Leaving 2008 - Hello 2009!

Well, the balmy weather didn't last. Right now it is about 18 degrees out there with high winds and blowing snow. Actually, I enjoy the cold and snow -- it's a good reminder that it's still a few months before I can actually do anything outside. (I tend to jump the gun every year!) Anyhow, I'm enjoying my bee forage plant research and have met some really nice folks online who have offered comments and suggestions as to plantings, etc. Thanks all -- and keep 'em coming! :-)

On "The Melissa Garden" website they publish a list of forage plants aimed at honeybees. Elderberry shrubs are mentioned. It gave me pause to consider that not only should I focus on herbs and flowers, but I will need blossoming trees and shrubs in the sanctuary for more all around appeal for pollinators.

So I started cruising the web and eventually contacted a winery that specializes in elderberry wine where they grow their own berries. The vintner said that bees do indeed go nuts for the blossoms. He sent pics of huge shrubs in bloom and they were breathtaking! He also advised as to which type of elderberries seem to get the most attention. Great info (thanks Jack!). Since then I've tracked down a good supplier in NY from which I will be ordering a collection of 8 rooted cutting of 4 types of elders this coming spring.

Now I'm going to confess here, that I've never really liked elderberries and much much prefer blackberries (*drool*). But my choices for the gardens now are not aimed at pleasing myself anymore. It's for the pollinators and so elderberries it is! And while the bees will forage on the blossoms, eventually there must be those berries to deal with! ;-) Ah well.... I can only hope that the birds will enjoy the harvest. But should there ever be an over-abundance, I will make good on my plan to make juice, jams and jellies and then give it away to folks that help and support me in this sanctuary project. A true 'thank you' from the bees and pollinators.

Now I think it's time to put out some more food for the birds, throw another log on the fire, refill my coffee, and then just veg out for the rest of the year.

I wish us all well in 2009! Take care and 'bee good' .

Repair, reuse, recyle

Once again Ohio has displayed its whiplash weather and slammed on the winter brakes, rolling in some very warm (and windy) days for the holidays. It got up to 60 degrees yesterday and I was able to enjoy a couple of hours on the deck with coffee and seed catalogs. suh-weet!

I also had a nice walk-about to check the garden beds. Everything was in order so I moseyed back to the new ring garden and saw a lot of deer tracks in the soft dirt. While filling some of the deeper holes I was very happy to see that in nearly every leaf-filled clod I turned over there were earthworms going to town. Great! Already the ring garden is attracting the right kind of crowd. :-) I wished the wrigglers bon appetite and promised to replenish their shredded leaf supply in early March. Glad I saved back a really big pile of leaves!

As to my 'forum quest' I'd like to thank Jean for putting forth a very good suggestion regarding my last post. While I have been in email conversation with the GW forum folks about establishing a 'Pollinator Garden' forum, I hadn't given consideration to using the existing Bee/Beekeeping forum as a viable alternative to requesting a new forum. Though I had previously posted in that forum a time or two about pollinator gardens (with no response), I didn't pursue the subject.

Well, duh! Why not? I mean, good grief! Repair, reuse, recycle has been my standard for decades. Why limit that concept to physical things like paper, leaves, furniture, clothes, etc. I should revisit the lethargic Bee/Beekeeping forum, continue to post about pollinator gardens and gardening and, with luck and persistence, find like-minded individuals looking for community and conversation with regards to pollinator gardens and sanctuaries. Can't hurt.

Who knows? There may be others lurking around that forum hoping to find suggestions on how to attract and support some of our planet's most important insects to their gardens.

Game on. Keep your fingers crossed!
More garden buzz soon.

Ho-ho-hoping for a forum

I always look forward to the Winter Solstice (tomorrow) because then the days will start to get longer again. Yay! The sun is so far south now and rises so late and stays (seemingly) so briefly. But I honestly don't think I would enjoy gardening in more southern climes where (like my friend in southern Florida) a person has to garden all year 'round.

I guess, having been raised in northern climes, my own inner cycle needs the same dormancy of our hardy perennial plants hereabouts. Besides, there is much to do during the cold months: planning vegetable gardens, research pollinator forage information, seed starting in the basement (well, maybe waiting until Feb-Mar), and other 'inside' projects, like finding ways to share bee/pollinator garden information.

Regarding the latter, I'm trying to convince a well-respected and very informative online forum: the iVillage GardenWeb to include a forum dedicated to Pollinator Gardens . Currently this site has a forum dedicated to "Bees and Beekeeping", but there is no conversation or information here for gardening for bees/pollinators. The forum that exists is apparently aimed at 'dealing' with bee- and wasp-like insects or working with domestic hives and honey production, neither of which has anything to do with designing gardens to support wild/feral pollinators.

Pollinator gardens and such sanctuaries are not about raising bees for fun/profit or how to get rid of a yellow-jacket nest. It is not about 'working with insects'. It is about understanding that in order for us to continue to benefit and enjoy the results (fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc.) of pollinators they need to be healthy and prolific. And right now they are neither.

Sterile landscapes, sterile lawns, the loss of open fields to 'development', all these activities make it difficult for pollinators to find reliable food (and in some cases, medicinal) sources. Remember, while domestic honeybee hives (the ones succumbing to CCD) are 'in the news' thus getting popular attention, many other types of bees, wasps, hoverflies, etc pollinate plants and crops that honeybees do not! There is a division of labor, so to speak.

Anyway, if you subscribe to iVillage GardenWeb (and I highly recommend it, the people there are helpful and kind and just plain nice folks), please take a moment to drop the administration a note suggesting that a forum devoted to bee sanctuaries or pollinator gardens would be useful - a forum where the PLANTS and PROCESS is the subject, not the insects that (we hope) will be attracted by, and benefit from, our efforts.

Thanks.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all (and 'bee' good! ;-) )

Looking ahead

It's kinda difficult to post about bees or other pollinators when the 'long dark' is upon us here in Northeast Ohio. Frigid temps (12F right now) and blowing bitter snow almost denies what's to come next Spring. And honestly, we're just really getting into Winter! *sigh*

While bed development is at a standstill, at least there is ample time to add to my knowledge base of individual types of bees, hover flies and butterflies that the gardens will serve. Knowing which bees prefer what type of habitat will make the sanctuary more effective.

And here is a nice site that has lots of info on bees.

Take, for instance, the MASON BEE.

The pictures at the top of the post are not mine, but I found them in Google Images. The first one is a Red Mason Bee and the next one is a Blue Mason Bee.

I've never actually identified a mason bee on the property, but it may be that I have little for them to gather nectar or pollen from that early in the season. (Although I do have 3 crabapples...hmmm.) According to the above site, "blocks of wood with holes drilled in them attract nesting bees. These nest blocks are hung from trees or are placed in shelters for protection from the weather."

This is a pic is one of many commercial mason bee habitats that come in different configurations and materials. The bottom line is that these bees want a little tunnel to stock with a wad of pollen/nectar, lay an egg, seal it up, then repeat the process out to the end of the tunnel.

Well, mason bee habitat sounds like a fine winter project. While it's easy to find websites that actually sell these sorts of mason bee blocks, I'm going to rummage through my stash of cedar and make up some of my own. (Or, if cedar is too 'fragrant' to their liking, I also have plain old pine 2x4's that shouldn't offend. ;-) I'll put the drilled blocks in different locations and see if any of the little darlings take me up on the offer of free rent! If they actually nest and the pupae develop, then there'll be new bees awakening every Spring right in the gardens. How cool is that?

Exhaled

Well, finally! The mower came back last week with a big bag-o-parts they replaced. Apparently I was riding around on a rolling accident. *whew* Dodged that bullet. There was almost 4" of snow on the ground when it was delivered a week ago Friday and so it became a waiting game.

But the icy weather persisted, some days not even getting out of the 20s. Finally, the day after Thanksgiving, most of the snow was gone so I bundled up (still really cold) and went after those last leaves. Ah. Closure!

Afterward I took a quick walk-a-bout to check out the flower beds and found a lovely surprise. Daffodil shoots. No, really. Daffodils! I know, I know. I've seen established daffs send up shoots in November before. But this was a shock as I had only put these bulbs in the ground less than 3 weeks ago. They really surprised me, being so newly dug in. A real spirit-lifter and and a nice promise of Spring. Made the day seem warmer and brighter than it really was.

Weather whiplash

Y'know, one of the best things about Ohio is it's variable weather. No boredom here. But I gotta tell ya, this is a little over the top. 60s last week and then.... WHAMMO.

Brrrrrrr.
(P.S. We b-b-broke a 15-degree 105-year-old r-r-record for cold early this m-m-m-morning (11/19). It got d-d-down to 14 degrees. *chatter*)

Got Milkweed?

Now that the season has ground to a rest for winter, it's time for more research into what will go into the ring garden. There is lots of information on the 'net as to which plants attract/ benefit which pollinators. The Melissa Garden in California has a good list.

When you can score a plant that attracts multiple pollinators, (and, be still my heart, a perennial to boot!) then those are the ones to cultivate.

Take, for instance, the humble milkweed.

It grows wild in open fields and the pods/seeds are ripe in mid-November around here. Easy to collect (if you can find an open field these days *grumble* otherwise here is a good site to get free milkweed seeds and plants). According to honeybee experts, milkweed flowers apparently produce copious nectar. One description I found says that you can tap a plant in bloom and actually see tiny spits of nectar shake out. And the nectar is a honeybee favorite. This was good news because I had already tagged milkweed for the ring garden for another, slightly more spectacular pollinator. Monarch butterflies.

As you can see by the top photo, the 2 pods I collected contain lots of seeds. I'll keep them in a cool, dry place until Spring when I plan to start them in trays (at about the same time I start my zinnias). My goal is to get nearly 100 milkweed plants. Not only will the blooms encourage honeybees and the leaves feed monarch caterpillars here in my yard, but the seeds can fly from the ring, spreading this beneficial plant in the area. After all, I hunted for pods for almost a month before I found a couple of plants in an area slated for new housing development. No wonder pollinators are in trouble. Too much sterile lawn, not enough forage plants. So, every little bit helps.

Milkweed. It does a garden good!

More garden buzz soon!