Grow Wild YYC

Grow Wild YYC Helping homeowners design wildlife friendly yards using plants native to Southern Alberta.

Attract more bees, butterflies and birds using plants these animals depend on! Personalized consultation available to help support biodiversity through the use of native plants and wildlife friendly garden design.

08/27/2026

Typically my Western white clematis blooms in proliferation mid to late July. This year at that time there was a meagre offering which I took as a sign of the season we are having. Yet here we are at the end of August and it’s a veritable beenanza out there with all the flowers! Thankfully there was enough to keep these Hunt’s bumble bees fed in July so they can enjoy this later season buffet ❤️🐝

It’s hard to get work done when there’s a hummingbird literally right outside the window! This lovely lady Ruby throated...
08/21/2026

It’s hard to get work done when there’s a hummingbird literally right outside the window! This lovely lady Ruby throated hummingbird has been spending lots of time in the yard this week which makes me oh so happy ❤️. Ruby throated are at the western edge of their range in Alberta and soon they will move east and south on their migration to their winter home in Mexico and Central America. These perfect little beasts unfortunately can find lots of danger along the way including windows. Thankfully there not a lot of window strike records here for them but further east they are actually in the top 10 species that have been documented by groups monitoring window strikes. In the Toronto area there are over 2000 records 😮‍💨.
Protecting birds from windows is so very easy. All we have to do is mark the entire exterior surface of the window so they can see the entire barrier. If you look closely at this shot you will notice the dots I have to try and keep her and all the other avian visitors safe.

You may also be thinking that the honeysuckle she’s on is not native and you would be correct. Dropmore honeysuckle is a cultivar created from 2 Eastern North American species. It goes in the category of not native but not invasive and makes me happy so it stays 😊. Fear not, the milkweed you can also see would stop it from getting too far! I also have several native twining honeysuckles that are already going to berry that can fuel other birds bulking up for their migratory flights 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

There’s a lot going on in this photo! This is Amelanchier alnifolia, aka Saskatoon berry, a hub of biodiversity! Not onl...
08/16/2026

There’s a lot going on in this photo! This is Amelanchier alnifolia, aka Saskatoon berry, a hub of biodiversity! Not only do the white flowers in spring provide an early nectar source for pollinators but the berries are a bonanza for birds, insects and even fungus. One of the few berries recognizable to everyone and falling on the good for you to eat category, you can’t go wrong adding these to your yard!
Then there are the leaves. Here we can see at least 2 invertebrates taking advantage. Those bumps belong to a gall mite (of which there are at least 9 that use Amelanchier as their host). These mites spend their entire lives inside the plant with those galls being the safe haven for growing larvae. Once they become adults, lacewings, ladybugs and other insects prey on them. Too many on the plant can disrupt the ability of the plant to photosynthesize and gather energy so thank goodness there are those predators!
Then there is the caterpillar. Recognizable to many as a wooly bear, this is the spotted tussock moth’s caterpillar. Typically preferring willow, alder or poplar, they will also eat Saskatoon leaves in a pinch. The adults are out in spring and early summer and the caterpillars emerge in July, continuing to be visible until September. While they look cute and fuzzy, those hairs are their defense and can irritate the skin. This might prevent mammals and birds from preying on them but there are likely parasitic wasps and other predatory insects specializing on them! They fall into the cute, but from a distance category for us! ❤️🐛

My daughter came in the house this evening to let me know there was a bee struggling out on the driveway. Sure enough I ...
08/15/2026

My daughter came in the house this evening to let me know there was a bee struggling out on the driveway. Sure enough I went out there and a Hunt’s bumblebee was slowly crawling across the pavement, likely cold and out of energy after this rainy spell. I picked her up and moved her to the nearest flowers and Lo and behold she wasn’t the only one on there! Several other bees were resting and refueling there! Not only is it a kind gesture to move watch for bees cold and grounded right now but it’s also the time to watch for the boys. Male bumble bees are now entering the scene and unlike the ladies, they don’t have a hive to return to each night. Have a look in the morning and feel free to help them dry out in a warm space or get to the nearest nectar source to refuel. ❤️🐝

Sometimes the progression from flower to seed is as beautiful as the flower itself. Take this beautiful masterpiece from...
08/13/2026

Sometimes the progression from flower to seed is as beautiful as the flower itself. Take this beautiful masterpiece from Canada anemone for example ❤️. Unlike other plants with the name anemone, these ones do not get fluffy seed heads but rather form this spiky head. Canada anemone is confusingly no longer taxonomically Anemone but rather Anemonastrum which means literally anemone like. Often seen forming mats in unoccupied shady areas or interspersed with other plants in part sun, they are a great substitute for garden centre anemones. Growing from seed can be difficult though because they need to go through 2 cold stratifications so you may not see those seeds you planted come up for 2 years! However, it may be that our constant freeze/thaw cycles we see with chinooks and increasingly weirder winters may be enough to spur germination after one winter 🤷‍♀️

I’m happy to see a bit of moisture this week and so is the garden! In between the rains the bees have been busy and this...
08/11/2026

I’m happy to see a bit of moisture this week and so is the garden! In between the rains the bees have been busy and this bergamot has been buzzing! A great example of things behave differently in the garden than the wild, this plant came from a plant rescue where it would normally have grown a foot or max 2 feet high. This one is at least 3 1/2 feet! I’ve never seen a native one this high! It’s only just begun blooming too which bodes well for the second half of the summer and keeping pollinators including bees and hummingbirds happy 🐝🐝🐝

This is what a little brown myotis call looks like! We have been seeing a bat or two around dusk doing us a favour and e...
08/10/2026

This is what a little brown myotis call looks like! We have been seeing a bat or two around dusk doing us a favour and eating mosquitoes (and moths) but I didn’t know what species they were and obviously I needed to know so I bought a bat meter to detect their ultrasonic calls and translate that for me 😊. While standing outside recording I also heard our skunk friend rustling around and disturbing roosting birds. It’s not just daytime biodiversity that the forest provides for!

Little brown myotis were recently listed as endangered under the federal Species At Risk Act (SARA) primarily due to the threat of white nose syndrome. These bug eating powerhouses are also susceptible to urban hazards including outdoor cats and artificial lights. Where some bat species may be drawn to light to get moths, studies have shown little browns avoid the light, potentially missing out on a buffet or needing to forage further and expend more energy to get their calories. So now is not only the time to turn out the lights for migrating birds (nope not too soon unfortunately) but also for our bat friends! ❤️🦇

Anyone else feeling a little frustrated with their gardens this year? Between the late spring followed by tons of rain, ...
08/06/2026

Anyone else feeling a little frustrated with their gardens this year? Between the late spring followed by tons of rain, one terrible hailstorm and now hot, dry drought conditions, even native plants are feeling the stress. While some are looking worse for wear, there are still bright spots like this western white clematis. She’s a beast that never fails to grow and flower prolifically providing nectar for solitary bees, ants and even my favorite hummingbirds ❤️

It’s raspberry time! DYK that Alberta is home to 6 native Rubus species? The most well known of course is Rubus ideaus b...
07/30/2026

It’s raspberry time! DYK that Alberta is home to 6 native Rubus species? The most well known of course is Rubus ideaus because it grows well in a lot of conditions and produces lots of fruit! Growing from a spreading root system, the plants send up canes that are not fruit bearing in their first year followed by flowers and fruit the next year. The canes only produce berries for one year so keeping on top of cutting them down will save you some thorns….maybe (word to the wise, shorts, sandals and bare arms are not the right choice for picking raspberries). They spread prolifically and can take over an area quite easily so sometimes some tough choices have to be made about what stay and what goes. Or if you’re me you just let them all grow and then face consequences when trying to get the berries 😂. Speaking of berries, what we call a raspberry is actually a conglomerate of a whole bunch of little fruits called drupelets. Inside each of those fleshy little parts lies a seed safely tucked away waiting to be spread through the landscape.
The flowers are most commonly pollinated by bumble bees and mining bees but honey bees and hoverflies also pay them a visit. They have been far more successful this year than my Saskatoons so looks like everyone is getting raspberry jam again this year! ❤️

If you google Polemonium acutiflorum you will be taken to a cultivar called heavenly scent. This is how you know it has ...
07/27/2026

If you google Polemonium acutiflorum you will be taken to a cultivar called heavenly scent. This is how you know it has been altered from its native form because I doubt anyone is describing our native one as heavenly scent! Polemoniums aka Jacob’s ladder has many native forms including tall Jacob’s ladder (acutiflorum) and showy Jacob’s ladder (pulcherrimum). All are beautiful additions to the yard and draw in pollinators but their scent may turn some people off. One species in particular is also known as skunkweed owing to its strong skunky smell. The first year I planted tall Jacob’s ladder next to the deck I spent most of the summer thinking we in fact had a skunk under the deck! Generally, strongly scented flowers are advertising to their desired pollinators with stinky ones being a fly calling card and more sweetly scented ones advertising to moths and butterflies. That doesn’t mean others don’t visit though! Bumble bees and solitary bees are often seen on Jacob’s ladder, particularly with showy being an early bloomer for them. Flowers can be blue or white and make an excellent addition to part shade/full shade gardens ❤️🦨

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