Bee A Hero Awards presented to local gardeners

Christine Szabados and Councillor Pat Warren, both on the Kawartha Lakes Environmental Advisory Committee (KLEAC) presented the 2023 Bee a Hero Awards at the April 9 committee of the whole meeting.

Kawartha Lakes is the seventh municipality in Canada to be officially recognized as a Bee City by Bee City Canada. The municipality supports healthy pollinator populations and ongoing efforts to preserve and create pollinator habitat. Read more about Bee City Kawartha Lakes and their initiatives on the municipality's website.

One of Bee City Kawartha Lakes ongoing initiatives is the Pollinator Pathway. KLEAC encourages residents to get involved by creating a pollinator garden. Residents are encouraged to enter their gardens to be part of the Pollinator Pathway map.

Each year, residents are asked to submit a before and after picture of your pollinator friendly garden to be considered for the annual Bee a Hero contest.

Congratulations to this year’s award recipients:

• Astrid Hood: Astrid created her pollinator garden by seeding widflower mix and planting native perennials like balck-eyed Susans.
• BGC Kawarthas/ Kids in Motion Child Care: Their garden has swamp milkweed, golden rod, obedient plant, yarrow, wild strawberry, pearly everlasting, blazing star, purple coneflower, elderberry, cranberry bush and sunflowers.
• Donna Bisschop: Donna grows coneflower, bergamot and black-eyes susans for bees and hummingbirds, as well as basil, asters, clover, currants, lupines oregano and sage.
• Harold Lenters: Harold’s gardens have coneflowers, black-eyed susan, phlox, catmint, butterfly bushes, milkweed and others. He also allows the shoreline to naturalize.
• Leah MacLaren: Leah’s wildflower garden has black-eyed susans, purple coneflower, bachelors button, sweet williams and beebalms.
• Lesley Armstrong-Braun: Lesley’s garden caters to monarchs, bees and hummingbirds with milkweed, balck-eyed susans and coneflowers.
• Lisa Hart: Lisa’s memorial garden has impatiens, snap dragons and gladiolus blubs.
• Natasha Lazaroff: Natasha planted phlox, coneflower, yarrow, hyssop, sea holly, fleabane, marigolds, dahlias, snapdragons, mugworts, lilac, shasta daisy, pennyroyal, foxglove, Queen Anne’s lace, black-eyed Susan, ammi dara, roses, astilbe, globe thisle, poppy, zinnia, joe pye weed, milkweed, sweet pea, tickseed, alpine strawberry, beebalm, mint, sunflower, herbs and native grasses.

View the full presentation with each award recipient’s before and after photos.

Each winner received a 2023 Bee a Hero certificate and a $50 gift card to either Grow Wild, a native plant nursery in Omemee, or Green Side Farm, a native plant nursery also in Omemee. Those who are looking to enter next year’s contest, are asked not to forget to take a ‘Before’ picture as they prepare their pollinator-friendly garden this spring.

Stay tuned for 2024 contest dates by subscribing to the municipality's newsroom.