Bees need some help in this drought and competing with invasive
species. Planting flowers that they can use the pollen naturally gives
them the food they need to survive. I'm allergic to bees. I was only
stung once as a child. The keys to living in harmony with bees:
In the heat of the sun move slowly around where they are gathering
nectar. Cut flowers early or as the sun goes down. Bees are home asleep
before sundown.
Butterflies also need a little help, and they add grace and fun to your garden.
In my last house at Kite Hill we built a tree fort and planted coral seas passion
vine. With only water the vine soon overtook the fort which was a favorite
reading spot of my daughter Blair's. She could it up there in a wicker chair and
read for hours. The fort offered an ocean view, and the glory of thousands of
monarch butterflies.
The vine needed chopping regularly as it found the soil and spot perfect,
See below bottom I planted a different passion vine as I couldn't find
coral bells and it needs a solution to tangle up and attach to the roof of the
gazebo. Input please!
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| Bee is sitting in the painted blanket |
Bees need:
bare ground spots for mud
plants they like are:
lavender, thyme, cilantro, fennel, borage, sage, hollyhock
buttercup, calendula, geranium, aster, zinnia,
sweet assillum, poppy, sunflowers, heliotrope
I have all these in my garden in Orange County California
Mixing different perennials and annuals the bees and butterflies
enjoy makes for a colorful garden year round
.JPG) |
| heliotrope |
Butter flies surprisingly enjoy a similar list
budderia, butterfly, bush, primrose,
statice, lilac, lantana, phlox, aster, butterfly weed,
milkweed, chives, red clover,
lavender, loostrife, sedum, wisteria,
coreopsis, marigold, globe thistle,
yarrow, heliotrope, ceanothus, aster, cosmos,
zinnia, thyme, calendula
Important note: I never use pesticides. I only use water,
home cooked compost and let the sun do what it will..
I do kill snails naturally with my snail ranch that they come
in and have a beer but never leave.
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| my backyard this October 2014 |
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| my front yard has three varieties of lavender and Mexican sage, see the little white butterfly? |
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| mexican sage |
.JPG) |
| coral bells passion vine |
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| Milkweed favorite for monarch butterflies the pods dance on the wind |
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| Coreopsis is hardy in California it blooms year round if you trim by thinning the plant and dead head the flowers |
for the butterflies but try as I might I can't get it to cling
to the roof or over the hanging.
Suggestions?
