HOW TO BEE A TRUE GARDENER -Van Wilgen’s Garden Center
May 10, 2010
Bee a True Gardener
Van Wilgen’s Garden Center
Bees are one of the most hardworking and crucial creatures on Earth. They support an essential role in our existence, as they are responsible for pollinating the vast majority of edible plants. It is estimated that over 100,000 plant species would become extinct without pollination from bees. In addition to pollinating flowers and plants, bees provide many of the most nutritious and healthy foods in the world.
Bees are the premier pollinators of the world, and without them, farmers worldwide would experience massive crop failures – especially for orchard fruits, berries, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peppers – and other bee-pollinated crops. Bees are truly a gardener’s friend. But honeybees are in danger. Their population has declined by nearly 50 percent in the last 50 years. While bee mites and diseases are somewhat the cause, the full reason for the decline is still largely a mystery.
As a home gardener, you can design a garden to support honeybees and attract native bees. Begin by practicing organic gardening techniques. Reduce your treatments of chemical pesticides, as they destroy all insects, including helpful ones. Even if you use natural pesticides, carefully target plants that really need them.
Second, design a specific garden to be bee-friendly. The most effective feature of a bee-friendly garden is the array of colorful blooms. Bees of all sorts need flowers for both nectar and pollen. Bees prefer large plots of flowers, where they can find plenty of food in one area. Plan for wide borders and beds and fill them with a wide array of flowers that are attractive to bees. It is best to design a multi-season garden, with blooms evident in spring, summer, and early fall.
Typically a bee-friendly garden is less neat and manicured. This garden tends to be inflated with many flowers. There are certain plants that are more attractive to bees. Blue-colored blooms are a dominant attractor to bees. Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ is a bee magnet with bright blue-violet flower spikes on wonderfully fragrant foliage. Thyme, oregano and mints are popular herbs that bees favor. Lavender attracts a wide range of bees. In addition, many flowers in the aster family, such as Daisies and Coreopsis, entice bees. The stunning, yet maintenance-free Purple Coneflower/Echinacea Purpurea attracts bees and butterflies.
Though your bee garden may not be enormous in size, it can bring you a great deal of accomplishment, while also creating a tranquil past-time watching wildlife respond to your craft. And, if you help save one bee, I am sure it will bee worth it.
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