Pollinator Favourites - BFFs

Media reports of pollinator declines are prevalent now, particularly of the honey bees. Most of our food plants depend upon insect pollinators, or the wind. Popular social media sites such as Facebook have scattered memes promoting bee friendly actions on our part.

How can we help? First off there is plenty of reading at www.seeds.ca/pollination Each of us can become a BFF to bees and other pollinators, by reducing the use of pesticides and by planting bee-friendly flowers. There is a pattern for bee nests perfect for school groups or other interested citizens: https://seeds.ca/pollination/making-bee-nests

We can even self-identify as a BFF. That is, a Bee Friendly Farmer. If you are a business operator or even a home owner with gardens, there are colourful graphics for you to use to identify yourself and your property as a BFF. Please self-identify herehttp://www.seeds.ca/pollination/bff-bfg

Here are a few of the seasonal plants we can use in our landscaping to attract and feed pollinators, bees in particular.

Spring flowering: Violets, Blue Flag Iris, Dandelions (yes, bees’ early food), Coltsfoot, Spring Beauty, wild cherries and shadbush.

Summer flowers favoured by bees include: Harebell, Evening-primrose, Black-eyed Susan, goldenrods, fleabanes, coneflowers and Globe Thistle.
Fall flowers include goldenrods, sunflowers, asters, Alfalfa, Yarrow, Cleome, Borage and Wild Mustard.

Other things we can do to assist our personal pollinator population remains healthy is by not removing those dandelions as soon as they flower. Often in areas of massive urban/suburban developments they are the only food source in May.

Gardeners need to ask whether bedding plants or seeds have been sprayed or treated with insecticide. In particular neonicotinoids have been associated with honey-bee colony collapse. While this collective type of insecticide is less harmful to birds and mammals, they are toxic to insects, targeted and non-targeted.

If you are interested in joining a community effort to monitor pollinators beginning this summer, please send me a private message. This would most likely be of interest to those in Hants, Kings and Lunenburg counties of Nova Scotia.

Blue Flag Iris, photo by Martin Thomas

shadbush, photo by Martin Thomas

harebells, photo by Martin Thomas

Canada goldenrod, by Martin Thomas
Yarrow, by Martin Thomas

Questions and Answers

Some last thoughts before the weekend involve the most common FAQs for both a botanist and a zoologist. We polled the Curators of Botany and Zoology to see what their top questions for this year might be. In an exclusive interview with Andrew Hebda, we were told that the following questions were top candidates for 2008:

Question: Do bats overwinter in houses?
Answer: Nope. Bats overwinter in caves, abandoned mines and old military bunkers.

Ed. note: Bats are no longer a problem for homeowners as our population of basts is down to 4% of its former population, due to white-nose syndrome.

Bat questions have been replaced by Fire Ant questions since 2008:

Question: How can I prevent fire ants from infesting my property?

Answer:  Do not share plants with friends and neighbours, especially if your neighbours live across the street. Apparently they have diffuse nests within the root mass of bedding plants. The also cannot cross pavement without human assistance via plant-sharing.

Question: Is there only 1 species of ticks in Nova Scotia?
Answer: There are 14 species of ticks found in Nova Scotia. The most common species is the Dog or Wood Tick.

The Curator of Botany was asked for her top questions. With barely a pause, Marian Munro listed her top questions for the spring season:

Question: Is it illegal to pick lady’s-slippers?
Answer: We have 4 species of lady’s-slippers, one is legally protected under the Endangered Species Act (1998). The protected species is the Ram’s-head Lady’s-slipper a small orchid found in only a couple of localities.

Question: I have poison-ivy on my property. When is it safe to burn it?
Answer: Never! Inhalation of the smoke from burning this plant can cause permanent lung damage.

Both curators were asked the following:

Question: If the climate changes, will we see new species of animals and plants?
Answer: Absolutely! We already are seeing evidence of change. Not only will the flora and fauna see new arrivals, the immigrants will persist longer. 


Ram's-head Lady's-slipper, photo by Martin Thomas
Poison-ivy, photo by Marian Munro
Garlic-mustard, photo by Martin Thomas, newly introduced.

Grazing your Neighbourhood

Wildcrafting and wild edibles

As we move into the growing season, there is more and more interest in wildcrafting and wild harvesting. If this is your intention, there are a few factors to consider. A colleague of mine, Kate Frego in New Brunswick calls them the five Ps of grazing. I offer them to you as follows.

Plant: identification is key. Get yourself a field guide. Study it. Know the harmful species as well as those that are edible. Even safe ones, may not be palatable to you. We offer the NS Plants book as a free download: http://museum.novascotia.ca/Books

Place: Gathering food from a safe habitat is paramount. Sites beside a busy 100 series highway may have residues from vehicle exhaust, roadside or forest pesticides. These are not habitats safe for gathering food.

Proper: This P refers to the careful harvesting, in a sustainable manner. Species-at-risk of extinction in Nova Scotia should not be harvested for food. One example of this is the Wild Leek (Allium tricoccum or A. burdickii). With limited populations, it is unethical to harvest them for food. In addition plants should be collected in such a way that does not hinder their ability to recover from the harvest. Digging fiddleheads instead of cutting them individually, kills the plant. A rule of thumb is to take one in 10 for food.

Part of the plant is significant. For example, the potato plant produces red tomato-like fruit in addition to the familiar tuber, or swollen underground stem that we consume. The fruit is mildly toxic, while the tuber is definitely edible. Canada Yew seeds are deadly poison, yet the fleshy red aril surrounding the seeds is edible.

Preparation of the food collected for eating. Again using the fiddlehead example. These delicious spring greens must be cooked at high temperatures for 10-12 minutes after careful scrubbing. Lightly sauteeing or 2-3minutes in the microwave is insufficient to denature whatever chemical causes illness in some individuals.

Some of the edibles available in May in Nova Scotia include fiddleheads, chickweed leaves for salad, dandelion greens, violet flowers for salads and glazing.



Wild Leek in flower, photo by Ross Hall
Wild Yew, Taxus canadensis, photo by Ross Hall
chickweed, Stellaria graminea, photo by Martin Thomas

Favourite Spring Wildflowers

Spending my childhood as I did, outside and in the forests along a small brook, I soon developed favourites among the spring wildflowers. Violets especially intrigued me, springing up in cold soggy seeps. From pure white to the deepest purple, they ranged through all shades between. The yellow violets I did not discover until much later. My grandmother told me they could be dipped in water or lemon juice and powdered sugar then dried. She used them on cakes. I rarely let them dry! I still smile when I see Johnny-jump-ups. These hardy little ancestors of our pansies remind me of my grandmother.

Spring-beauty (Claytonia carolinana) is another childhood favourite. At my grandmother's farm in Colchester County, the edge of the woods were carpeted with these colonial flowers. Their white petals are strongly striped with pinkish nectar-guides. I was told that their tubers are edible. I rarely tried them as the plants are only found in the richest mixed broad-leaved forests, a diminishing habitat in Nova Scotia in favour of development.

I am not ashamed to admit that from my earliest days, dandelions have held a special place in my heart. We now accept that they provide early food for foraging bees and other pollinators. If we don't feed the pollinators our food crops and ornamentals are also at risk. Dandelions are hardy, braving the cool nights and mornings. Their sunny yellow faces, mimic the sunshine. Collected before flowering, the leaves once boiled and reboiled are a healthy green side-dish. The bitterness is not to everyone's liking anymore than the deep taproots are to the gardener.

As an adult I discovered other favourite wildflowers, mostly encountered on the annual pilgrimage to Cape Split, Kings Co.: Dutchman's-breeches, Purple Trilliums and Trout Lilies.  My heart smiles a little to rediscover these old and familiar friends.

Tell us a story about your favourite springwildflower. Join us on Tuesday May 19 from 11:00-12:00 on Twitter and share your stories.
Johnny-jump-ups, Viola tricolor, photo by Martin Thomas
Spring-beauty, Claytonia virginiana, photo by Peter Neily


Purple Trillium, Trillium erectum, photo by Ross Hall

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Got Botany questions? Join Curator Marian Munro for a TwitterChat May 19, 11am http://t.co/C1KNz1OP9N … … #NSMBotany pic.twitter.com/pUh1IIU3Cb

— Nova Scotia Museum (@NS_Museum) May 12, 2015

Allergic to Pollen?

Plants with drab or small, insignificant flowers, like sedges, grasses, trees and some herbs are dependent on the wind to spread their pollen to other like individuals. Wind-pollinated plants usually produce copious amounts of pollen, effectively spread on dry, windy days. It is reported that one ragweed plant can produce 1 billion grains of pollen!

Hay fever is the result of the body's production of immunoglobulin and histamine on exposure to triggers. The eyes and the nose may be sensitive to the barbs on the pollen grains triggering the reaction. There is some seasonality to the reactions, coinciding with the release of pollen by specific types of plants.

Winter and early spring see the pollen release on the conifers: spruce, pine, cedar, larch and fir. These are followed by the broad-leaved trees in the northeast: willow, poplar, birch, maple, ash, beech and oak, all producing pollen in April and May.

For those whose misery does not begin until May and June, grasses may be your trigger. This includes lawn and turf grass, in addition to sedges and other narrow-leaved similar plants. Mowing lawns may require a mask, or a helper!

Late summer and fall belongs to the ragweed, the scourge of the continent for most sufferers. Unfortunately, goldenrod bears the blame, an untruth as goldenrods are insect-pollinated. They just happen to be showy at the same time, that the messy green ragweed appears roadside and in ditches and gardens.

Late fall and winter hay-fever may be caused by other agents, but if you use evergreens in your house during the holiday season, wreaths and boughs may be covered in pollen, long after ragweed as died down for winter.

Outside plant allergies are difficult to avoid. Following the pollen reports can inform those afflicted when to take precautions. There are several weather websites that give daily pollen reports.

Got plant questions? Join us on Twitter Tuesday May 19, 11:00-12:00 ADT for Ask a Curator hour.

Jack Pine, Pinus sylvestris, staminate flowers, photo by Martin Thomas
Pollen catkins, Poulus tremuloides,Trembling Aspen, photo by Martin Thomas
Blue-joint Grass, Calamagrostis sp. photo by Ross Hall

Ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, photo by Ross Hall

Large Goldenrod, Solidago gigantea, photo by Martin Thomas

Mother's Day flowers

The celebration of Mother's Day in North America has become synonymous with mothering and maternal bonds. Elsewhere Mothering Sunday refers to the Mother Church. Motherhood has been celebrated in ancient times as in the Roman festival of Hilaria. Since the early 1900s, Mother's Day in Canada and the United States is recognized on the second Sunday in May.

According to the language of flowers, made popular during the Victorian era, here are the 'rules':

Often the giving of small tokens of gratitude to our mothers and grandmothers have included flowers. Ancient Egyptians chose red roses to honour Isis, the mother of the Pharoahs.

The traditional flower of love and gratitude to our Moms has been the pink carnation. Red carnations signify admiration. For those whose Mother has passed on, her memorial is indicated by white carnations.

Other flowers associated with the day include roses, tulips, violets, lilies, orchids and gerbera daisies. Each comes in a myriad of colours, accompanied by associated messages, in the language of flowers, made popular in Victorian times and still commonly used to send message. Purple lilacs symbolize the love between mother and child, while the blue and white irises indicates the affection between Jesus and his Mother Mary.


Pink and white carnations, illus. by Catherine Klein, 100 year old postcard
Iris, photo by Martin Thomas
Red rose, 100 year old postcard

White Flowers and Pollinators

It is a diverse group of agents involved in the pollination of flowers, and not limited to honey bees. Different animal pollinators prefer different types of flowers. Understanding the relationship between flowers and their pollinators is very useful to manage endangered species, to encourage propagation of horticultural plants and to determine the type of garden that satisfy the pollinators one hopes to attract.

In general, pollinators are attracted to plants that offer an abundant reward such as pollen and/or nectar. Early spring wildflowers in the forests collectively tend to be white. Why might that be?

Spring flowering plants, especially the earlier ones, have a small suite of potential insect visitors. They tend to share characteristics in shape and colour. Often the flowers are broad and bowl-shaped and may be visited by up to 20 different pollinators. Those with specialized shapes, such as Dutchman’s-breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) tend to have specialized pollinators. They also tend to grow in masses or colonies.

One explanation for the numerous white species has to do with visibility against the ground for those growing in forests. There are fewer foraging insect species, sometimes the neon advertising method works! Some “white flowers” also produce other pigments visible only under UV lights. Insects such as bees can see these colours. Colour is only one character that is convergent among April flowers. Most are self-fertile, meaning pollen does not have to be received from a stranger. Shape and nectar-production are also important features.

Odour is another important feature. Flowers with a foul odour such as mountain-ash, attract insects attracted to dung or carrion. In particular, they attract flies. Flowering cherry trees have a sweet perfume, which bees find irresistible. These trees in late April and May literally hum with pollinators.
Many moths are active at night or in low light, so require flowers that are open and providing nectar on cloudy, foggy days or later, into the evening. White flowers with a very strong, sweet scent are easiest for them to locate. Examples of flowers for a moonlight moth garden are honeysuckle, flowering tobacco, and primrose. Generally the moths appear later in the spring, although some of the flowers can be open early.





Claytonia caroliniana. Spring-beauty by Martin Thomas

Dutchman's-breeches, Peter Neily photo


white violet, photo by Ross Hall



Sorbus sp., mountain-ash photo by Martin Thomas