Texas Bee Watchers

Why You Need To Learn About Bees

I certainly don't know everything about bees. But I do try to make people more aware of the role bees and other insects play in the environment. It's not always easy to make a bee seem as important as a koala or a polar bear or a whale. Why should you care?  Take a look at this article for a deeper understanding.

Seven Spineless Impediments.

A Good Career Choice!

Enjoy this video by a student at UC Davis on her career choice.

 

Tiny saviors in our backyard

In 2007, the world was introduced to a plague so disturbing it seemed almost biblical. Out of the blue, honey bees were dropping dead or worse, vanishing into the air by the millions. In the four years since, colony collapse disorder (CCD) has been a regular resident on newspaper front pages as scientists desperately try to puzzle out what’s wrong.

via www.universityofcalifornia.edu

Now's the Time to Get Your Bee Calendar

 

The “Garden Variety Native Bees of North America” perpetual calendar is both a guide to some of our more common native bees and a gardening calendar that never goes out of date.  Included is a two-page introduction to native bees which contains tips on how to create habitat for them in your own backyard.  Use the journal portion of this calendar to keep month to month and even year to year comparative garden notes.  It’s a great way to record your observations of the bloom times and other characteristics of the bee-friendly plants you include in your garden, along with the numbers and different types of bees that visit them.

This 9 “X 12” calendar, which includes stunning photographs by Rollin Coville and accompanying descriptions and recommended plant lists by Celeste Ets-Hokin, is sure to inspire gardeners and growers everywhere to make our landscape bee-utiful!

A portion of the proceeds from the sales of this calendar will support the work of two leading pollinator conservation organizations:

• The Great Sunflower Project, a pollinator monitoring and conservation program led by Dr. Gretchen LeBuhn of San Francisco State University; for more information visit www.greatsunflower.org.
• The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a nonprofit at the forefront of protecting native bees and their habitat across the country; to learn more about their work, visit www.xerces.org.

To preview a sample of the calendar, and to place your orders, visit: www.nativebeedazzled.com. 

 

 

 

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey

Many Texans pay premium dollars for honey. Vaughn Bryant, TAMU Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Palynology Laboratory and one of the nation's top pollen experts, suggests you may not be getting what you pay for when buying honey at the local store.

 

More than three-fourths of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores isn't exactly what the bees produce, according to testing done exclusively for Food Safety News.

Click below for the rest of the story.

via www.foodsafetynews.com

Bees, Dogs, and Sheep all love Shaggy Acres in Boerne

 

One of the hazards of being a One-Woman website is that if I get caught up in a family emergency, not much happens on the website until I get the family emergency under control. But one of the joys of being a One-Woman website is that I have some of the greatest and most patient and understanding bee-watcher readers around. 

 Anita Porterfield and her husband, John, first contacted me about their bee garden waaaaay back on July 6. Two and a half months later, I am proud to feature their garden as the 18th Official Certified Texas Bee-Friendly Garden.

 Anita and John live on six acres of land just northeast of Boerne. According to Anita, they grow several hundred species of organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers. I can only imagine how the bees must love all those blossoms. In 15 years of owning their property, Anita and John have never used any chemicals either.

 Anita passed on a list of some of the plants favored by the bees on their Shaggy Acres Farm (named after the Barbados Blackbelly sheep and Old English Sheepdogs also raised by the Porterfields).

Carolina Jessamine 

Crape myrtle

Esperanza

Honeysuckle

Hibiscus, both hardy and non-hardy

Trumpet vine

Grapevines

Mexican hydrangea

Pomegranate bushes/trees

Pyracantha

Morning glory

Because the Porterfields also grow organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers, Anita notes that the bees also favor “almost all annual vegetables and flowers, and herbs, especially sage, thyme, oregano, basil (especially Thai basil), mint, and celery. We currently have fennel in our garden which is new for us. The bees absolutely love it.”

I certainly agree with her about the herbs. It is quite fun to let them flower and then watch the large numbers of bees which find and enjoy the blossoms.

Like several other Bee Watchers’ Gardens, Shaggy Acres Farm is also certified as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat  by the National Wildlife Federation.  I also want to thank Anita for sending in the beautiful photos of bees and flowers from Shaggy Acres.

After a long wait by very patient Bee Watchers, I am proud to announce that Shaggy Acres Farm and Anita and John Porterfield are the owners of the 18th Official Certified Texas Bee-Friendly Garden. Welcome to Bee Watching!

 

 

 

 

Shared Seeds and Shared Knowledge lead to Texas Bee-Friendly Garden #17

Just imagine that you just moved into a great house, in a great area, you love to garden, and you love wildlife, native plants, and Texas. And this is what your "yard" looks like on Day One.

Well, that's exactly what Joyce Hamilton had when she moved into her home in Harlingen (78552) about 7 years ago. I don't know how much experience Joyce had with gardening, but even an experienced gardener would have been a bit flustered about taking on this task.

Bare yard . . . meet Joyce!  Joyce sought out and received the help and guidance of several local native plant experts and collected lots of seeds from other gardens and friends. Her yard and garden are planted largely with Rio Grande Valley natives (and a few indigenous to northern Mexico) and broader Texas state natives, as well as a few tropicals.

Take a look at these AFTER photos.

 
If you were a native bee, or a bird, or a butterfly, wouldn't you much prefer Joyce's yard after planting with natives? Indeed, Joyce says she sees and hears LOTS of bees and butterflies, as well as birds, in her yard. She also describes all the work–a lot of digging, mulching (but leaving some bare soil for solitary bees to dig their nests), and supplementing the "builder" soil with better soil– as worth it and a labor of love.

Joyce has also helped educate others about native plants and wildscapes for wildlife by hosting visitors from the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival's Wildscapes Tour twice over the last several years. Her garden is also certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a Wildlife Habitat.

One of the things I like about the garden is how Joyce uses cut logs for borders on some of her gardens. This type of border can provide homes for lots of interesting insects in the garden.

Joyce provided a partial list of plants in her Rio Grande Valley yard.

• Trees
• Tepeguaje
• Anacua
• Rio Grande Ash
• Cedar Elm
• Mexican Caesalpinia
• Sierra Madre Torchwood
• Ebony
• Live Oak
• Colima
• Esperanza
• Vasey's Adelia (host to the Mexican blue wing butterfly)
• Guamuchil (host to the red bordered pixie butterly)
•  
• Shrubs (and others):
• Golden-eyed Daisy (Skeletonbush)
• Yellow Sapphora
• Firebush
• Manfreda (variegated huaco)
• Texas Babybonnet
• Lippia
• Shrubby Blue Sage
• Wooly Pyramid Bush
• Lotebush
•  
• Wildflowers
• Gaillardia
• Bluebonnet
• Brown-eyed Susans
• American Germander
• Gaura
• Widow's Tears
• Milkweed Vine

 

 

Thanks go to Joyce from all Texas Bee Watchers (and native plant and wildlife enthusiasts) for all the hard work she has put in developing such a nice garden for wildlife. And let's toss in a big Texas-sized thanks for all the local native plant folks in Harlingen who shared seeds and advice with Joyce as she developed her garden.  

If you want to restore your yard to a state that is more friendly to all wildlife, be sure to contact your own local chapter of the Texas Native Plant Society, Master Naturalists, and other local nature clubs or nature centers. These groups are a great place to find help (and seeds) to start transforming your yard.

So congratulations to Joyce Hamilton. She is now a certified Texas Bee Watcher and her yard and garden are the 17th OFFICIAL  certified Texas Bee-Friendly Garden in this Great State. Welcome to Bee Watching, Joyce!

Bee Garden #16 Provides Watering Hole for Thirsty Native Bees

Being a Bee Gardener sometimes takes a look of patience. And waiting to get your Bee Garden certified by Texas Bee Watchers sometimes take even more patience. Sondra Brooks from Spicewood, Texas ( 78669) has plenty of patience. She has a garden that welcomes not only our native bees, but also birds, butterflies, frogs, snakes, and a whole herd of other Texas wildlife critters. 

Sondra lives on 5 acres of rural property hosting Live Oaks, Mesquite, native grasses, etc.   Her garden area, which Sondra describes as extensive, is fully enclosed and incorporates a pond visited by bees, birds, butterflies, frogs, snakes, and about 35 goldfish–who I presume are more than visitors. She has also placed hummingbird feeders around the property which have been known to host as many as 12 thirsty hummingbirds at a time. 

In case you haven’t noticed–or you are reading this from a cool vacation spot incorporating both water and cool air–Texas is in the midst of a horrible drought. Temperatures have been in the 100‘s and we haven’t really had any rain for a month. Water is hard to find for all our wildlife–including insects–like bees. Sondra’s garden pond is a welcome addition to a Bee Garden. 

The native bees in the garden are especially fond of the Crape Myrtles, oregano flowers, and sunflowers.  She also has a vegetable garden. At the end of a vegetable season, she lets some of the vegetables–such as broccoli– flower. The native bees love the broccoli flowers.

Sondra included a list of plants she maintains in her garden.

•  Bee Balm
• Borage
• Butterfly Bush
• Cactus (var.)
• Calendula
• Cape Honeysuckle
• Chervil
• Chives
• Cilantro
• Crape Myrtle
• Daisy (Gerbera)
• Delphinium
• Dianthus
• Eucalyptus (Silver Dollar)
• Garlic (Elephant)
• Hawthorn
• Hollyhock
• Hyssop (Lavender & Anise)
• Iris (Red Hawk)
• Lemon Verbena
• Liriope
• Malabar Spinach
• Mexican Petunia
• Milkweed
• Monarda (Var.)
• Nigella
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Patchouli
• Penstemon
• Peppermint
• Phlox
• Pineapple Sage
• Pride of Barbados
• Redbud (Texas & Eastern)
• Rose (5 vars.)
• Sage (culinary)
• Salvia (many vars.)
• Skullcap
• Soapwort
• Spearmint
• Speedwell
• Spider Flower
• Sweet mace
• Sunflower (Lemon Queen)
• Sweet Woodruff
• Tansy
• Thyme
• Vines (Cross, Trumpet, Morning Glory, Passion Flower, Clematis)
• Wisteria
• Yarrow (Cerise Queen)
• Yellow Bells
• Yucca

Sondra’s Garden becomes the 16th Official Certified Texas Bee Garden, but that’s not the only recognition her garden has earned. Her garden has already been recognized as a Monarch Waystation, and certified as Wildlife-Friendly by the National Wildlife Federation and Texas Parks and Wildlife. The Herb Society of America is also certifying her garden through their Green Bridges program. If the wildlife of Texas couldn’t tell by the diversity of plants and the lack of pesticides that this was a great garden for visiting, the signs would surely direct them in to visit!

Sondra, thanks for taking the time and effort to provide this way station for Texas native bees and other wildlife. I am honored to make your garden the 16th Official Certified Texas Bee-Friendly Garden. And thanks so much for being patient while I got your garden posted on the Texas Bee Watchers website!

 

 

Birth Announcement at Bee Garden

Vernon Berger discovered that our Bee Garden Mockingbirds have successfully become parents. Here's the photo of their new babies. We have noticed that the Bee Garden seems to have allowed for increased diversity in the immediate area. Whoopee.

Travis County Squash/Pumpkin Gardeners: Bee alert!

 

(photo by Dr. Jack Neff)

Do you still have Squash and/or Pumpkins blooming in your vegetable garden? A local bee researcher is looking for gardens (preferably with a lot of squash flowers) in which to look for the cute squash bee (Peponapsis pruinosa).

According to our local native bee expert, Dr. Jack Neff,  this squash bee presumably was native to Texas and the SE but may have expanded its range greatly in the NE with the spread of cultivation of squash and pumpkins by Native Americans.  A researcher is looking to see what, if anything, DNA has to say about  that expansion. Dr. Neff is helping to find examples of the bees in Travis County and would like to come see what you have flying in your garden.

The photo above is of a female P. pruinosa in a squash flower.  Dr. Neff says this is the most common view of a female, head in and going for nectar. Males, with their longer antennae, when not zipping between flowers, often perch on the anther column and face outwards. Wonder what they're looking for? Mmmm . . . 

 If you have had squash mature in your garden this year, you've probably had these native bees doing the work of pollination. So, if you have the flowers, you probably have the bees.

 So, Beewatchers, I know it's hot today, but science needs you! Today. Get out there. Watch for cute Peponasis (they're kind of big and easy to see). If you think you've got 'em, send an email to me (Kim)  at beewatchers@mac.com and I'll forward it on to Dr. Neff. Hurry! Researchers are depending on YOU.

 

For Bumblebee Watchers in Texas

I met Michael Warriner at The Wings Over the Hills Festival in Fredericksburg where he told me about his new website and bumblebee photographing project. Click on over to Texas Bumblebees to see his new website.

It's a really nice site with descriptions of all the bumblebees found in Texas, really cool diagrams to help you identify those bumblebees, and a link to a Facebook page where you can post a photo of a bumblebee in your garden. Michael will even try to identify the bee from the photo (so get a good photo of the abdomen).

One of the coolest features is a set of maps showing county-level distribution patterns for each Texas bumblebee. These maps are far from complete. And that's where your photos of bumblebees come in. Good digital photos will allow Michael to work on completing the maps. Maybe your bumbleebee photo will be a new record for a Texas County. You'll be famous!

So, now you have a two-fer. At Texas Beewatchers you can get your garden certified as bee-friendly and at Texas Bumblebees you can help Michael map the bumblebee distribution in Texas.  

Go visit Michael's new website. Let him know you heard about here at Texas Bee Watchers! And have fun gardening for native bees and taking photos of bumblebees.

 

Garden #15: Bees And Other Wildlife Find a Welcoming Home.

Bee on Antelope Horn

Pat and Dale Bulla have been proponents of restoring yards to increase wildlife habitat for many years. They are National Wildlife Federation Habitat Stewards. In 2008, they were one of the NWF's Volunteers of the Year. I've seen their name associated with various groups as they have worked to relocate native plants about to be plowed under in order to accommodate a new development or building. They have been instrumental in restoring the gardens at the French Legation in Austin.  The list could go on and on.

But, for me, what really makes the Bulla's exemplary is their willingness and desire to help others understand why restoring, conserving, and preserving our natural world is important and of benefit to all of us. Their garden is a showcase for what can be done. Pat and Dale have opened their garden many times to demonstrate what can be done in an urban neighborhood to provide habitat for wildlife, conserve resources, and  provide a beautiful vista for all of us.

When native bees visit the front and back yard at their home in Austin, the bees are in for a real treat. The Bulla's house and yard was planned from the get-go to be friendly to bees, birds, mammals (including humans), reptiles, amphibians, plants, soil, air, and all of nature. It's like visiting a nature retreat.

Bee on Anaqua Tree

I visited their house several years ago and I remember Pat and Dale describing how the house had been designed to fit into the landscape  and utilize the sun and prevailing winds to heat and cool the house. At that time, combined with their judicious use of energy, their energy bills were close to nothing.

They did the same thing when thinking of their outdoor space. Yes, it is a yard, because the Bulla's do live in the city. But you are not going to find bermuda grass or St. Augustine grass laid out in a nice grid. No sprinkler system with thrice-weekly timed waterings.

Bee on Antelope Horn

Nope, you are going to see a yard which is beautiful and welcomes wildlife. The list of plants in the Bulla Garden (Click on this link to see a list:  Plants of the Bulla Garden) contains plenty of flowering plants to provide native bees with pollen and nectar. There is enough variety of plants  to provide pollen and nectar year-round. From early spring bloomers (Redbuds and Agaritas) to summer bloomers (Goldenball Leadtrees  to Sunflowers) to Fall bloomers (Fall Asters and Sennas), the bees are well taken care of all year.

Because much of their yard is left in its natural state, there is also plenty of bare ground for ground-nesting bees to excavate their nests.

Bees and butterflies on Antelope Horn

Thanks to Pat and Dale for all they do to encourage the restoration of urban yards. Any yard, any balcony, any commercial landscape can become a wildlife habitat. I am glad to welcome the Bulla's to the world of beewatching (although I'm pretty sure they have been watching bees for a long time!) by certifying their garden as Texas Bee Friendly Garden # 15.

 

 

 

 

Rocky Land Doesn't Prevent Bee Friendly Garden #14

Both the National Wildlife Federation and Texas Parks and Wildlife offer programs (Backyard Wildlife Habitat program and Texas Wildscapes) to recognize gardeners and nature enthusiasts who restore their yards so that native wildlife are able to find shelter, food, water, and nesting sites. In some areas of Texas, planting native plants is pretty easy to do, while in other areas, gardeners have to really put some muscle into it.

The Hill County of Texas is one of those areas. If it's not the heat, the deer, or the lack of water during some years, it's the rocks! But, Jane Brunlick of Lago Vista, put on her sunbonnet, grabbed a shovel, and created a wonderful wildlife backyard habitat.

Jane's Garden (Encina Madre) contains at least 84 species of plants, most of them native to Texas. Jane included  the Encina Madre plant list when she wrote to tell me about her garden.

But Jane took her interest in creating Backyard Wildscapes a bit further.  She trained and became a Backyard Habitat Steward through the National Wildlife Federation. The training allows her share her knowledge about creating backyard wildlife habitats with others. Jane also has a blog, Hill Country Gardens: Gardening in the Texas Hill Country which has lists of plants which deer avoid, a sortable Hill Country plant list, information on how to make your land a wildlife habitat (she's even compiling a list of Habitat Heros whose yards are certifiably friendly for wildlife), and a set of links to other sites native garden planters might find useful.

Her garden is full of great plants for bees, birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. She's provided water and food (in the form of pollen and nectar) for the bees. And Jane's sister made a great bee house to help increase the number of native bees that require pre-existing holes in which to nest. I wish I could drill holes like these! I bet the native bees love them.

I'm happy to provide one more certification for Jane's Encina Madre garden. Her garden is now an Official, Certified, Texas Bee-Friendly Garden. She joins 13 other Bee Watchers who have shared their wonderful Bee-Friendly gardens with us.  Welcome, Jane!

 

 

 

 

 

Sweat Bee Photo: Wow!

Sweat Bee Photo – Animal Wallpaper – National Geographic Photo of the Day.

Reposting: Bluebonnet Spots and Bees

I've never reposted a previous post before, but a recent discussion elsewhere on the web combined with the beginning of Bluebonnet blooming season here in Texas prompted me to repost this entry I wrote last year on the reasons why bluebonnets have flowers with white spots and flowers with purple spots.  It's really quite an interesting story.  Enjoy. Just click on the link to be redirected to the original post.

Bluebonnet Spots and Bees

Bees Get Lucky in South Texas with Official, Certified, Texas Bee Garden #13

 

Edwin J. Cook from McAllen, Texas (78504) emailed me and said he thought his wildscape had what it takes to be be an Official Certified Texas Bee Garden.

 And, by golly, he was right. 

In 2008, Ed started restoring his yard. Ed told me that 

 “until three years ago, my yard had only the nonnative trees and shrubs . . . Since 2008, I have added only native shrubs and trees (except the rosemary), and last year, I removed two nonnative trees to make room for a Texas Ebony and a Texas Persimmon (both of which are native flowering trees). We also added a small pond a year ago.  In the last three years, my primary criteria for adding any plant to my wildscape are (1) whether or not the plant is native to South Texas, and (2) its value to wildlife.”

Here’s the list of plants Ed sent me. Pay particular attention to the common and A/K/A names of these plants. Many of them may be unfamiliar to you if you live in different parts of Texas. I want to thank Ed for providing such a complete list.

 Back-yard Plants

Common Name	A/K/A	Scientific Name
Barbados Cherry	Manzanita	Malpighia glabra
Blackbrush	Chaparro Prieto	Acacia rigidula
Brasil	Bluewood	Condalia hookeri
Brush-Holly	Coronillo	Xylosma flexuosa
Cenizo.(2)	Purple Sage	Leucophyllum frutescens
Chilipiquin (2)	Bird Pepper	Capsicum annum
Crucita	Irresistible Mistflower	Chromolaena odorata
Drummond Turk’s Cap (4)	Manzanilla	Malvaviscus drummondii
Elbowbush	Narrow-Leaf Forestiera	Forestiera angustifolia
Granjeno	Spiny Hackberry	Celtis pallida
Hachinal	WillowLeafed Heimia	Heimia salicifolia
Lime Prickly-Ash	Colima	Zanthoxylum fagara
Mexican Olive	Anacahuita	Cordia boissieri
Oregano Cimarron	Redbrush Lippia	Lippia graveolens
Pigeonberry (2)	Coralito	Rivina humilis
Potato Tree (3)	Salvadora	Solanum erianthum
Shrubby Blue Sage (2)	Mejorana	Salvia ballotiflora
Skeletonbush (5)	Goldeneye Daisy	Viguiera stenoloba
Snake-eyes	Putia	Phaulothamnus spinescens
S. Padre Isl. Mistflower (2)	Betony Leaf Mistflower	Conoclinium betonicifolium
Tamaulipan Fiddlewood (2)	Negrito	Citherexylum berlandieri
Texas Ebony	Ebano	Pithecellobium ebano
Texas Mountain Laurel (2)	Mescal Bean	Sophora secundiflora
Texas Persimmon (2)	Chapote	Diospyros texana
Tropical Sage (60+)	Scarlet Sage	Salvia coccinea
Vasey’s Adelia		Adelia vaseyi
Whitebrush	Beebrush	Aloysia gratissima
Yellow Sophora	Tambalisa	Sophora tomentosa
Esperanza		Tecoma stans
Nonnatives
Blue Plumbago (2)
Cape Honeysuckle (2)
Hibiscus, variegated
Kumquat
Mexican Lime
Rosemary
Vitex		Vitex agnus-castus.

 Front-Yard Plants 

Common Name	A/K/A	Scientific Name
Barbados Cherry	Manzanita	Malpighia glabra
Blackbrush	Chaparro Prieto	Acacia rigidula
Brush-Holly	Coronillo	Xylosma flexuosa
Cenizo	Purple Sage	Leucophyllum frutescens
Crucita	Irresistible Mistflower	Chromolaena odorata
Desert Yaupon	Capul	Schaefferia cuneifolia
Drummond Turk’s Cap (2)	Manzanilla	Malvaviscus drummondii
Heartleaf Hibiscus		Hibiscus martianus
Hog Plum	Texas Snakewood	Colubrina texensis
Mexican Trixis	Hierba del Aire	Trixis inula
Oregano Cimarron	Redbrush Lippia	Lippia graveolens
Pigeonberry (5)	Coralito	Rivina humilis
Potato Tree	Salvadora	Solanum erianthum
Sierra Madre Torchwood		Amyris madrensis
Skeletonbush	Goldeneye Daisy	Viguiera stenoloba
Snake-eyes	Putia	Phaulothamnus spinescens
Texas Kidneywood	Vara Dulce	Eysenhardtia texana
Texas :Lantana		Lantana horrida
Texas Persimmon	Chapote	Diospyros texana
Texas Torchwood		Amyris texana
Tropical Sage (5)		Salvia coccinea
Twisted Acacia	Huisachillo	Acacia schaffneri
Vasey’s Adelia		Adelia vaseyi
Velvet Lantana		Lantana velutina
Esperanza		Tecoma stans
Oak		Quercus
Nonnatives
Duranta

Just in case you don’t know where McAllen is (and you should!) it’s waaay down in South Texas.  It’s a stone’s throw from the Rio Grande River and Mexico. According to the city’s website, the average minimum temperature is 70º and the average minimum is 90º. Ed said he had some damage from the severe freezes this winter, but I'm hoping (along with Ed) that everything comes back this spring.

McAllen, and the surrounding area, offers several hot spots for people who like nature: the World Birding Center, the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, the National Butterfly Center, Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, and now, Ed Cook’s Front and Back Yards.

Birds, butterflies, and bees are the three B’s of nature. Ed has provided a great habitat for the native bees of South Texas. He’s got great plants that provide forage (nectar and pollen) for bees all year-round. He’s got plenty of nesting areas for a variety of bees. He’s got water, a nice diversity of plants, and nice masses of those flowering plants.

 

Thanks, Ed, for providing a home for the native bees of South Texas. And welcome to the 52 Official Certified Texas Bee Garden club!  You are our first Official Bee Watcher in South Texas, too. Now, get out there and watch those bees, please!

 

Go look at your fruit trees today

Here in Austin, we've had several days of nice warm weather. The redbuds are blooming and some of the fruit trees are already blooming. Go outside, find a fruit tree, and look up. Chances are you will see bees flying all over.  Mason bees!

If you have a Mason Bee house, now is the time to get it up.

Enjoy! It's Bee Season.

It's Finally Bee-Certified in Blanco

It's been a cold–freezing–winter in Texas this year. I wandered through my yard recently and noticed the damage the prolonged days of freezing weather inflicted on my garden. Some plants may make it and others won't, I'm afraid. So I was feeling sad and then . . . I opened my email and found photos and a plant list for another beautiful Bee Garden.

My day got a lot brighter.

Sheryl Smith-Rodgers, a blogger, native plant gardener, photographer, and honest-to-goodness author and her husband, James Hearn, have a yard that the bees already love.  Back in 2007, Sheryl and James discovered the Texas Wildscapes program and had their yard Certified as a Texas Wildscape. Later on, she and James also had their yard certified as a Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation and as a Certified Butterfly Garden by the North American Butterfly Association.

And then, in 2011, Sheryl discovered the 52 Bee Garden Challenge. And I'm glad she did.

Here's a partial list of plants in Sheryl's garden:

Coreopsis

Black-eyed susan

‘Indigo spires’

Fragrant mistflower

Blue mistflower

Salvias (lots!)

Lantanas

Rosemary

Yarrow

Cedar sage

Fall aster

Jerusalem sage

Mexican bush sage

Pink skullcap

Prickly pear

Red columbine

Russian sage

Rock rose

Texas betony

Zexmenia

She's got a good mix of plants that provide nectar and pollen year-round for the native bees.  In addition, she has provided a nest box to help increase the numbers of Mason bees on her property. I like her photo because it shows that you don't have to provide tons of holes–a few will do just fine.

Now is a good time to set a nest box out. Those early blooming spring plants are just beginning to show their blooms and the early spring bees are out looking for nectar, pollen, and nesting sites.

        

Sheryl writes a very interesting and fun-to-read blog (Window on a Texas Wildscape) about the wildscape she and James have created and all the wildlife they see on their property in Blanco (78606).

 Take a moment and mosey over to her blog and read her post "When a bee goes on vacation . . ". After reading the post, you'll find yourself checking out cactus flowers for happy bees. The blog is fun to read and, unlike me, Sheryl knows her way around a camera and takes some bee-utiful photos of bees and other wildlife in her garden.

 So, welcome to bee watching, Sheryl and James! Texas Bee Watchers is happy and honored to certify your garden as the Official, Certified Texas Bee-Friendly Garden #12. Your Official Certificate is on the way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




 

 

 

 

Cibolo Bee Garden is Number 11

Cibolo, Texas is the location for the eleventh Official Certified Texas Bee-Friendly garden. Bridget Cameron sent in these lovely photos of her Bee Garden taken this summer. I am constantly impressed by the way Texans are managing and restoring their yards and land to accommodate and enhance habitat for native bees, as well as native plants and wildlife.

Bridget's home sits on land that was once farmed and has now been subdivided for homes–a not-uncommon story. But Bridget has been sowing wildflower seeds ever since she moved in. I'm not sure, but I'm betting that Bridget wasn't aware that her efforts to encourage wildflowers would be helping native bees prosper on her property. But that's what happens when you can increase the food (by providong pollen and nectar), increase the nesting habitat (by leaving some bare soil for ground-nesting native bees), and eliminate the use of pesticides (to quit killing the good insects along with the ones you may wish weren't there).

Bridget's not done yet. This coming spring, she's planning to plant wildflowers for Monarch butterflies. 

Here's a partial list of plants Bridget has planted to attract wildife (and native bees) to her garden.

• Coreopsis
  Coneflower
• Indian blanket (Gaillardia pulchella)
• Cosmos
• Bluebonnets
• Mexican hat
• Black-eyed susan
• Sunflower
• Zinnia
• Rosemary
• Yarrow
• Butterfly bush 
• Basil and other herbs
• Borage

Her garden also includes: grasses, Acacia trees, other wildflowers, vegetables, and fruit vines (grape, blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry).  

Welcome to bee-watching, Bridget!

I'm proud to be sending you a brand new certificate listing your garden as the 11th Official Certified Texas Bee-Friendly Garden.  Thank you for all you do to provide habitat for native bees in Texas.

 

Are you as smart as an 8 year old?

Eight-year-old children publish bee study in Royal Society journal.