Tee’s Plants proudly partners with the Friends of the Bees of Canada (FOTB.ca) to support local garden projects that enhance pollinator habitats and promote environmental sustainability. Through this partnership, Tee’s Plants provides some funding, supplies, and a diverse selection of pollinator-friendly plants to help create thriving gardens that benefit bees and other vital pollinators. By combining resources and expertise, Tee’s Plants and FOTB empower communities to cultivate beautiful, biodiverse spaces while raising awareness about the importance of pollinator conservation. This collaboration ensures that local gardens not only flourish but also contribute to a healthier, more sustainable environment for all.
Free Seeds
For 2026, Tee’s Plants and the Friends of the Bees have 3 unique seed selections for you to try when you visit, until supplies run out!
- Sunflower Blend – Large sunflowers that produce lots of pollen, nectar, and seeds!
- Bright Lights Cosmos – Super easy to grow, heat loving annuals that don’t need much care! Attracts pollinators of all sorts!
- Great Lakes Wildflower Blend – A bit of a time investment, this collection includes annuals, biennials, and perennials that are both cold hardy and drought tolerant. They should return for years to come once established. The range of colours is huge, as are the number of native insects that will come to feed on them. Any area with limited biodiversity will be improved by the Great Lakes Wildflower Blend.
How to plant your free seeds!
Tall Sunflower Blend
Sow: Outdoors after the last frost. Depth: ½ to 1 inch deep. Spacing: 6 to 12 inches apart. Light: Full sun. Care: Sunflowers are hearty and grow fast! Keep the soil moist until the seedlings emerge. Once established, they are drought-tolerant and make excellent, towering beacons for local bees and pollinators.
Bright Lights Cosmos
Sow: Outdoors after the danger of frost has passed. Depth: ¼ inch deep (barely cover the seeds). Spacing: 12 to 18 inches apart. Light: Full sun. Care: These vibrant blooms actually thrive in poorer soils, so avoid heavy fertilizers. Water regularly until established, and enjoy the beautiful butterflies they attract to the garden all summer long.
Great Lakes Perennial Blend
Sow: Spring or early fall. Depth: Scatter evenly on a prepared surface and lightly compress into the soil. Do not bury them deeply, as many perennial seeds need light to germinate. Light: Full to partial sun. Care: Clear the planting area of weeds before sowing. Keep the soil consistently moist during the first few weeks of germination. This blend will establish strong roots in its first year to provide returning, pollinator-friendly blooms year after year.
Good luck! Please send pictures to order@teesplants.com! 🙂
Free Plants
Tee’s Plants is proud to support pollinator conservation by donating a Friend of the Bees certified plant to your garden with every purchase of $35 or more. These specially selected plants provide vital food and habitat for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, helping to create a thriving, sustainable environment. Together, we can make a meaningful impact, one garden at a time!
Community Planting
Be part of our community planting initiative, and become a true friend of the bees! Help us by planting sunflower seeds, as well as your annuals, perennials, and other native plants at your property to beautify the community and provide essential resources for bees. Make an extra effort so your neighbors can see, to help encourage them to start a garden of their own!
Other Beneficial Plants
Celebrate the bees by learning more about the native and beneficial plants that they love. Tee’s Plants doesn’t use pesticides, herbicides, or growth regulators and offers a full set of garden plants to help your insects. Many other large greenhouses have started to pre-treat vegetable starts and flowers with sprays to optimize profits, which does not benefit our flying friends.
Don’t forget these plants which are also available for your viewing:
Swamp Milkweed (Monarch host)
Butterfly Milkweed
Lavender
Marigolds (several varieties and colours)
Alyssum
Herbs, and more!
Friends of the Bees Community Plants
Tee’s Plants aims to donate more plants to community gardens within our region for the 2026 garden season!
The community plants initiative is a partnership between Tee’s Plants and the Friends of the Bees of Canada (fotb.ca).
I’m excited to partner with new organizations each year to provide free plants and seeds to help fill their gardens. To date, this program has introduced thousands of perennials, annuals, vegetables, and herbs into gardens like yours in Chatham-Kent and beyond! Thanks for your help!
As you know, starting a garden can be quite expensive. Tee’s Plants can help mitigate the cost of expensive plants, making it much easier for you and your organization to get started.
If you’re a representative of a local organization that shares our love for garden life, send an email to order@teesplants.com containing the following information included in the body of the email for consideration:
- Organization Name:
- Organization Location:
- Organization Mission:
- Organization Contact Name and Information (email):
- Do you promote “green” gardening practices in your gardens? How so?:
- What kinds of plants do you grow, or wish to grow in your garden?:
- Who benefits from your garden? (What people, or wildlife visit?):
- Are you able to send a few photos of your garden/plants/harvest for us to include in a gallery, or be visited to have your garden professionally photographed in the Summer?:
- Are you able to pickup from Dresden the first week of June?:
These plants are entirely funded by the customers of Tee’s Plants, who value conservation, ecological respect, and a safe, welcoming environment for all!
We don’t plant invasive species, and we always check if we’re not sure.
We plant extras for the wildlife, of all kinds, and we make sure to keep them safe by not spraying pesticides, herbicides, or growth regulators!
Heads up – community spots are limited and filled quite early so that I can ensure the right plants are available for your community garden on-time.
You can expect a variety of vegetables, annuals, and perennials as needed. On occasion, Tee’s Plants might employ small signage about the Friends of the Bees.
Click here for a copy of an application.
Find some cool pictures of local insects from Chatham-Kent below, taken by your neighborhood Friends of the Bees!
