🌿Butterflyway project – Stephen Deedes and Sally Hocking

This talk will include butterfly identification, citizen science, plants that attract butterflies (host and nectar) and community building.  Stephen’s focus is on motivating and enlisting the help of neighbours to plant pollinator-friendly plants to support the indigenous butterflies, native bees and hummingbirds. This includes preparing beds for planting and even repairing or replacing fences.  Teaming up with his gardening wife, Sally, and working as a volunteer for the David Suzuki Foundation he has focused on engaging the community to get involved with the Butterflyway Ranger Project.

Sally trained and worked as a landscape architect in the UK. After a decade working in Northshore gardens and parks, Sally started to work in retail, including West Van Florist for many years. Now she enjoys working at Stems Floral Department in Stongs Market, where she can walk to work.  She is also a keen gardener and chair of the Deep Cove Garden Club.  

At the end of April 2018, when Stephen had completed his Butterflyway Ranger training, he asked Sally to help him create a pollinator-friendly planting for summer 2018  – a challenge since it was  already the beginning of May, a late start in the horticultural year.   Since then, Sally has focused on plants for our local Northshore butterflies, and pollinator-friendly planting and management in her own garden and adjacent pollinator patches.

As a bit of computer geek, Stephen is also supporting the David Suzuki Foundation with technical advice for the Citizen Science work using iNaturalist as means of recording and analysing butterfly populations across the lower mainland.

This presentation will be aired via Zoom videoconferencing.  See https://naturevancouver.ca/zoom-videoconference-instructions/ .   On Monday Aug 24, Nature Vancouver members will receive the Zoom link in the weekly eNews.  To join, click on that link after 7pm.  The talk will begin as usual at 7:30.

Non-members are welcome and should Email  denis@NatureVancouver.ca well in advance to register for the link. 

To socialize before 7:30 we encourage you to turn on your microphone and camera; turn them both off at 7:30.  In the  Q&A after the talk, please type in your questions using the “chat” sidebar.