Native Plant Garden Tour: Elaine's Garden

Elaine removed all the lawn from her yard more than 20 years ago and began filling the spaces with drought tolerant perennials. Volunteering in the native prairie garden at the RSM since 2018, and subsequently becoming a Butterflyway Ranger with the David Suzuki Foundation in 2021, she has enthusiastically introduced native plants and grasses to her yard. Elaine is still very much a novice but is loving her journey to create more habit for pollinators and birds.

ETIQUETTE AND SUGGESTIONS FOR GARDEN TOUR PARTICIPANTS:

1. The event will be identified with a Nature Regina yard sign.

2. Don’t pick the seed. Many gardeners would like to save the seed for birds. Seed may be available from Nature Regina.

3. If the site is a private garden ask permission to take photos. Many Volunteers have been showing their yard all day. Don’t outwear your welcome, leave at the time noted on the schedule. Front yards can of course be viewed outside of official garden hours. Put show respect and stay on the public sidewalk. Stick to the pathways unless the garden caretakers say you can walk on the lawn;

4. If its hot remember a water bottle and hat.

5. If you have children, please monitor them. Do not let them run through the garden beds. No pets in the gardens.

6. Be kind and understanding. Using native plants has a different aesthetic, and success is not measured in garden design elements, but in the

number of insects and birds that come to your yard. We have many types of yards from manicured to wild, from newly planted, to well-established.