As the 2026 growing season comes to a close, we're looking back on another year of creating native plant habitat, connecting with our community, and watching our established pollinator gardens continue to flourish.
From planting a new garden along the 1km Pollinator Pathway to growing native plants and learning about our local bees, there were some wonderful moments worth celebrating.
A New Garden at Montrose & Beatrice
In June, we added the 14th garden to our 1km Pollinator Pathway at the corner of Montrose Avenue and Beatrice Street.
With the help of approximately 20–25 community members, including plenty of enthusiastic young gardeners from Montrose Junior Public School, we cleared, prepared, planned, and planted the space with native perennials.
It was especially rewarding to see so many children getting their hands in the soil and participating in the creation of new habitat right in their neighbourhood.
The garden was looking fantastic by the end of the growing season, and we're excited to watch it mature and develop over the coming years.
A big thank you to Montrose Junior Public School for supporting this project and to the City of Toronto's PollinateTO program for providing funding.
Growing Native Plants at Downsview Park
In May, we gathered at the Downsview Park Volunteer Greenhouse for a community potting-up event.
Together, volunteers helped pot up approximately 500 native plant seedlings, continuing our efforts to grow plants that support pollinators and other wildlife throughout our communities.
The plants found homes in Rewilders gardens, were taken home by volunteers to create habitat in their own spaces, and were used in restoration projects at Downsview Park.
Growing and sharing native plants is an important part of Rewilders' work. It helps make native plants more accessible while supporting habitat creation across our city.
Discovering Our Native Bees with Lydia Wong
In June, we were joined by native bee enthusiast Lydia Wong for a fascinating walk through several gardens along the 1km Pollinator Pathway.
With Lydia's guidance, we had the opportunity to catch and observe native bees up close, discovering just how diverse and abundant these remarkable little pollinators are.
One of the most interesting takeaways was learning to notice the many tiny native bees visiting the flowers — insects so small they're easily overlooked or mistaken for flies!
The walk was a wonderful reminder of how much life exists in our urban gardens when we take the time to slow down, look closely, and appreciate it.
A big thank you to Lydia for sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with our community!
The Pollinator Pathway Continues to Thrive
One of the most rewarding parts of the season was watching our established gardens continue to mature and flourish.
This year, we experimented with allowing the established gardens to grow without supplemental watering, both to conserve water and to observe how well they could sustain themselves.
The results were encouraging! The gardens continued to thrive, demonstrating the resilience of established native plants growing in suitable conditions.
It's exciting to see these once-small plantings develop into thriving gardens that provide food and shelter for pollinators and other wildlife.
Creating habitat is only the beginning. Watching it mature and develop over time is where much of the reward lies.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered, contributed plants, supported our projects, or simply stopped to appreciate the gardens this season. Together, we're creating a greener, more biodiverse neighbourhood, one garden at a time.
