Roofs & Rambles

Deep in the heart of downtown Edmonton is a wonderful green roof atop the offices of Stantec. I was fortunate to visit this green roof during my speaker/lecture tour of Alberta back in June. The green roof could be considered a green roof designed for native biodiversity. Much of the planting is native and, certainly when I was there, there was a lot of bee activity.

Amongst the flowers I managed to identify were Brown-eyed susan, Nodding onion, Showy aster, Yellow beardtongue and Smooth blue aster.

The bees seemed particularly attractive to two other plants. Two-grooved milk vetch and a plant I have yet to identify [any tips send me a comment - finally someone has identified the plant - a Richardson's Alumroot - see below].

I will be doing a full report on the roof in the near future on livingroofs.

Dusty Gedge is available for lectures, seminars and training on green roofs, nature conservation and ecosystem services