The flower border marks the line between the Showcase Permaculture Garden and the Macdonald Student-Run Ecological Gardens. It is not only for aesthetic purposes, but also for attracting pollinators and providing some insect habitat. 

Conventional farming practices, such as monocultures and the use of pesticides threaten many pollinator populations. Providing habitat and resources for especially wild native pollinators is extremely important for their conservation as well as for the ecosystem services they provide. Having stable pollinator populations in a garden has also been shown to increase fruit yield and quality. 

To make the flower border into a pollinator garden, we selected a variety of species, many of which are native perennial flowers. It was important to have high diversity since different species of insects can be specialized to different plants, depending on their size, colour and shape. The flowers were chosen so that there would always be something in bloom throughout the season, and in a range of colours. This provides food for the greatest number of species over the longest period of time. Native species favour native pollinator populations because they would have coevolved together. Perennial species make the garden more self-sustaining and minimize the work needed over time. 

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