After a few days of dark, dreary weather, the apricot trees in the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard lighting up the park with their beautiful blossoms. They’re the first to bloom this year. Coming up soon will the cherry and plum blossoms, with the apples and Asian pears following suit.

And the volunteers of the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard are now back in the park! It’s been great to see everyone after a long winter. On April 6th, we did a general park cleanup.

But here is what we didn’t do. We did not remove the leaves and flower stocks from our pollinator garden! Why? Well, these bits and pieces are like bug hotels for beneficial insects during the colder months. Bees, butterflies, and even ladybugs nestle in there to stay cozy until the weather warms.

These critters need about 10 days of warmer weather with the temperatures consistently above 10°C. Only then will they wake up and get to work doing what they do so well. That includes pollinating our fruit trees so that the trees will produce fruit for us to eat and share this year.

We will be ready for some pollinator garden cleanup on our next volunteer day which will be Sunday, April 21 from 9-11 am. How about joining us? We’re always on the lookout for new volunteers. No experience? No problem! We’ll teach you how to garden. Just bring a hat, comfy clothes and shoes, gloves, and your enthusiasm. To join in, shoot us an email at growingforgreen (at) gmail.com. See you there!

Susan Poizner is one of the volunteers for The Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard in Toronto. She is the creator of the fruit tree care education website OrchardPeople.com.  Susan is the author of four fruit tree care books including Grow Fruit Trees Fast: A Beginner’s Guide to a Healthy Harvest in Record Time. She is also the host of the Orchard People podcast and an ISA Certified Arborist.