Time to Start Seedlings There are still a few feet of snow in the garden and the temperature remains below the freezing point. There’s no sign of spring in sight aside from a few confused American Goldfinches that have started to molt early. We chiseled a path around the house but not much else. House bound, pretty much. Reading books and plant catalogs keep me busy in … Continue reading Between Winter And Spring
A Remarkable Home Remedy; Ginger Tea It is late winter now and so far we’ve escaped without suffering colds or flu (although my fingers are crossed). With the unforgiving winter weather this year many of my friends and colleagues have come down with either colds or flu. Some took flu shots but got sick anyway. I had a flu shot some years ago and … Continue reading Tea For Cold And Flu
Growing Milkweed I forgot about an article I had read on the effort to rescue the Monarch butterflies from extinction. Setting the Table for a Regal Butterfly Comeback, With Milkweed by Michael Wines in The New York Times on 12/20 may be old news but it is still good news for pollinators, and the Monarchs specifically. It would be very interesting to see wild native flowers … Continue reading Helping Monarchs And Other Pollinators
Summer Flowers Summer flowers in our garden are easy to grow and most of them are drought tolerant. Having a full time job I have to be practical about what I plant in the garden. I water the vegetable garden regularly since most of the vegetables don’t do well without constant care. The opposite goes for the rest of the garden. Most of them are … Continue reading Flowers For Bees (Continued)
Let Herbs Flower Since I started keeping honey bees, the decision on what plants to add to our garden factors in the honey bees as one of the reasons. I used to think of fragrant, native, butterfly and bird friendly as reasons to choose a plant. Flowers that butterflies love is not necessarily good for bees. The butterfly has a very long proboscis, much longer … Continue reading Flowers For Bees
Yes, It’s a Weed But…. I have no idea how Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) aka Milkweed came to be in our garden. They just showed up two years ago and have stayed ever since. Getting rid of it proved to be not an easy task, but taming it is quite easy. I just pull the stalk out of the ground. The first year it showed … Continue reading Milkweed
Something I Overlooked: This year will be my second year as a beekeeper and hopefully I will do a better job than my freshman year. At this moment I just hope the bees survive this roller coaster winter. I know there are still some bees in the hive since I’ve seen dead bees on fresh snow all the time. I would consider it a small … Continue reading Flowers For Bees
Still A Lot More Autumn will be here in a week; September 22nd is the first day to be exact. I don’t really go by the date when I think of autumn. I depend on the temperature and plants in the garden to tell me that fall is coming. The same goes for spring when I’m prompted to start sowing seeds by the sprouting of … Continue reading Flowers For Bees in Late Summer
Making Their Lives Easier I know bees fly for many miles to collect nectar and pollen, but since they’ve entered our lives now, I’m hoping that I provide enough flowering plants for them to be happy closer to home. I wouldn’t insist they just forage in our garden but at least I can encourage them to do so by providing them with flowers they like. … Continue reading Flowers For Bees – A Great Trade
Petals and Wings 