Maybe it was that prolonged and unseasonal cold spell through April and in to May, but the pent up energy of nature seems to have finally burst forth this year. The Gorge View garden seems bursting with blooms. And the bees are loving it!
At first we were very worried to not see that many bees around and were concerned that the extended cold spell had hit their populations. But, at least here, the bee business has got back to normal albeit belatedly.
So as we wander the garden there are places where the noise of the bees if remarkable. Looking closely at flowering shrubs like the deep purple-blue Ceanothus (I had to ask Mary for the name!) you see it is covered in bees of all sort: honey bees of course, but a range of bumblebees (I love their Latin genus name of 'Bombus' - so appropriate), and solitary bees such as the Red Mason Bee.
Another amazing flower is the Passion Flower (see top photo). Mary planted ours on the front corner of the house years ago and it did nothing. We thought it was dying. But then, a few years back, it finally started to grow. And grow and grow. And now it is ballooning out and overtaking the thrusting Wisteria and the long-established Virgina Creeper. The flowers are extraordinarily complex, delicate and beautiful, and the knot of twisting green stems have amazingly tangly tendrils to help catch on to any support available. The bees love the flowers. Often you find a clustered mix of bees all feeding of one flower (and with no fighting). And whilst the 25 foot high tangle of the plant is covered in buds, at any one time only a few flowers pop out for a short but wondrous few days. After the late hard freeze in April the plant suffered badly, was brown leaved and looked very poorly. But within a month the health is back and the bees are tucking in to the nectar again.
They work so hard those bees - busily working before we are up and still going late in to the evening. Phew. We get so much value from these little workers and so it was a relief to hear that the EU has (after long deliberations and lots of lobbying from the agri-chemical industries) outlawed the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that have a hugely detrimental affect on the pollinator populations. They all still face other huge challenges, but at least one step has been taken to help them. Care for nature aside their contribution (for free) has massive economic value, but of course big business cannot grab that effort for profit.
Anyway this was not meant to be a rant, more a celebration of the beauty of the blooms in our garden. Enjoy the photos.
At first we were very worried to not see that many bees around and were concerned that the extended cold spell had hit their populations. But, at least here, the bee business has got back to normal albeit belatedly.
So as we wander the garden there are places where the noise of the bees if remarkable. Looking closely at flowering shrubs like the deep purple-blue Ceanothus (I had to ask Mary for the name!) you see it is covered in bees of all sort: honey bees of course, but a range of bumblebees (I love their Latin genus name of 'Bombus' - so appropriate), and solitary bees such as the Red Mason Bee.
Another amazing flower is the Passion Flower (see top photo). Mary planted ours on the front corner of the house years ago and it did nothing. We thought it was dying. But then, a few years back, it finally started to grow. And grow and grow. And now it is ballooning out and overtaking the thrusting Wisteria and the long-established Virgina Creeper. The flowers are extraordinarily complex, delicate and beautiful, and the knot of twisting green stems have amazingly tangly tendrils to help catch on to any support available. The bees love the flowers. Often you find a clustered mix of bees all feeding of one flower (and with no fighting). And whilst the 25 foot high tangle of the plant is covered in buds, at any one time only a few flowers pop out for a short but wondrous few days. After the late hard freeze in April the plant suffered badly, was brown leaved and looked very poorly. But within a month the health is back and the bees are tucking in to the nectar again.
They work so hard those bees - busily working before we are up and still going late in to the evening. Phew. We get so much value from these little workers and so it was a relief to hear that the EU has (after long deliberations and lots of lobbying from the agri-chemical industries) outlawed the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that have a hugely detrimental affect on the pollinator populations. They all still face other huge challenges, but at least one step has been taken to help them. Care for nature aside their contribution (for free) has massive economic value, but of course big business cannot grab that effort for profit.
Anyway this was not meant to be a rant, more a celebration of the beauty of the blooms in our garden. Enjoy the photos.
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