October 2018
Cocagne - This fall, GDDPC volunteers have planted a wildflower field for pollinators at the Cocagne Marina.
The PCSDG seeded a wildflower field near the arena at Cocagne Marina which is about 1 acre in size. Besides, we added in more humid places 400 holes with milkweed and 280 holes with Joe Pye weed. Here is the list of the wildflower mix:
- Milkvetch,
- turtlehead,
- Canada tick trefoil,
- Joe Pye weed,
- ox-eye sunflower,
- roundhead bushclover,
- cardinal flower,
- great blue lobelia,
- dotted mint,
- smooth Penstemon,
- meadow rose,
- evening primrose,
- black eyed susan,
- green headed coneflower,
- smooth aster,
- new England aster,
- blue vervain,
- golden alexander
- and 4 kinds of native grasses
The goal of the project is to attract more pollinators and this field will provide them with food, shelter and a place for reproduction. In February 2016, the United Nations presented a study on the importance of pollinators’ roles for the future of food production and, thus, food security on a global scale. Indeed, according to this study, 75% of key agricultural crops, as well as 90% of wild flowering plants depend on animal pollination. However, pollinators are declining and we want to better protect their habitats.
At least for 3 years, we will observe the plants and pollinators in this field of wildflowers to evaluate the success of the project. This is the time needed for the wildflower field to establish itself.
This project is made possible through a grant from Wildlife Preservation Canada and the Environmental Trust Fund. We thank the recreation council of Cocagne who lent the ground for the experiment and finally a big thank you to the volunteers Yvan Picard, Louis-Émile Cormier and Stuart Tingley for having lent a hand.
If you want to know more, check out the Wild Pollinators & Their Natural Habitats project page.