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Bee and Butterfly Garden Revamp
Our fenced kitchen garden was designed with pollinators in mind. In the southeastern corner, there is a bee and butterfly garden planted with Liatra Spicata, purple Echinacea, red gladiolas and daffodils (primarily for me), and several other potted perennial flowers I picked up during the summer. The Kniphofia (Traffic Lights) didn’t blossom this summer, but I think they did at least grow plants. The real problem with the bee and butterfly garden is that its location in the corner makes weeding a real problem. I was not about to attempt weeding while the Liatra Spicata were in blossom. From sunup to sundown, the bees loved this flower. There was no…
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Flowers for Friday
If you’ve eaten okra but never seen it grow, you probably have no idea that those sometimes prickly pods have such beautiful origins. This time of year, morning walks always include picking pods and checking out the bumble bees in the okra blossoms. Last year I saved seeds from my burgundy okra using pantyhose and paint bush to prevent cross pollination with the neighbors’ green okra. Several of the plants are producing greenish pods, so my methods weren’t perfect. These flowers grace the entrance of the boys’ bean teepee, or “Teebonacci”. The bean vines of the teepee are entering the okra patch as they look for new avenues of upward…
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Discovery: Bumblebees and Sunflowers
Last summer’s garden was such a disappointment – even the bees wouldn’t come visit it. I’m not sure what happened exactly, because I had bees early in the season, but they disappeared as soon as things heated up. Even with attempting to self-pollinate the tomatoes and squash, production was abnormally low. This Spring I loaded the garden with sunflowers seeds, flower bulbs and wildflower seeds hoping to entice the pollinators with something a little better than the clover that keeps taking over the lawn. My two kinds of lavender blossomed and I let some of the oregano blossom rather than pruning it all back. Sure enough, the bees are thrilled…
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Feeders, Houses, and Lily-philes
Earlier this week, both boys were sick and I got very stir crazy – half of it was waiting to see if I came down with what either of them had. A girl can only spend so much time in and around her own house while tending to too very whiney children without taking a gander to Amazon. After interrupting a humming bird at my red Asiatic Lilies, I figured now was the perfect time to hang a feeder. The two previous summers, there have been no visitors to my old feeder on the deck, and due to rusting and general nastiness, that feeder found its was to the trash.…
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Spring Fling Giveaway: Bee Happy!
I’m new here at Love Sown, and I sometimes get lengthy… but I think you’ll enjoy the read! So hang in there with me…. Years ago whenever I told people I’d never been stung by a bee, I said it was because I was a “bee charmer.” (Please say you’ve all seen Fried Green Tomatoes.) I’ve never had a fear of bees so when we moved into our house in the middle of a downtown area and my horticulturist husband asked if we could have honeybees I actually thought it was a fun idea. (Since then, I have said no to chickens and a goat!) Four summers later, we are…
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Garden Pics
Pictured: tomato blossom, pea garden and path, corn and pole beans, row garden (tomatoes, squash and watermelon), onions and romaine, squash blossoms This is the fun time of year in the garden for me. The mosquitoes aren’t too angry, the tree pollen has subsided, and there is occasionally a cool breeze. Last year I did a lot of assisted pollination of my squash plants, but this year they seem to be setting fruit just fine on their own. While my Carolina Jessamine is no longer attracting drones of bumble bees to my yard, there is plenty clover to keep them interested. With the recent wind and breezes, I’m fairly certain…
