And Good For Pollinators Too Aside from the beautiful fall foliage colors there’s not much color elsewhere. Chrysanthemum seems to be abundant in autumn but I’m not a fan of it. I associate it with mourning. It’s commonly used in funerals and to arrange on a wreath. So, I don’t plant chrysanthemum in our garden. We still have plenty of choices for autumn blooming plants … Continue reading Late Season Flowers
Starting Over Again After Six Years We still can’t figure out what happened to our honeybees. They were gone, without a trace last winter. There was plenty of honey still stored in each hive but just a few dead bees in there, most of them were young bees. There was no foul smell in any of the hives and the frames looked clean. After six years … Continue reading New Hives
…With A Cold Shoulder I took the day off from work yesterday and the weather was on my side. Still plenty of snow on the ground but the temperature had soared to nearly 60°F. The honeybees should have been out and about now with a temperature this high, but alas, none to be seen. So I decided to inspect one hive. Intrinsically I knew I … Continue reading Spring Has Sprung
And It Will Not Be a Good One We came back from our vacation to a sharp drop in temperature. Our friends told us that while we were gone the temperature had gone up to the 60°F for a couple of days and mostly hovered above 50°F for the rest of that period. I can see the result of warm temperatures in our garden. Roses, … Continue reading Spring Is Coming
A Tiny Fragrant Star Winter is my time for basement gardening. Where we live we have to put our tropical plants in the basement for the winter. It’s a lot of labor to go through twice a year. We take them in when we know that the night temperature will drop and stay below 45°F, usually around late September or early October. Then take them back … Continue reading Water Jasmine
Weed Flowers Most people hate weeds, maybe with an exception for Cannabis. I don’t like weeds either but as I turn our little garden patch back to nature, to make it into a sanctuary for other species as well as ourselves, I have to learn to get along with weeds. When I walk through a farmer’s market, I also note that they sell many flowers we … Continue reading Flowers For Pollinators III
Vegetables And Herbs As I mentioned in the previous post, I left some vegetables and herbs flowering for pollinators and for seeds. It also helps to draw beneficial insects into the vegetable patch. The downside is that these beneficial insects don’t discriminate, they eat anything they can grab, honeybees and bumblebees included. But we never have to spray our vegetables. There are many more herbs and vegetables in … Continue reading Flowers for Pollinators II
A Good Time For Planning: Flowers For Pollinators I Snow came down two days ago accumulating just three inches. Today the garden is still covered with snow and the temperature dropped down to just above 10°F. It’s a perfect winter day for bird watching through the patio door. Since the ground is covered with snow and the sources of water around here have turned to ice, they congregate around our … Continue reading Too Cold To Be Outside
In Anticipation Of A Better Year Happy New Year 2017 I would like to present you with the image of a warmer day in our garden, the Zephirine Drouhin rose. A climbing fragrant rose that blooms continuously throughout the season. One of many things I anticipate again in June. About this ‘anticipation’, I got the idea from a free bookmark I received from the American Horticultural Society of which … Continue reading Happy New Year
Coming And Going Of Seasons Another year just about to end, a new one to start and life will go on. Nothing keeps your perspective on life in check like gardening I believe. I can see the full cycle life, from beginning to end in one season. And, nothing keeps your perspective on society in check like beekeeping. As Marcus Aurelius stated in his Mediations “That … Continue reading Happy Holidays
Petals and Wings 