Let’s Plant with Dutchman’s Gold

Sierra Club Canada is planting 10 million seeds across Canada with Dutchman’s Gold, an Ontario based company.

Did you know that 1/3 of the world’s food supply relies on pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds? Sadly, their populations are declining due to habitat loss. At Dutchman’s Gold, they’re committed to creating a world that buzzes with life and that’s why we’re partnering with them on their Let’s Plant campaign.

With every purchase of a Dutchman’s Gold product, they’ll be contributing to the Let’s Plant initiative to plant seeds across Canada! Working together our goal is to plant 10 million seeds across Canada in 2025. But we can’t do it alone! We need you and your friends and family to join us in this vital initiative.

You can help by

1. Being a community organizer to receive and give the seeds to those who want to be part of action on the ground.
2. Securing some seeds for yourself and those on your street – let’s work out how to get the seeds to you!
3. Have a bigger project or want to start a seed orchard?  Let us know.
4. Your idea that we haven’t covered here!

Drop us an email at info@sierraclub.ca with the subject line ‘Let’s Plant.’ to let us know how you want to help! Let’s Plant.

You can also find out more about the campaign at the Dutchman’s Gold website.

There is an amazing diversity of bees in North America – an estimated 3600 species! – some of which can find a home in our very own backyards, community gardens, and local green spaces!

Bees are needed to pollinate most of our food crops as well as many native plants and flowers. Unfortunately, almost one third of bee species are threatened, and two out of five pollinating insect species (critters like butterflies and bees) are at risk of extinction. The loss of these amazing species is preventable – if we act together to create places where bees can thrive.

Working with Dutchman’s Gold’s Let’s Plant! initiative, we want to inspire people to nurture native flowering plants in their backyards and communities to create safe havens for bees.

Sierra Club Canada has extensive experience in the areas of protecting and restoring biodiversity, and we can support Dutchman’s Gold Honey’s commitment to ensuring meaningful actions to create bee habitat by providing expertise in native plant selection and cultivation techniques, engagement, education, and outreach. For our part, the Let’s Plant! partnership offers Sierra Club Canada an opportunity to provide opportunities for our members and supporters to take action on the issue of restoring bee habitat, enhancing  native plant diversity, and supporting sustainable local food.

Thank you to Prairie Moon Nursery for allowing us to share their information. 

Acknowledgement

We recognize that the plants we list here may hold different names and carry deep cultural, spiritual, and historical significance for many Indigenous Nations across what is now called Canada. These names reflect rich and diverse Indigenous languages, and relationships to the land.

Sierra Club Canada is committed to listening and learning. If you are willing to share your knowledge and help us better understand the Indigenous names and cultural significance of these plants, we welcome and encourage you to reach out.

With respect and humility, we thank all those who continue to share their stories, teachings, and connections to the land.

Native to, and can be planted in: Ontario, Quebec

Smooth Blue Aster (Aster à feuilles lisses) 

Symphyotrichum laeve

How to plant

Outdoor sowing in spring, on a weed-free plot, clear of vegetation is recommended for this plant species. Place seed no deeper than ⅛ inch into the soil and light cover with soil. Gently water after seeds have been sowed. This species has a germination code A, meaning there is no pre-treatment required for the seeds. Please review the online germination code handbook for more information.

Characteristics

• Life cycle: Perennial.
• Height: 4 feet (120 cm).
• Spread: 1 – 3 feet (30 – 90 cm).
• Bloom time: August – October.
• Bloom colour: Blue.
• Stratification: None.

This plant needs full or partial sun exposure in medium-wet, medium, or medium-dry soil.

• Chelsea Chopped (a pruning method)? Yes.
• Can it be aggressive? No.

Calico Aster (Aster latériflore) 

Symphyotrichum lateriflorum

How to plant

Outdoor sowing in spring, on a weed-free plot, clear of vegetation is recommended for this plant. Plant seeds spaced 18-36 inches apart. This species has the germination code A, meaning there is no pre-treatment required for the seeds. Please review the online germination code handbook for more information.

Characteristics

• Height: 5 feet (150 cm).
• Spread: 2 – 3 feet (60 – 90 cm).
• Bloom time: August – October.
• Bloom colour: White, purple.
• Stratification: None.

This plant needs full, partial sun exposure or a shaded area in medium-wet, medium or medium-dry soil.

• Chelsea chopped (a pruning method)? Yes.
• Can it be aggressive? Mildly.

Common Evening Primrose (Onagre Bisannuelle)

Oenothera biennis

How to plant

Outdoor sowing between late fall and early spring, on a weed-free plot, clear of vegetation is recommended for this plant. No pre-treatment is required for this species, but the seeds are very small or need light to naturally germinate. This means, the seeds should be surface sown with no soil cover applied, or just a light dusting. This species has the germination code A, D and G. Please review the online germination code handbook for more information.

For additional planting guidelines, we’ve worked out an estimate on how many seeds you should plant together. Estimating that ⅛ teaspoon (0.35 grams) gives 500 seeds, then you could plant 500 seeds per square meter.

Characteristics

• Life cycle: Perennial.
• Height: 6 feet (180 cm).
• Spread: 1 – 2 feet (30 – 60 cm).
• Bloom time: June – October.
• Bloom colour: Yellow.
• Stratification: None.

This plant needs full or partial sun exposure and medium-wet, medium, medium-dry, or dry soil conditions. Rocky or sandy soils are recommended.

• Can it be chelsea chopped? Yes.
• Can it be aggressive? Yes.

Upland White Goldenrod Upland White Aster (Verge d’or Faux-ptarmica)

Oligoneuron album/Aster Solidago ptarmicoides

How to plant

Outdoor sow at a depth of 1/16 inch between late fall and early spring, on a weed-free plot, clear of vegetation is recommended. No pre-treatments are required for this plant. This species has a germination code A. Please review the online germination code handbook for more information. For additional planting guidelines, we’ve worked out an estimate on how many seeds you should plant together. Estimating that ⅛ teaspoon (0.20 grams) gives 270 seeds, then you could plant 500 seeds per square meter.

Characteristics

• Life cycle: Perennial.
• Height: 1 – 1.5 feet (30 – 45 cm).
• Spread: 0.83 – 1 feet (25 – 30 cm).
• Bloom time: June – September.
• Bloom colour: White.
• Stratification: None.

This plant needs full sun exposure in medium-dry, dry soil conditions to grow.

• Can it be chelsea chopped? Yes.
• Aggressive? No.

Sneezeweed (Bois de la toux)

Helenium autumnale

How to plant

Direct sow on a weed-free plot, at a depth of ⅛ inches. This species has the germination codes A, and D. Please review the online germination code handbook for more information.

Characteristics

• Life cycle: Perennial.
• Height: 4 feet (120 cm).
• Spread: 2 – 3 feet (60 – 90 cm).
• Blooming time: August – October.
• Blooming colour: Yellow.
• Stratification: None.

This plant needs full sun exposure or partial shade and wet or medium-wet soil conditions to grow.

• Can it be chelsea chopped? Yes.
• Can it be aggressive? No.

Hoary Mountain Mint (Menthe des montagnes grises)

Pycnanthemum incanum

How to plant

Outdoor surface sowing in spring, on a weed-free plot, clear of vegetation is recommended for this plant species. Place seeds no deeper than ⅛ inch into the soil, making sure they are not completely buried, just lightly covered. Gently water after seeds have been sowed. This species has the germination codes A, and D.  Please review the online germination code handbook for more information.

Characteristics

• Life cycle: Perennial.
• Height: 3 – 6 feet (90 – 183 cm).
• Spread: 1 – 1.5 feet (30 – 45 cm).
• Bloom time: July – September.
• Blooming colour: White, purple.
• Stratification: None.

This plant needs full or partial sun exposure and medium, medium-dry soil conditions to grow.

• Can it be chelsea chopped? Yes.
• Can it be aggressive? Yes.

Purple Prairie Clover (Dalée violette)

Dalea purpurea

How to plant

Direct sow at a depth of ¼ inches or 6 mm into open compact soil. This species has the germination code A, I, and J. Please review the online germination code handbook for more information. For additional planting guidelines, we’ve worked out an estimate on how many seeds you should plant together. Estimating that ⅛ teaspoon (0.50 grams) gives 300 seeds, then you could plant 300 – 400 seeds per square meter.

Characteristics

• Life cycle: Perennial.
• Height: 1 – 3 feet (30 – 90 cm).
• Spread: 1.25 – 1.5 feet (38 – 45 cm).
• Blooming time: July – September.
• Blooming colour: Purple.
• Stratification: None.

This plant needs full sun to partial shade, and medium to dry, well-drained soils to grow.

• Can it be chelsea chopped? No.
• Can it be aggressive? No.

Wild Bergamot (Monarde Fistuleuse)

Monarda fistulosa

How to plant

Direct sow on weed-free plot at a depth of ⅛ inches. This species has the germination code A, meaning no pre-treatment is required for it. Please review the online germination code handbook for more information. For additional planting guidelines, we’ve worked out an estimate on how many seeds you should plant together. Estimating that ⅛ teaspoon (0.35 grams) gives 500 seeds, then you could plant 700 seeds per square meter.

Characteristics

• Life cycle: Perennial.
• Height: 2 – 4 feet tall (60 – 120 cm) and 2 – 3 ft. wide (60-90 cm).
• Spread: 1.5 – 1.96 feet (45 – 60 cm).
• Blooming time: July – September.
• Blooming colour: Purple.
• Stratification: None.

This plant needs full or partial sun exposure, and medium-wet, medium, or medium-dry soil conditions to grow.

• Can it be chelsea chopped? Yes.
• Can it be aggressive? Somewhat, but can be easily contained.

It is preferable to plant all of the above mentioned seeds in dense patches. It increases accessibility for all pollinators, but especially for the bees.