Many Rotary clubs throughout North America are building Pollinator Gardens to provide the much-needed nectar from flowers for all the pollinators at this time of shrinking habitat. Private and public properties are being changed from unproductive lawns or wasteland and turned into flowering patches of colour, bees and butterflies.
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Peterborough Kawartha Rotary club member, Peggy Shaughnessy, operates Right to Heal to provide support to a wide range of individuals trying to deal with personal conflict and rebuild their lives to integrate back into society.
Since the summer of 2023 our club has been meeting weekly in one of the lovely rooms in this historic building. Due to the lack of a walkway from the parking lot to the entrance, Peggy had a new concrete walkway installed to provide safe access to all visitors of the facility. Once the job was done, dirt, rocks and weeds were along its sides calling for some care and attention. The environment committee recognized the opportunity to line both sides of the walkway with a pollinator garden and put together a plan to make the vision come true.
Right to Heal provided the necessary topsoil and mulch while several Rotarians and a member of the R.to H. helped with the preparation of the flower beds. Stones, debris and weeds were removed, and several terraces were built to retain the soil from washing out.
The majority of native pollinator friendly plants were donated by various individuals, and some purchased at a garden centre.
Planting was fun and once the mulch was spread out, we had a beautiful new pollinator garden lining the walkway.
Already throughout the time of preparing the garden, we had the clientele of Right to Heal positively commenting on the improvements.
I was especially touched by comments that one of the clients made in a conversation, thanking me and Rotary for giving time and money towards this project. In his words, seeing the efforts of our group and the outcome, gave him and his peers the feeling of people caring for them while going through a dark time in their lives.
As we can see flowers are not only for pollinators but also for people providing joy and new hopes for the future.
Guenther Schubert,
Kawartha Rotary Club Environment Chair