Oct. 13, 2021

Seeds from hundreds of native plants are being harvested at Newnham Campus, and come next spring, will be offered to Seneca students and employees to help create and restore wildlife habitats in their own neighbourhoods.

As part of the new Seed Orchard project from WWF-Canada, Seneca received $5,000 to plant perennials native to Ontario. They include butterfly weed, prairie smoke, prairie dropseed and spotted beebalm.

“The goal of the initiative is to expand the network of native plants in local communities,” said Paula Echeveste Petrone, Sustainability Supervisor at Seneca. “Some of the seeds we planted are pollinator-friendly. This will help increase food sources for birds, bees and butterflies and support biodiversity on campus.”

Seneca is one of five postsecondary institutions in Ontario selected to participate in the project. In total, 400 native plants in 40 planters were placed along Premier Davis Boulevard, by the entrance to Building A, in the medicine garden at Odeyto and on the hill of the pollinator garden outside Building D.

“The Seed Orchard project adds value to what we have already been doing at Seneca,” Ms. Echeveste Petrone said. “It makes you rethink the idea that you need a lot of land for planting. What we have here is really a container-based seed orchard.”

WWF-Canada has partnered with Seneca on many projects in recent years, including the Living Planet@Campus program, a salt reduction pilot and the pollinator garden.

Ryan Godfrey, Specialist, Community Action — Restoration and Regeneration, with WWF-Canada, says partnering with Seneca on the Seed Orchard project was an easy decision.

“Seneca really takes this type of initiative to heart,” he said. “And schools and campuses came to mind immediately because they are hubs. It’s where people are. It’s where people are learning, becoming adults and figuring out what they are going to do next.”

In addition to native plants received from WWF-Canada, Seneca planted wild strawberries and asters in the medicine garden. With the help of five students from the Environmental Landscape Management diploma program, Ms. Echeveste Petrone has harvested a variety of seeds, including some tobacco seeds from Odeyto.

“Some of the seeds are super tiny,” she said. “The beebalm seeds, for example, are like poppy seeds. And for the prairie dropseed, which is grass, you have to comb it like hair and collect the seeds using an envelope.”

The butterfly weed seeds, on the other hand, are found in pods.

“The next step will be to process and clean these seeds,” Ms. Echeveste Petrone said. “After that, we are looking forward to sharing them with as many Seneca students and employees as possible so they can plant their own seed orchard.”