I gave my Garden to the Bee's, look what they gave me back....

Hey borderslass I just took a look at your website and the photos on the gallery... fantastic.

I adore the pics of the bouncy Red Squirrels and urge people go and take a look.

I was thinking what nice aniamals there are in Scotland then the Pic of the Polar Bear popped up... almost spilt my beer for a sec then realised you had mentioned its name... So I guess its the one in the Wildlife park.? 

The UK's only  Polar Bear is that right..?  :-)

Yes Juno, When I took this photograph, she was in Edinburgh Zoo !

She is now at a the Highland Wildlife Park, near Inverness.

Good job I didn't sneak in a picture of a Fast Jet Tornado then!   I would hate to see you loose yer pint :) hee hee

Great thread Juno, I can’t understand how I’ve missed it up until now.

 

A few questions, you said you planted Phacelia in your veg patch which looks fantastic, should this follow any particular crop or is it just a general green manure? I tried mustard last year as a green manure, it was supposed to be great for the bees and the garden. Unfortunately the timing was wrong and I needed to dig it in for my onions before it had flowered.

 

I also planted many varieties of Scabious,  I haven’t found this as popular with the bees as I thought it would be, they definitely prefer other flowers. How have you found it? I’m wondering if they are going to be more popular with butterflies.

 

Borage is another one I haven’t tried, would you recommend it?

 

Borderslass, I’d love to see more of your photos, I’ll be the first to put up my hand to say I have neither the skill nor the patience to take good photographs so please keep sharing your talent.

 

I left my white clover to flower in the grass this year, wasn’t it great for the bees? Mine has gone over now so yesterday I gave it a trim, I set the mower blades on a much higher setting than normal which trimmed off the dead flowers, I’m hoping it might have the same effect as deadheading garden plants and I’ll get another flush of flowers.

Hi Juno,

I've only just got back from a week in Devon (which was great) and have only just seen this thread.

Fantastic pictures and strawberries at the end of it! Lucky you!

Unfortunately, I don't have a garden but some friends of mine have just moved in to a house and have been asking me which flowers to plant to attract wildlife. Now I know!

I'm very much into macro photography, especially bees on flowers - when they keep still!

Put my name down for jam on very crusty baguettes!

Thanks, Graham

Juno said:

Thanks for your kind comments everybody  :-)

Great pic Borderslass.

I was a bit worried that you would all think I was a bit bonkers posting all that.

I shall do more impressions in due course, but at the moment I need a lie down, eaten lots of Strawberries you see.

Jars to sort out now, and jam to make...when its a bit cooler.

SO............is it strawberry cake all round then.........and lets don't forget the scones and cream.....

god I am hungry now..got to eat.....lol...

Some for me too please!!

It will make up for the naughty Blackbirds eating all my strawbs :(

Pip xx

Great thread Juno,

you really have put a lot of work into the bee friendly plants and its paid off - think I'll be asking your advice!

Look at all those strawberries!  I won't lie and say I'm not jealous, as I am, very much so.  You've put my two strawberries to shame!

LOL Paul, love to see a piccie of your 2 strawberries!! Two more than I have by the way.

I have planted up my (small) back garden to cater for bees and butterflies, so I can name a few more plants for you to try out.

• This year, for the first time, I planted three types of Agastache (Summer Love, Black Adder, and Blue Fortune), and the bees and hoverflies have been all over them all summer!  They are lovely plants, which grow to approx 35" (3 feet) tall, and have a lovely licquorice smell!  They come in all sorts of colours.
• Another popular one this year was Anthemis Tinctoria "E.C. Buxton", which looks like big pale yellow daisies!  This also grows to about 3 feet.
• Hyssop Officinalis is also good for bees, and is actually a herb which can be used (sparingly!) in soups and stews.  It has small blue flowers, and grows to about 16".
• Erysimum Bowles Mauve attracted quite a few bees.  It grows on thin stems, with mauve flowers, and has a long flowering period.  It grows to 30" (2.5 feet).
• My Weigela shrubs attract a lot of bees.  There are a variety of these to chose from, including varigated.
• And of course, Lavender.

The following types of plants are all excellent for butterflies as well as bees:                                                  

• Thrift (Armeria Maritima Splendens)
• Monarda (many varieties and colours) - aka Bergamot
• Sedum (many varieties and colours)
• Eryngium Bourgatii Oxford Blue
• Echinops Ritro
• Knautia (many varieties and colours)
• Asclepias (the only host plant of the Monarch butterfly) (4 varieties)

There are many more suitable plants, these are all just the ones that I have planted in my garden.  I'd suggest that you put in a search for "plants for bees" on the internet for a more comprehensive list.  Anyway, I hope this has been useful to some of you!

Star Rocker