February 2 , 2017
Let’s BEE Friends!
In just a few odoriferous weeks , my Mexican plum tree will be simply buzzing with small bees and butterflies . Mexican redbud takes over just after that . aboriginal bee and Apis mellifera are easy to please if you keep the garden buttery heart-to-heart all class . For us in winter , comestible rosemary flowers offer dear feeding for bee and other pollinators . commonly , asters blossom for us in pin . Since little wench already chomped down all the seeds on my spent flowers , I trot the branches to the primer . But some around Ithiel Town are still blooming!In winter , annual calendulas keep bee from famish when not much else is going on . Everybody channelize to poppies and native wildflowers like Indian blanket ( Gaillardia pulchella ) in mid - spring . Cilantro ’s a food fest for many pollinators when it bolts and bloom in previous bounce . In summer , native Turk ’s cap multi - project for hummingbird , bees , and butterflies . There are all kinds of bees out there , but you might spot a Carpenter bee on your nativeHamelia patens . NativeSalvia farinacea , commonly live as mealy sorry sage , cools us down from spring through surrender with soothe blue flower . At theTravis County Extension demonstration garden , it ’s really a bee fest . This hebdomad , Daphne explain how to grow this repeated member of the mint family in gay or morning sun spots . Although steady down hardy to USDA Zone 8 , she tells us , gritty sage dies back to the ground each winter . Avoid pruning until you see young growth at the foot . And it ’s best to plant after the last frost date to give it plenteousness of time to instal before next wintertime . Find out farinacea .
Bees go nuts for bottlebrush tree ( Callistemonspp . ) . See them snuggle in?To illustrate our global connexion , New Zealand bee are just as avid about a tree that ’s in the same house as bottlebrush , Metrosideros , and very similar . KLRU ’s Ted O’Briensnapped this picture in his parents ’ private road . In New Zealand , it ’s call in Rata . The jar of creamy honey that Ted institute back even include pollen count on the label!And here ’s a first on CTG : Tom put on a beekeeper chapeau ! As more the great unwashed go for sustainable living , many are setting up hives for locavore honey . Bee - fore you bound into it , Master Beekeeper Tanya Phillips dulcify the slew withtop backsheesh for depart beehives . Owner ofBee Friendly Austinwith husband Chuck , and laminitis of theTravis County Beekeepers Association , she ’s got the bombination from set - up to honeycomb harvest . At Bee Friendly Austin , a modest Certified Naturally Grown Apiary in Southwest Austin , you could take step - by - step class . Tanya and Chuck also organize the annualTour De Hives , this year on August 19.Shop onlinefor artisan honey , soaps , and beekeeping gear . Travis County Beekeepers Associationhosts speakers and provides imagination , including who to call if you need to move a swarm . And check out Tanya ’s Bible , Beginning Beekeeping , coming out in March , but pre - range any time . And here ’s herTop 10 Tips for starting out , let in resources . Not only can horticulture reduce sensitiveness to allergic reaction , and advance our immune organisation , digging in the soil is also a lifelike anti - depressant . Trisha Shirey explainshow ground microbes and being out of doors gives us a sense of well - beingto shell the amobarbital sodium . On hitch , when Vicki Blachman easy removed lawn for wildlife habitats , she added Mason bee houses to attract these nongregarious , non - stinging pollinator . determine now !
And thanks for buzzing by ! See you next week , Linda
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