Friday, June 23th – Tuesday, September 5th, 2023
ENTRY DEADLINE: MIDNIGHT, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

Summer officially begins this week and we are excited to kick it off with our annual Summer Photo Contest! Late June and early July typically coincide with increasing butterfly diversity and the contest continues right through peak flowering time in the garden.

Entrants may submit up to 3 photos per category for a maximum of 12 photos. Categories are as follows:

1) Butterflies & Moths
2) Insects, Spiders, & Bugs
3) Birds & Other Wildlife
4) Plants & Flowers

All photos must be taken from the paths of the Urquhart Butterfly Garden. Nearby Canal Park is NOT included in the contest boundaries.

Photos are to be submitted all at once via Google Forms.

The contest entry form can be found by following this link: ENTRY FORM or by visiting https://tinyurl.com/Butterfly-Garden

For questions, or help, with the entry form please contact: ubgsummercontest@gmail.com

A crucial element of the contest is correctly identifying the species in each submission. This isn’t always easy! If you are stuck please don’t hesitate to speak with garden staff onsite or to consult online or print resources. Some excellent online resources include:

iNaturalist.ca: Especially helpful for Plant ID
Bugguide.net: For insects, spiders, & you guessed it.
Sibley Birding App or Merlin Birding App: For Bird ID help
Cornell Lab ‘All About Birds’ website: Bird ID

If you are still stuck please feel welcome to reach out to the contest email address: ubgsummercontest@gmail.com

Please respect other visitors, staff, and garden guidelines while visiting the garden.

A full list of Official Contest Rules may be found on the announcement posters below.

Once again, the Contest Entry Form may be found here: ENTRY FORM
Deadline is September 5, 2023!
Best of luck to all entrants!

What a spring! One day it is too hot, the next day snow and freezing temperatures, then rain, rain, rain. It has made it hard to do gardening. Nonetheless we are pressing ahead.

Our gardener for the season is Kathy Michaluk, who is often joined by volunteer Rose Anne Prevec. When shrubs and plants arrive more people will be assisting. Monica Brecht and her sister, Mike and Ryan will all be lending a hand.

The beavers have caused considerable damage to the shrubs along banks and the pathway to Canal Park. We shall doing some replacement planting with fast growing willows.

If you hurry to the Garden you will see the beautiful Captain Cootes Red apple trees in full bloom. There are quite a few Painted Lady butterflies on our pearly everlasting, also the occasional Red Admiral finding just the right stinging nettle. We are off to an early start.

We hope to keep “Seen in the Garden” up-to-date, and there will be a our usual series of Saturday talks – so far the line-up looks great.

JC