May 3…My wife suggested putting some logs around the new bee-flower echium bed. I declined knowing how much work that would be, finding some dead trees that were long and straight enough, cutting them to size, and hack-sawing rebar to hold them in place. You can see who won out, but I think it looks good. Walker’s Low Nepeta (a real bee lover) will go behind the lobelia, then some thyme, artichokes, and various other bee-loving plants to flesh it out. The Tower of Jewels echium has started blooming already. Three plants (out of 6) made it through two winters.
I started this project about a week ago after we decided to improve the neighborhood around the new Grand Kids Log hive seen in the background.
The transplanted echiums shot up recently, 8 – 10 feet. I transplanted six of them in November 2013, but only 3 have wintered through.
April 29…They are starting to bloom already. I’m looking forward to watching all kinds of bees partake of the nectar and pollen they will provide. Footnote: I’ve asked my son to practice up his guitar version of “Stairway to Heaven” to accompany my video of it in full bloom.
We noticed a pile of top soil on our morning walk. Someone had dumped it up the road from us after they were done rolling out their new turf. My wife spotted it. “Let’s get it.” That we did, the equivalent of four big wheelbarrow loads. Here she is raking out the treasure. Then she put in Phacelia started from seed, lobelia, and mowed around the bed to ‘spiff it up.’
March 9, 2015…you can see how much it has grown in less than two months. This was taken before we trimmed the branches in the background for the new log hive.
I started this post out as a garden update, but we’re so happy about this new spot for bee flowers, I wanted to post it first.
July 14, 2015…The Towers of Jewels echium is standing tall in the background. The other bee plants are filling in nicely.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Looking good, although I can’t show Gosia, she might want me to do the same 🙂
Haha, Eddy, you’d have to stack the logs up quite high to protect the flowers from your new goats…Good luck with that! 🙂
Your going to spoil those bees in the Grankids hive! I sowed Echium seed in with some poppy seed only problem is that I can recognise poppy leaves but not baby Echium so I may have pulled them out. The Echium I took seed from were blue and not near as tall as yours. Amelia
Maybe you’ve got this variety…Echium candicans ‘Select Blue’ (Pride of Madeira) I’d love to get a blue one.
I’m hoping by creating another attraction for bees, I can generate some interest in the area of the new log hive. So far, I haven’t seen much. Hal, my log hive mentor waited several months for bees to occupy his log hive…I hope it doesn’t take that long.
Over here May is thought of as a good month for swarms, so hopefully you have plenty of time yet. Amelia