June 6, 2018…..I can’t say if these echiums are “Towers of Jewels” or “echium Pininana,” but I’m quite sure they came from the seeds of my original single plant purchased from my favorite nursery in October of 2013. They called it a “Tower of Jewels.” “Your bees will love it.” They were right.
A couple of years ago, Johann, one of our young neighbors, wanted to start a garden. My wife and I grow many bee-loving flowers and donated a couple of little echium starts to him for as you may know, once an echium decides to bloom, it will attract the pollinators and start many little seedlings.
On one of our daily walks last month, Johann flags us down, “You know those plants you gave me? They grew real tall.” He pointed them out and I could see the tops of them from the backyard. I haven’t made any videos for a long while and asked if I could shoot one. Then I remembered that he was a musician…maybe he could provide some music. This is the collaboration along with some scenes from around the neighborhood.
The potatoes have been weeded and hilled up. ‘Survivor*’ garlic is on the left and Meadowfoam is in the background, fenced away from deer, but still accessible to the bees. I’ll be using 12 foot lengths of 1/2″ PVC to drip water the potato rows. The seed potatoes were planted at about 9″ distances which match up to the holes drilled into the PVC drip watering system. *Survivor garlic is garlic that made good sized bulbs even though it got the rust virus.
The first bed of tomatoes has been transplanted from the light stand in the house. We’ve used the tire method for 30+ years. They will dissipate heat into the evening. The night temps will get down into the mid 40’s (7C) even sometimes in the summer, so we’ve got to tent them. You might have noticed the wild mustard patch in the background…that started out as a clover patch. I wanted to grow clover to enhance the soil. I rigged up this PVC arrangement to hold the deer netting off the expected plants. I wanted to see the bees visit the clover blossoms in the spring. Then we experienced a cold snap. The clover died and the mustard plants germinated from the compost we spread out. It grows well, too well. I’ll probably have to spade it into the soil before it goes to seed.
A closer look at the tomatoes and drip watering grid. The 1/2″ PVC has been drilled so the water drips out near the plant. I’ve been using these for over ten years and it works well.
May 4th…The second tomato bed goes in. You might notice the ‘clumpy’ soil. I was soooo tempted to pull out my rototiller to break up the soil, but I resisted. We’ve been trying to prove that we can garden without the use of fossil-fuel. So the soil is a bit lumpy and we’re hoping the tomato plants don’t mind too much.
We’ve been eating lettuce and spinach from this first bed of salad greens for about three weeks. My wife likes the wild arugula, but it’s a bit hot for me.
March 28…Planting the second bed of lettuce, Parel cabbages which were started in the house, purchased broccoli plants and maybe some collard greens.
We’ve got to protect them from the cabbage moth.
May 3…Peeking under the cloth to see how the lettuce is doing.
We planted the edible pod peas in the greenhouse in February.
…and have been using the pea pods in salads and soups for a good month.
April 25…Since the deer like to munch on nasturtiums, we’ve got to protect them. What better way than to clean out the weeds around an apple tree and plant them there. These are a new kind that will sport red blossoms. I hope the bees like them.
May I say something else about Limnanthes Douglasii Poached Egg Plant (Meadowfoam)? It wintered over without any kind of frost protection like a tarp or a pile of leaves. It was tough love for sure because it’s in a section of the garden that’s in the shade until noon. This was self seeded from last year’s crop which was about 1/4 the size. (What have I started?) The Vision Violet Geraniums also wintered over well. Together they have been attracting the bees in the afternoon hours.
May 3…I know, I know, I shouldn’t have to transplant borage because it grows ‘like a bad weed’ around here, but there was an empty spot in the hugelkulture bed after I weeded it and the bees love it so much. Three spade-fulls and I’ve got a three more spots to video the bees. 🙂
This Cardinal Climber is supposed to attract hummingbirds. We’ve started it under lights in the house. My wife is going to donate a couple of plants to try to get it to climb up the echium ‘tree.’ I think it’ll be fun to see if we can get some birds and bees.
May 3…”Reach for the sky,” little Cardinal Climber…
…You will have to if you want to climb this “Tower of Jewel” echium tree. It’s 12 ft tall and growing.
I just bought this African Blue Basil. Jeff, at my favorite nursery, tells me it’s a super bee magnet which will blossom all summer. He knows how to tempt me.
May 5…Because the bees were visiting the moss in the pond so much and because someone on the biobees.com forum mentioned that his grandfather used moss for a watering station, I thought I’d try it out. Who knows, the bees might be getting some kind of essential minerals or properties from it. I just dug some up, found a plastic container and try to keep it hydrated. It’s the only waterer I’ve had any success with.
Time to roll out the “Solar Roller.” Things are drying out. This ‘solar panel roller’ can be positioned to catch the early rays of the sun as well as the sunset. I can get about 10-12 hours of sunshine if I’m conscientious about moving it twice a day.
Forgive me if I’m talking about this new bee bed too often. It’s just that we wanted to add more flowers for the bees without taking away space from the veggie garden. This was the perfect solution…but after adding Walker’s Low Nepeta, artichokes, Scabiosa, and red echium, we’re already running out of space.
This started out as a garden video, but there was so much excitement today with two swarms happening and bees (from where?) checking out my new log hive. I had to include some video below.
June 29, 2014…Honeybees and hummingbirds get nectar from these little gems. We’ve decided to grow more alliums next year because the bees love them and the deer don’t.
June 23, 2014…We started these Cosmos seeds under lights in the house, hoping they would turn out well. We’re very happy with the results and the bees love them too.
June 10, 2014…Honeybee getting nectar on this Cosmos
June 16, 2014…This little stand of California poppies planted itself on my Hugelkulture bed. In the background you can see some wallflowers (Erysimum).
A new type of poppy, called a Twister poppy. Attracts bumblebees and is a pay grade or two above the California poppy.
I started the Phacellia seeds to attract the honeybees, but rarely do I see honeybees on them. No problem, we need to help the bumblebee as well, in this case the Yellow-faced bumblebee. (bombus Vosnosenkii)
Relatively short-lived, (blossom wise) this Veronica Longifolia, ‘Pink Eveline’ served as a nectar source for a short time.
Speedwell, Veronica Spicata, ‘Royal Candles.’ The colors stand out well.
June 29, 2014…Sometimes when the bumblebee exits this blossom, it will pick up a streak of white pollen up it’s back.
May 29, 2014…My wife said there were five bees on this earlier, but when I grabbed the camera, I only caught one bee.
May 28, 2014…My neighbor’s New Zealand Cabbage trees are blooming. I’m glad it’s on someone else’s property because there is a strong odor associated with it. Our bees love it.
May 28, 2014…New Zealand Cabbage has been blooming awhile. Our bees are all over it, all day.
May 27, 2014…A skipper is probing the depths of this Pink Chintz Thyme for nectar. In the video, you can see it try several spots before finally succeeding. The bees love this plant as well.
May 1, 2014 mid afternoon…Photo by Mary Schamehorn. I’m glad Mary got a shot of this. When I got there, they were relatively peaceful.
4:38 pm…By the time I got there, the bees had settled within the birdhouse. I looked at it, determined I could remove it from the post, and got my tools together. Ha ha, the screws were rusty I couldn’t get them to budge before stripping them out. I had to remove the post too.
I placed it next to the newly assembled and baited Warre hive in my bee garden. I was hoping the bees would recognize a 4 star lodging with ample room to grow…they didn’t. I gave them plenty of time to reconsider, but they weren’t having it. I couldn’t leave them there, like that. I didn’t want to grind the brackets off or pry the birdhouse floor off because it would have been too stressful. “Dramatic and traumatic” are words I like to avoid in beekeeping.
Okay, I’ve got to move the birdhouse out of the bee garden because, well, we’ve got to be able to weed and water without the bees buzzing us. After two days, I pre-dug a post hole, waited til night and ‘posted’ the birdhouse among the ferns about 20 feet away. (Something most beekeepers would tell you NOT to do because the bees might not be able to find their way back to the hive.) I stuffed tissue paper into the entrance hole so the bees would notice something was different. They would have to make orientation flights all over again. I’m thinking that maybe the Warre was too close to the birdhouse…if I move it away, maybe they will want it more. My wife said I was crazy to think that. I says, ‘maybe,’ but we’ve got to get it out of the way.
Next day, the birdhouse/hive is in it’s new location. The bees are aware something is different because of the tissue paper stuffed in the entrance hole.
As my wife bicycled to town, I noticed a bunch of activity between the birdhouse and the Warre hive. I got my camera to document my findings…I was going to have it on camera so I could show her I knew what I was doing. They are fanning from the nasonov gland to indicate the queen is within. Wow, that didn’t take long. My wife is going to have to admit I was right, but I’ll be humble and admit it’s just a stroke of luck. But it was too good to be true. By the time she returned the crowd at the entrance was thinning and the bees rejected this hive once again.
Here is where they will stay. It’s the house they chose and while the location has changed a few times, the house is the same. I just wish I could have fastened it to a taller post.
Mary’s bees have settled in now. They have discovered the Poached egg meadowfoam.
Mary’s bee cleaning off her antennae. How do I know they are Mary’s bees? The abdomen colors are different. I’m happy to get new genetics in my bee yard.
Last year in June, before the deer discovered it, the bees were on the Meadowfoam everyday.
If you’ve ever watched the bees on a Poached Egg Meadowfoam (Limnanthes Douglasii), you will want to grow some for your bees. Last year I bought 12 plants from my friendly nursery (101 Plants). The bees were on them everyday. Unfortunately, the deer discovered them, and mowed them down. This year I’m happy to say I found a source for seeds. I’m buying 1000seeds for under $5.00 from Outside Pride in Oregon. With that many seeds, I can scatter them in quite a few areas (fenced in, this time). The bees will love them and so will I.
Another photo taken shortly before the deer decided to sample it last year.
I was under the mistaken impression that Meadowfoam was grown mostly in Oregon and Northern California, but I see the Royal Horticultural Society in Great Britain has a listing for it as a Poached Egg Plant.
The oil from Limnanthes Alba is valuable…According to Oregon Meadowfoam Growers, meadowfoam oil is 20 times more stable than soybean oil, which means it does not deteriorate as readily when exposed to air. A gallon of meadowfoam oil is worth about $200 retail.
February 2, 2014…the salvia is looking strong. Footnote…we replaced some bulbs in the light stand with the full spectrum bulbs this year hoping to lessen the legginess. These look good.
June 28, 2013…Penstemon is a great bumblebee attraction.
June 9, 2013…Honeybees are getting nectar from the Pincushion Flowers (Scabiosa)
Don’t forget the butterflies!
February 3, 2014…received my Butterflyweed seed package today. These bright flowers attract honeybees also.
One of the beekeeping blogs I follow, written by Emma Sarah Tennant, featured a TED talk by Marla Spivak, showing the reasons why bees are disappearing and how we can help them by planting habitat. We are proud to be a small part of a growing movement to help our wild pollinators.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 