose plants?
How do you think rose bush plants get the rose seeds out of the rose hip so the seeds may germinate in the ground?
What kind of safety procedures would you need to use when observing a native rose plant? What do animals do when presented with the sticky substance on rose leaves, or with the thorns and bristles on the rose stem?
Compare the flowers, leaves, and seeds between the native rose plants, and other plants in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities.
What kind of seasonal changes may occur for a native rose plant?
Why do native roses lose their leaves for the winter months?
Why would animals choose to eat rose hips in the winter? Do native rose plants support the health or harm the growth of deers, rabbits, and squirrels? Do animals help the plants? What happens when the animals disperse the seeds after digesting the rose hips which contain the rose seeds? Create a food web of animals and native rose plant interactions. What would happen if the native rose plant became extinct?
How have humans affected the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities? Analyze an issue or case study where humans have greatly affected these environments, including a cost‐benefit analysis and ethical implicaᅾons
Are the native rose plants afforested in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional Park forest communities, or do they grow naturally there?
Create a map which will guide others to the location of a native rose plant.
Create a set of directions from a specified location to arrive at the location of a native rose plant which you have found.
Why are there no native rose plants in the middle of a trembling aspen grove?
How can a native rose plant reproduce, if the animals eat the rose hips which contain the rose seeds?
Observe the native rose plants, and write a poem or story, paint a picture or sketch a drawing of them.
Analyze any of the native rose plants, and see what happens if there is a lot of rain, or if there is an extended dry spell.
How do the native rose plants defend themselves, if there is a large population of wildlife eating their rose hips and flowers?
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
“I believed that God has lent us the Earth. It belongs as much to those who come after us as to us, and it ill behooves us by anything we do or neglect, to deprive them of benefits which are in our power to bequeath.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Man has lost his way in the jungle of chemistry and engineering and will have to retrace his steps, however painful this may be. He will have to discover where he went wrong and make his peace with nature. In so doing, perhaps he may be able to recapture the rhythm of life and the love of the simple things of life, which will be an ever-unfolding joy to him.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
There is another aspect of life on the land; while working in forest or gar4den a man has time for meditation and indeed his very act is devotion. He becomes in tune with the Infinite. The miracle of growth and the seasons’ changes induce a sense of wonderment and call forth worship from his inner being and in this sense WORK becomes WORSHIP.~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.
Snowberry Clearwing Moth Hemaris diffinis courtesy of Judy Gallagher CC 2.0
Black swallowtail on wild bergamot
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Photo credit Paul Stein
The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist.
For man, it is to know that and wonder at it.
-Jacques Cousteau
Its the middle of March, plant a flower indoors, begin a pollinator garden! When contemplating your next pollinator garden, factor in various flower colours, and sizes, along with a variety of plants which bloom in different seasons of the year. Your pollinator garden will support bees, hummingbirds, bats, ladybugs, butterflies and moths. A pollinator garden provides an ecosystem to plants as well as insects. Provided are links to listings for a variety of native plants to attract pollinators to your garden.
***From the various pollinator flowers for Saskatchewan, perhaps Red Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) is the easiest to establish and maintain.
***Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) requires acidic soil such as found in the higher elevations of spruce and bog forests where the parkland meets with the tundra ecosystem of Saskatchewan.
***Prairie Crocus (Pulsatilla patens), the provincial flower of Manitoba, is a remarkable native flower and is being encouraged in its native habitat by efforts of the Saskatoon Nature Society. The requirements of the prarie crocus is soil which has been undisturbed (uncultivated) for about 30 years to allow the proper micronutrients to flourish to feed the crocus corms (bulbs). The crocus, also thrives under adverse conditions, and adapted to the migratory patterns of buffalo herds, and historic raging prairie grass fires extending miles across the plains.
***The Western Red Lily, Prairie Lily or Wood Lily (Lilium philadelphicum), is the official flower of Saskatchewan, and a protected species, so do not run out and pick the next one growing in its native habitat. Go to a reputable garden supply centre. Lily plants also grow from bulbs, so planting in the fall is the best season of the year to establish a bulb.
***Purple Coneflower (Echinacea augusifolia D.C.) produces purple ray florets with a protuding yellowish-brown disc floret in the centre. Blooming in July through September, the yellow prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera is more common, and the purple coneflower is very rare in Saskatchewan.
***Blanket Flower (Gaillardia sp.) is a bright yellow – orange flower growing to a height of 1 to 3 feet. Perennial Blanket are a burst of sunshine in your wildlife garden, and love well-drained soil
***Purple coneflower, upright prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera), and blanketflower or common gaillardia (Gaillardia aristata) are both a documented nectar source for the Dakota skipper (Hesperia dacotae).
***Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) with delicate white blooms loves to grow in moist soil – though will survive drought conditions` which has been disturbed (turned over). Blooming in late June, the yarrow will bloom into September.
***Smooth aster (Symphyotrichum leave) or any member of the aster family are beloved by pollinators. Smooth aster is vivid blue violet in colour with prominent yellow disc florets in the centre. Growing between 1 and 4 feet high (30-120 cm) however mainly observed growing closer to the 1 foot height. In August and September is when this aster blooms.
March 10, Plant a Flower Day start a pollinator garden. Though it may be -19 Celsius, with snow on the ground, aim for a target. There are many other native flower species than those suggested here, don’t just trust me, click a link on this page.
Start your flower seedlings for an awesome and magnificent pollinator garden, and be amazed at the wildlife and biodiversity which arrive this summer.
Pollinators are what ecologists call keystone species. You know how an arch has a keystone. It’s the one stone that keeps the two halves of the arch together. […] If you remove the keystone, the whole arch collapses.
-May Berenbaum, PhD, Entomologist. From Silence of the Bees, PBS Nature.
Plants in bloom month by month. Landscape Ontario.com Green for life [Though an Ontario resource and this province has different hardiness zones than Saskatchewan, there are overlaps in plant species, so the listing may give a quick guide to the time of year for flower blooming times.]
Pollinators are what ecologists call keystone species. You know how an arch has a keystone. It’s the one stone that keeps the two halves of the arch together. […] If you remove the keystone, the whole arch collapses.
-May Berenbaum, PhD, Entomologist. From Silence of the Bees, PBS Nature.
“When the trees go, the rain goes, the climate deteriorates, the water table sinks, the land erodes and desert conditions soon appear”.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map
Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )
Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!
I believe in oneness of mankind and of all living things and in the interdependence of each and all. I believe that unless we play fair to the Earth, we cannot exist physically on this planet. Unless we play fair to our neighbour, we cannot exist socially or internationally. Unless we play fair to better self, there is no individuality and no leadership. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“Kind people have been expressing superlatives on my work. But I can assure you that anything which I have been able to achieve has been team work. We have a motto in the Men of the Trees. TWAHAMWE. It is an African word meaning ‘pull together’ and I pass this on to all those concerned with conservation in this country. I would like to call you to silence for a moment with the words of Mathew Arnold:
“Calm soul of all things, make it mine,
To feel amidst the City ‘s jar
That there abides a peace of thine
Men did not make and cannot mar. ”
~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Soon the bracken became shorter
“I believed that God has lent us the Earth. It belongs as much to those who come after us as to us, and it ill behooves us by anything we do or neglect, to deprive them of benefits which are in our power to bequeath.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
There is only one real reason to keep bees, and that is because they are fascinating. If you just want honey, make friends with a beekeeper.
-Australia beekeeper, Adrian the Bee Man
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 
