NATIVE PLANTS
The native plant garden at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum initiated our Native Plant program and continues to highlight our commitment to providing a prairie display. Since 1994, Nature Regina volunteers and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum have nurtured this garden at the museum's east entrance. The garden has been a colourful oasis showcasing the beautiful plants that have grown in southern Saskatchewan for thousands of years.
In 2018, the garden volunteers began an ambitious project to rejuvenate the garden to be a more biodiverse, pollinator-friendly habitat. Over the next few years, the garden beds were re-planted one at a time, removing a few species that had become too numerous and planting other native species in their place. In 2023, the square bed directly in front of the Museum's east entrance was added, and planting began there. We celebrated the 30th anniversary of the garden in 2024 with native plant garden tours of member and community gardens. A memorial water fountain honouring volunteers past and present was added in 2025, providing water for birds and insects visiting the garden. Garden enhancement and maintenance are ongoing.
Our Native Plant program includes the RSM native plant garden site, as well as other aspects to showcase and increase the use of native plants in our communities. Fall native plant sales to the public began in 2022, with spring sales added in 2024. Many volunteers give their time to growing and transplanting native plants for sale; this is the Plant Propagation Team, who collect seeds, start, transplant, and care for plants. Outreach includes events such as Seedy Saturday and presentations. Nature Regina partners with interested community groups by providing plants and expertise.
Whether a person is brand new to biodiverse gardening or has experience to share in creating habitat for pollinators, everyone is welcome to volunteer with us.
There are opportunities, such as:
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at the RSM garden, where volunteers work under the guidance of a garden leader to help with transplanting seedlings, removing sick or overly rambunctious native plants, collecting seeds, labelling plants, and weeding;
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as part of the Plant Propagation Team, including growing seedlings, potting plants and assisting with plant sales, including setting up the day of the sale and helping people with their purchases;
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participating in outreach at public events or to community groups;
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growing and sharing native plants of your own using seeds from the garden.
Our volunteers have a good time and gain experience identifying and caring for native plants for landscaping, renewing the garden beds at the Museum, or helping to spread the use of native plants. We welcome novice and experienced gardeners.
If you wish to volunteer with our Native Plant program, please complete the Volunteer Sign-Up form.
The garden is always open for visitors. Discover the wonderfully diverse and constantly changing
community of flowers, grasses, shrubs, bees, butterflies, dragonflies and other interesting bugs living
there. Monarch butterfly caterpillars munch the milkweed plants. Wrens, goldfinches, nuthatches,
chickadees and migrating songbirds take advantage of the forage provided by the native plants and the feeders we put up in the winter.
The plant diversity and habitat at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum - Nature Regina native plant garden is designated to be a:
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Monarch Watch Monarch Waystation (in 2014)
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David Suzuki Foundation Butterflyway Project (in 2021)
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SOUL Greener Greenspace (in 2021)
In December 2021, the Society for Organic Urban Landcare (SOUL) awarded Greener Greenspaces recognition to the Nature Regina garden at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and to the Peace Garden at Knox Metropolitan United Church along with 24 other public gardens across Canada. In their letter to us, they stated: “The committee particularly appreciated the thought and planning that went into the creation of the site and how thoroughly organic land care principles and practices were integrated. The committee was also impressed by the numerous partners committed to the ongoing care of the garden.” Learn more about SOUL at https://organiclandcare.ca.
Greener Greenspaces recognizes sites that exemplify greener greenspace stewardship. The program
showcases examples of ecologically-focused land care as a means to inspire others across Canada. You can watch their 2022 Ecological Garden Series here: https://organiclandcare.ca/2022_Series
Find garden events on our Events page, or in e-news and newsletter notices.
Thinking about starting your own Native Plant Garden? Download a copy of "Growing a Native Prairie Garden".
Butterflyway Pollinator Corridor
Everyone is welcome to join the Butterflyway Pollinator Corridor project by creating habitat for pollinators in your own garden. As small as one square meter of garden or 2 large planter pots on a balcony is enough to start making a difference for our pollinating friends. By joining with our friends and neighbours to plant purposefully for pollinators in our own private spaces, we can increase the diversity of prairie plants and create more pollinator habitat than in all the public parks put together. Check the David Suzuki Foundation Butterflyway website for ideas on creating your Butterflyway pollinator patch. Visit our garden at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum for more ideas on which plants to grow in your pollinator habitat. Visit our garden at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum for more ideas on which plants to grow in your pollinator habitat.
