Rewilding for Everyone

Presenters:

Olga Hallborg, Castlegar Butterflyway Rangers Coordinator

Bren Beckwith PhD, Owner, KinSeed Ecologies

This talk will highlight the progress on the development of native plant gardens that attract and support native pollinators at the Kootenay Gallery.  The space, located behind the gallery, is being transformed into a suite of garden spaces showcasing different approaches to native plant gardening, often called rewilding, and include a butterfly garden, pollinator meadow, and flowering shrub hedgerow.  More garden space is being added to these gardens this year and will feature interpretive signage following an EcoGarden approach, a program developed by the Central Kootenay Invasive Species Society (CKISS).  Olga Hallborg will share her inspiration for developing a Castlegar chapter of Butterflyway Rangers and passion for building a public space for native plants and their pollinators.  Bren Beckwith, the gardens designer, will describe the transformation of the space into pollinator habitat, highlight some of the key plant species in the gardens, and link this project to others in the region, as well as provide information on how people can continue to learn and get involved.  Most of the plants that are growing in the Kootenay Gallery gardens have been provided by KinSeed Ecologies, Bren’s Nelson-based company that specializes in wild seed and plants that are truly native to the West Kootenay region. The Kootenay Gallery Native Plant Demonstration Gardens are a proud partnership of the Kootenay Gallery, Castlegar Butterflyway Rangers, Castlegar Communities in Bloom, KinSeed Ecologies, CKISS, and the Kootenay Native Plant Society (KNPS).