gardening

A variety of seeds is now available at Vancouver Island Regional Library’s Harbourfront branch in Nanaimo. (Submitted photo)

‘Seed library’ created at VIRL’s Nanaimo Harbourfront branch

Vancouver Island Regional Library and Village Vancouver partner on initiative

 

A native-to-B.C. wild queen bee (bombus melanopygus for those in the know) feeds on a periwinkle flower. (Submitted/Sarah Johnson, Native Bee Society of BC)

B.C.’s wild bees need messy gardens to survive

The year-long nesting period makes habitat a primary concern for wild bees

 

B.C. beekeepers will face extra supply challenges this year thanks to COVID-19 supply chain disruptions. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. bee supply threatened this year by wasps, COVID

No, bees aren’t getting COVID, it’s the supply chain that’s been disrupted

 

Gordon Cyr and his family run Bee Canadian have been raising mason bees for 20 years and provide homeowners across the Island with pollinators every spring. (Black Press Media file photo)

Island company rents out 135,000 mason bees despite the impacts of COVID-19

Bee Canadian delivers pollinators to renters in pandemic-friendly fashion

Gordon Cyr and his family run Bee Canadian have been raising mason bees for 20 years and provide homeowners across the Island with pollinators every spring. (Black Press Media file photo)
Gardeners are preparing for the second spring during COVID-19. Business is already picking up at some Greater Victoria nurseries, including Elk Lake Garden Centre. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)

Vancouver Island garden centres preparing for busy season

Businesses stocking up after last year’s COVID-19 pandemic gardening explosion

  • Mar 24, 2021
Gardeners are preparing for the second spring during COVID-19. Business is already picking up at some Greater Victoria nurseries, including Elk Lake Garden Centre. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)
Dorothee Kieser, president of the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association and a volunteer at Milner Gardens and Woodland in Qualicum Beach (Submitted photo)

Podcast: Getting your green thumb ready for Vancouver Island’s gardening season

Timely tips from Dorothee Kieser of the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association

Dorothee Kieser, president of the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association and a volunteer at Milner Gardens and Woodland in Qualicum Beach (Submitted photo)
A new West Coast Seeds pollinator mix of cosmos pays tribute to Dr. Bonnie Henry. (Submitted photo/ We Are The Northern)

New blend by West Coast Seeds to bloom in Dr. Bonnie Henry’s name

Cosmo blend designed to attract bees, and marketed with tagline ‘Bee Calm, Bee Kind, Bee Safe’

A new West Coast Seeds pollinator mix of cosmos pays tribute to Dr. Bonnie Henry. (Submitted photo/ We Are The Northern)
Elise Boulanger, Nanaimo Foodshare garden facilitator, is one of several instructors who is guiding participants through online courses that teach sustainable gardening and water conservation methods, as well as how to prepare healthy meals with home-grown food. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Nanaimo Foodshare goes virtual with home-grown food production classes

Online courses teach sustainable gardening, water conservation and meal preparation

Elise Boulanger, Nanaimo Foodshare garden facilitator, is one of several instructors who is guiding participants through online courses that teach sustainable gardening and water conservation methods, as well as how to prepare healthy meals with home-grown food. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
A new demonstration vegetable garden has been planted at Beban Park. (City of Nanaimo photo)

City of Nanaimo vegetable garden meant to give citizens ideas

Parks and rec staff plants demonstration garden behind Beban Park social centre

A new demonstration vegetable garden has been planted at Beban Park. (City of Nanaimo photo)
Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes proudly shows off his rented mason bee colony. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)

Saanich mayor receives his foster bees through pollinator rental program

‘I feel like I’m an adoptive father,’ Fred Haynes says of his rented mason bee colony

Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes proudly shows off his rented mason bee colony. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)
A past Seedy Sunday event at the Nanaimo District Secondary School gymnasium. (Nanaimo Foodshare/Facebook photo)

Column: Seed-planting season is just around the corner

Nanaimo’s Seedy Sunday on March 1 timed for the start of growing season

  • Feb 15, 2020
A past Seedy Sunday event at the Nanaimo District Secondary School gymnasium. (Nanaimo Foodshare/Facebook photo)
Plants, pots and other pretty things at Old Farm Garden Centre

Plants, pots and other pretty things at Old Farm Garden Centre

Buying business included a steep learning curve for owner Robin Knox

  • Jun 24, 2019
Plants, pots and other pretty things at Old Farm Garden Centre