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City of Timmins plants gardens to attract more pollinators

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The buzz around Timmins is that two new flower beds have been planted in an effort to attract pollinators such as bees, butterflies, bats and moths.

Timmins became a 'Bee City' in September 2019, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has delayed planting the flowers until now.

The timing couldn't be better since this week is also International Pollinator Week.

“Every community needs pollinators," said Christina Beaton, a member of the local Bee City team and an environmental co-ordinator for the City of Timmins.

"We also want to protect the pollinators we do have ... create pollinator habitats; educate our residents about pollinator-friendly gardens ... and also to celebrate pollinators."

The Bee City team is establishing two pollinator-friendly beds: one in front of the Michael JJ Doody Centre of Excellence and the other in front of the Timmins Public Library.

Local landscaper Jennifer Nobel helped select the flowers to plant.

“A lot of them are low maintenance, which is a great thing for the city. The first few years, they take a while to establish, but after that they’re much lower maintenance than planting annuals, which typically we’ve been planting so far and you have to plant year after year," Nobel said.

"The perennials we have here, many of them are native, are low maintenance, drought tolerant and they’re beautiful and attract fantastic pollinators.”

Timmins Mayor George Pirie is giving the initiative a green thumb's up.

"There (are) various cities across Ontario that have these friendly competitions and I’d like to start one up for next year ... and everybody participate in making the city more beautiful,” Pirie said.

The Bee City team encourages everyone to create a pollinator-friendly garden of their own.

Some perennials to consider include: coneflower, bee balm, lavender, and catmint. And when it comes to annuals: cosmos, zinnias and sunflowers. 

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