Northern Light
Superstar
I can supply you plant lists for pollinators, np.
Quick question though, is your balcony full-sun?
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The Toronto Tree Thread
- Thread starter Northern Light
- Start date
I can supply you plant lists for pollinators, np.
Quick question though, is your balcony full-sun?
WislaHD
Superstar
Balcony faces east, receives unobstructed sunlight throughout the morning hours, balcony is shaded after the sun passes over the building, so maybe a solid 7 hours of sunlight?
Northern Light
Superstar
I would try:
Minarda Fistulosa (wild bergamot)
Monarda fistulosa - Cure Nursery
Wild Bergamont is a fantastic wildflower native to almost every state in the country! Like other members of the mint family, it has square stems with coarsely toothed and slightly hairy opposite leaves. Wild Bergamont flowers are…well, kind of wild; they are lavender to pink, with irregular...
www.curenursery.com
Helianthus divaricatus (Woodland Sunflower)
Michigan Flora
michiganflora.net
Both of these are sunlovers, but will tolerate some shade, but bloom a bit less densely.
Milkweeds are good but very sun intensive, so a 1/2 day may not be enough. (no harm in trying)
If you do, you want either
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Or
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) | Applewood Seed Company
Butterfly Milkweed is native to the US and is useful for monarch conservation, meadow gardening, beds and borders and pollinator mixes.
www.applewoodseed.com
There are lots of other possible choices.
None will be super easy to find, especially this year.
Here's a resource from the Credit Valley Conservation Authority:
Here's one on butterflies from the TRCA, their plant list is a little vague in places, if you have questions, just ask:
There's a list of some native plant nurseries here: (scroll to Ontario) (note that many of these may not sell to the public, and you would need to check their website or phone)
Commercial Growers « NANPS
nanps.org
Evergreen Brickworks usually has a decent selection at their garden centre, but I have no idea if they will this year. They seem completely disorganized this year. (in fairness things have been clear as mud)
Some Loblaws locations have native plants in their garden centres, but not all. Staff are usually not expert at all. Be sure and read the tags and look for the latin name. Common names are used for different species that grow in different places.
Final note, one non-native plant that you can also use if you like, is Curly Parsley. You could get several cuttings from it, but mid-summer, leave it alone and there's a good chance, some caterpillars will emerge and eat it all. (even on a balcony)
Black Swallowtail caterpillars just love the stuff. Let them have it, and they'll go cocoon after they've eaten your supply, but it will re-grow for you in September.
PHOTO: Maggie McCain/Flickr
Black Swallow Tail Butterly, image credit: N. Masi
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lenaitch
Senior Member
The success of attracting butterflies might depend on how high your balcony is, although I could not find any literature on this. While migrating butterflies have been recorded at great altitudes, I expect they stay pretty close to the ground when flitting about feeding and looking for someplace to mate and lay eggs. You might have difficulty attracting them to an isolated patch of flowers many stories up when the abundance of their food is at ground level).
I would recommend a variety of plants, at least in the early stages until you find out what you are attracting, which could also change from one year to the next. Our Monarchs are attracted to coneflowers but also daisies (black-eyed susan, ox-eyed daisy, etc.) as well as milkweed and butterfly bush as mentioned (note that milkweed is the only plant where they will lay eggs).
You mention pollinators and butterflies are only one group. Bees are another but I know little about attracting them or how they operate.
I would recommend a variety of plants, at least in the early stages until you find out what you are attracting, which could also change from one year to the next. Our Monarchs are attracted to coneflowers but also daisies (black-eyed susan, ox-eyed daisy, etc.) as well as milkweed and butterfly bush as mentioned (note that milkweed is the only plant where they will lay eggs).
You mention pollinators and butterflies are only one group. Bees are another but I know little about attracting them or how they operate.
Northern Light
Superstar
Bees and Butterflies are both open to going fairly high.
Bees are raised on the 14th floor roof top of the Royal York.
Butterflies reside in the mountains in parts of Mexico.
That said, they would prefer not to deal w/high winds.
That can be more of an issue on higher floors.
It can be mitigated some by using a trellis or screen though one needs to be sure one isn't blocking the sun in so doing.
Better still, if one has the room, growing a thick native shrub that can mitigate the wind can work too.
In terms of attractiveness to bees, I've never seen them love a plant more than Wild Bergamot.
Walking past a patch with which I am very familiar last summer, I lost count of the bees (hundreds).
*** you are right to note that using a variety of plants is good, but you also need a critical mass of any one. It helps the plants survival but also makes it more visible to insects from a distance.
The question does then arise of how much planting room there is on a given balcony.
I can supply a much longer plant list; but figured those were a good place to start.
Additional resources here:
Native Butterfly Host and Nectar Plants | Carolinian Canada
Planting as many of these plants in your garden will sustain butterflies by providing food year round to all the stages of butterflies. Some non-native plants, while excellent nectar sources do not feed the caterpillars that grow into butterflies, where as many native plants serve as nectar and...
WislaHD
Superstar
Thank you two for your assistance. Luckily, I live in a small building and am just 4 storeys off the ground. My balcony already attracts many bees and other insects throughout the summer, even with minimal planting. So I have good reason to believe that I'd have even greater success with the right plantings. Based off the Credit Valley pdf, I think I should strive to select a few species that will bloom at different times in the summer.
I didn't realize how difficult it was to find some of these native species, many of the nurseries are outside of Toronto, though thankfully I don't live too far from the Evergreen Brickworks, that is likely my best bet. My options may be limited based off what is readily available at nearby garden centres.
I didn't realize how difficult it was to find some of these native species, many of the nurseries are outside of Toronto, though thankfully I don't live too far from the Evergreen Brickworks, that is likely my best bet. My options may be limited based off what is readily available at nearby garden centres.
Northern Light
Superstar
Availability is a big issue.
I can tell you 1 very large native plant nursery in south-western Ontario won 2 good sized contracts this year (great news); bad news, they are already sold out of everything for the year!
A second native plant nursery near K-W folded this past year due to retirement of those running it.
A third is so struggling to keep with demand they've capped the # of any one species they will sell
A fourth is simply out of everything I want! LOL
44 North
Senior Member
I'd suggest getting a shovel, a couple pots, and digging up some plants in a natural area. Because that way you're getting a section of ecosystem - complete with plants, wildflowers, grasses, and fungus. And the earth you take home will have biological activity and active soil to keep your plants healthy for seasons.
lenaitch
Senior Member
Bees and Butterflies are both open to going fairly high.
Bees are raised on the 14th floor roof top of the Royal York.
Butterflies reside in the mountains in parts of Mexico.
That said, they would prefer not to deal w/high winds.
That can be more of an issue on higher floors.
It can be mitigated some by using a trellis or screen though one needs to be sure one isn't blocking the sun in so doing.
Better still, if one has the room, growing a thick native shrub that can mitigate the wind can work too.
In terms of attractiveness to bees, I've never seen them love a plant more than Wild Bergamot.
Walking past a patch with which I am very familiar last summer, I lost count of the bees (hundreds).
*** you are right to note that using a variety of plants is good, but you also need a critical mass of any one. It helps the plants survival but also makes it more visible to insects from a distance.
The question does then arise of how much planting room there is on a given balcony.
I can supply a much longer plant list; but figured those were a good place to start.
Additional resources here:
Native Butterfly Host and Nectar Plants | Carolinian Canada
Planting as many of these plants in your garden will sustain butterflies by providing food year round to all the stages of butterflies. Some non-native plants, while excellent nectar sources do not feed the caterpillars that grow into butterflies, where as many native plants serve as nectar and...caroliniancanada.ca
I wasn't thinking of altitude (ultralight and balloon pilots have been reported as seeing them at several thousand feet) but more height from ground during normal feeding. Moot point anyway, OP is only up a few floors.
I think this is going to be a strange year. I tried two local nurseries for Creeping Flox with no luck and decided it just wasn't that important to run all over and stand in line. Supply chains are messed up and the pent-up demand is sucking the stores dry. I was just talking to our daughter who is in a new house and has all these plans and ideas and I cautioned her to be disappointed.
reteequa
Active Member
I work in a greenhouse in burlington, everything has been so messed up this year. Stuff would just not come and would then just show up a few days later from a supplier. For some reason we are always out of herbs and im not sure if its greater demand or less supply. We have Creeping flox and our Milton or Vaughan store might be close enough to doing delivery within 50km, so try out Terra if you are really interested.
lenaitch
Senior Member
Thanks but too far. There might well be some more local but I decided that it wasn't worth running all over and standing in line as places meter customers. There is always next year.
SunriseChampion
Senior Member
I'm on only the 6th floor and I had to self-pollinate my tomatoes last year because all I get is midges. Probably because we're still dumb enough to run diesel trains and the Gardiner exists so all the pollinators avoid the area because there's more particulate matter than pollen. 
Could be the lake winds but I'm going to go ahead and blame the diesel trains (what is this, 1920?) and the Gardiner/Lakeshore lakefront abomination combo.
I plan on moving up to the 19th on the lake side so I guess I'll never see anything but the hawk that lives in the area and messes with the local pigeons. My hero.
Could be the lake winds but I'm going to go ahead and blame the diesel trains (what is this, 1920?) and the Gardiner/Lakeshore lakefront abomination combo.
I plan on moving up to the 19th on the lake side so I guess I'll never see anything but the hawk that lives in the area and messes with the local pigeons. My hero.
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SunriseChampion
Senior Member
A mate of mine regularly transfers moss ecosystems from the Georgian Bay coast to his Scarborough garden. It's pretty cool.
WislaHD
Superstar
Evergreen Brickworks had a decent selection of native species though they were also clearly suffering from supply chain issues. I could not find milkweed though I did pick up wild bergamot, wild strawberries (doubt I'll get much berries this year though), and northern blue flags, along with parsley seeds. I also picked up common yarrow, which will be a bit of an experiment on my balcony given that it apparently wants full sun.
Northern Light
Superstar
Great to hear.
Good luck w/your experiments.
Don't think you need any more plants; lest you say different.
But it did occur to me later, to say:
Big Carrot sometimes has some stuff (spring planting season only).
Todmorden Wildflower Preserve does native plant sales every year (I can provide contact info).