While California has moved back into drought, the heavy rain we experienced in December has brought on a bumper crop of weeds. The first reaction of many gardeners is to remove them, but I'm asking you to reconsider this to help the bees.
Bee gardeners are good stewards of the environment, which includes making the most of our precious water supplies in the garden. But are you getting the most Bees Per Gallon? We've recently completed a five-year study to evaluate the bee-attractiveness of common northern California landscape plants.
Conserving water and helping bees are goals shared by many gardeners. Given California's current extreme to exceptional drought status, it's time to re-visit the best low water plants for bees.
With apologies to grammarians everywhere, the mulch/bee dilemma is a question I often receive. Many bee gardeners know that 70 percent of California native bees nest underground, and that access to bare soil is needed for nest building.
Gardeners are always looking for ways to add more plants, especially in a small garden. One way to do this (and in hot California add some much-needed shaded seating) is with a pergola.
