PlanBee Native Plants
421 Laurier Avenue v3c3v4 Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada

This is False lily of the valley (Maianthemum dilatatum), often seen carpeting large areas of the shady forest floor. Did you know these and many other native plants are important winter food sources for birds? Throughout the winter birds that hang around rely mostly on left over seed heads and berries that persist into and throughout the winter. Making your garden valuble for wildlife can be simple and so rewarding when you see your efforts sustaining the life around you.

Leave your leaves! It may be a little late for this post as we're already into December, but it can't hurt! It has become our standard norm in our society to clear away any leaves or debris that land in our yards so we can keep our yards aestetically pleasing. However in this effort we are removing natures natural function! Leaves are an important part of the nutrient cycle. All of these leaves on the ground were created by a tree and made out of nutrients that plant took... from the soil. If left where they fall or even raked into a pile these leaves serve multiple purposes. First off they slowly break down and decompose over winter and spring, adding nutrients back into the soil (basically a plants way of recycling nutrients). They also are crucial habitat for many over wintering insects (including bumble bee queens and caterpillars), amphibians and other small creatures that need the insulation from the cold and wet winter months. As a result of leaving your leaves you may also see more birds visiting over the colder months looking for those overwintering insects. See more

Exactly why native plants are important. Many garden centres also sell common invasive species that are extremely harmful to the surounding ecosystem. Invasives such as Butterfly Bush, Periwinkle, English Ivy, Cherry Laurel...etc. the list goes on, but its important to know what you're buying. More information about invasive species coming soon.

End of season sale!!! Last chance to come out and get some native plants for the fall season. Almost all 2 gallon shrubs marked down to $20 as well as many other plants marked down for quick sale. Open this Saturday from 1-5pm at 421 laurier avenue, Port Coquitlam. Also featuring "Natashas pumpkin patch" open the same day and hours!

Quite often I get asked "what is a native plant?" And after feeling like I never quite explain it as well as Im able I decided to write up an official explanation. Hope this helps some people better understand the importance of planting native :). What Is a native (indigenous) plant? A native plant is a species that has naturally evolved in a particular region over thousands of years to fulfil a specific niche in a given ecosystem... Why are they so important? Native plants are an integral part of our ecosystem and directly support all of the natural life around us. This is because all of our insects, birds and other wildlife have co-evolved overtime to form unique relationships with our native plant species. 90% of insects require native plants to survive. Plants are all made up of unique chemicals that insects have specifically adapted to. Just like how we cannot eat any plant we want, insects can't either. The problem with non-native species Non-native species cannot feed the majority of our insects and other life. Yet, we have almost completely replaced our natural environment and gardens with plants from a completely different ecosystem. Many of these species are invasive and inevitably wreak havoc on whats left of natural areas when they escape the yards they were planted in. This practice has only added to habitat loss and the extinction crisis currently among us. But we can all make a difference and bring life back into our gardens just by adding native plants to our landscape.

Last weekend was our last couple of days open for the season. Appreciate everyone who came out and bought plants in my very first few months open . I will be back next spring, bigger and better with more species of plants and other products available. Other than that if anyone has any inquiries I am open by appointment only. Message me here or at [email protected] if youd like to come by and check out our plant selection. Lots of updates and tips/info on helping our native pollinators coming soon.. Stay tuned!

Our last weekend of the year that we'll be open is September 26th/27th. Fall is a great time of year to plant perrenials as well as shrubs or trees to give their roots a head start on establishing in the spring .

In order to save the bees, we must also know the bees...at least a little. What do you see in these pictures? If you said bees, then thats a perfectly normal response. However look closer and you'll see the first three photos are actually flies disguising themselves as bees and the last two are actually bumble bees. Many different species of flies have adopted this mimicry strategy. By copying the colour patterns of bees, this gives them an added layer of protection from... predators that may be wary of the other common stinging insects. And clearly it works! However there are some easy ways to tell these flies apart! Their bulging eyes that are directly side by side as pictured is a clear give away, where as bees have smaller less distinct eyes each on opposite side of their heads. Other give aways is that flies have very short, straight antennae on the front centre of their heads, where bees have longer slightly curved versions. Bees have two pairs of wings, where flies have only one. This distinction is important because many people with good intentions think they are attracting bees with their gardens when they are actually only attracting flies. The amount of bio doversity you can attract by adding native plants to your yard/garden cannot be competed with by foreign ornamental species. Open weekends 11-3

Sorry everyone, closed for today. Back open next weekend as usual :)