Bucks for Bellflowers: Calgary man offers cash for bagging invasive plant
A Calgary man is offering a cash reward to neighbours who dig up a bag full of Creeping Bellflower.
Simon Wilson, who lives in West Hillhurst, is paying $5 per garbage bag of the invasive plant, which is overrunning lawns and gardens in the community.
"I started seeing it in my lawn and in our front planter boxes," he said.
"You pick it before it flowers, like you're trying to do the best you can, and then, two months later, the next year, you're like, 'It's on the other side of the lawn now.'
"I found myself becoming more frustrated. Walking around the community, it's everywhere. I thought instead of being powerless to its spread, let's do something as a community."
Wilson has set aside $1,000 to pay West Hillhurst residents for their work, and says he's had two people cash in so far.
"If you show me a picture of a regular household garbage bag, I'll put five bucks in your mailbox."
Wilson says the first two people to take him up on the offer told him to donate the money to the food bank instead of paying them.
Creeping Bellflower has sprouted throughout Calgary, but has yet to flower and seed.Creeping Bellflower, a noxious weed, is seen in a Calgary yard.
Once that happens, each stem of the plant can produce up to 15,000 seeds.
Even getting rid of it before it seeds is difficult, because of the way it spreads.
The Alberta Invasive Species Council website lists Creeping Bellflower as a noxious weed, and says on a fact sheet that digging out as much of the roots system as possible can be successful, but will require "several years’ effort."
"Hand-pulling or cutting and bagging flower spikes pre-bloom can be an option for preventing seed production. However, the plant will re-sprout from its creeping root system."
Adding to the problem is the fact that Creepping Bellflower is a pretty plant when it blooms, and many people do not recognize it as a weed until it’s too late.
Creeping Bellflower is pretty but noxious.The City of Calgary warns that Creeping Bellflower seeds are sometimes even found in wildflower mixes, and says gardeners should check the labels to ensure that those containing the Campanula species do not contain C. rapunculoides.
The city also says you should never place Creeping Bellflower parts in your green compost bin.
Instead, they should be bagged and disposed of in the black garbage bin, so they do not contaminate the city’s composting program.
Wilson says he knows his bounty won’t solve the city-wide spread of Creeping Bellflower, but hopes it will engage his inner-city community to expunge the invading plants.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'