- Author: Christine Casey
Last year I planted the Five Dollar Bee Garden to show how inexpensively a bee garden could be created. I got what I paid for, which wasn't much. I wanted to see if soil and seeds from a local one-dollar per item store could do the job and unfortunately they did not. Poor seed germination and plant growth made the Five Dollar Bee Garden a failure.
This year I stepped it up a notch and planted the Nine Dollar Bee Garden. Soil and seeds from name-brand companies sold at local garden centers cost $3.99 and $3.49 respectively. I did find a nice grow bag for $1 from the discount center used for last year's soil and seeds. My total cost with tax was just over $9 and so far the extra $4 investment has been worth it: just a week after planting, this year's garden has already germinated.
Seeds in this year's garden are listed below. This was sold as a pollinator mix; these are all good bee plants.
Baby blue eyes (Nemophila menziesii). This is an annual California native that blooms in late winter and early spring.
Blanket flower (Gaillardia aristata). This is a perennial native to the Southwest that is the parent of the many blanket flower hybrids seen in garden centers. Blooms in summer.
Blue flax (Linum lewisii). This is a perennial California native that blooms in spring and summer.
California bluebell (Phacelia campanularia). This is an annual California native that blooms in late winter and early spring.
Farewell-to-spring (Clarkia amoena). This is an annual California native that blooms in late spring and early summer.
Globe gilia (Gilia capitata). This is an annual California native that blooms in spring.
Plains coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria). This is an annual native to the Midwest that blooms in summer and fall.
Prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera). This is a perennial native to the Midwest that blooms in summer and fall.
Yellow lupine (Lupinus densiflorus). This is an annual California native that blooms in spring.
Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima). This annual is native to the Mediterranean and blooms nearly year-round. Re-seeds freely and can spread.
Lance leaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata). This perennial blooms in spring and summer and is native to the eastern and southern US.
Wallflower (Cherianthus allonii). This Mediterranean native is a short-lived perennial that blooms in late winter and early spring.
Container gardens are a great way to provide for bees if you're in an apartment or are otherwise limited in your gardening resources.
- Author: Christine Casey
European white birch, Betula pendula, is widely planted in the Sacramento area. It is a riparian species that did well before water metering and drought led homeowners to restrict lawn watering. The past several years of dry weather have focused careful attention on landscape water use; unfortunately borers tend to attack drought-stressed trees.
What are some bee-friendly small trees that can be substituted for birches? There are two small trees that do well in much of California under low water regimens and also provide for bees.
I've mentioned the first, western redbud (Cercis occidentalis), many times on this blog. Its attractive flowers are in bloom right now, but this plant's primary value for bees is the foliage. Leafcutter bees use this tree's leaves for nest-building material, and we've planted it throughout the Haven to ensure an ample supply. It's a UC Davis Arboretum All-Star that reaches about fifteen feet in height and grows in full sun to light shade. It tends to have a shrubby form but can be pruned into a tree shape. It also has interesting seed pods that persist through the winter.
Another less common native tree that's also a great bee resource is desert willow, Chilopsis linearis. As the name suggests, it is native to the desert areas of California and does well in the hotter, drier parts of the state. The showy flowers of this fifteen to twenty foot tree appear in spring and continue on and off through the summer.
Another small native tree is California buckeye, Aesculus californica. This one is noticeable because it loses its foliage in mid-summer as an adaptation to our summer-dry climate. Unfortunately this plant's pollen and nectar are toxic to honey bees, so it is not recommended for bee gardens.
/div>- Author: Christine Casey
There will be lots happening at the Haven this year for bee, plant, and nature lovers. In addition to the garden events listed below, we'll also be at other locations: we'll have a display at the Yolo Basin Foundation's Duck Days on February 21, and I'll be speaking about water-wise pollinator gardening on March 11 at the City of Woodland's Water-Wise Wednesdays program. On April 18 I will have a native bee display and bee gardening information at Wildflower Wonders, the spring plant sale of the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.
Keep those bee gardens growing!
March 28
The California Center for Urban Horticulture's Create a Living Landscape workshop will conclude with a tour of the Haven. We'll have bee houses for sale to help support the garden.
April 11
The Haven will be a stop on the Gardens Gone Native tour sponsored by the Sacramento chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Docents will be on hand from 10am to 3pm to answer questions about the garden's native plants and native bees.
April 23. Please note this is a revised date for this event.
Native bees lunchtime drop-in. New at the Haven this year are lunchtime drop-in days, each featuring a topic related to the garden with docents present to answer questions or give informal tours. Stop by anytime between 12 and 1:30pm to view native bees and their host plants; native bee houses will also be for sale.
May 2
The Haven is five years old! Join us between 10am and 2pm for a fifth anniversary celebration. There will be informal tours and lectures, an observation honey bee hive, and lots more.
May 8
National Public Gardens Day open house. Join us between 5:30 and 7pm for informal tours, information about bee watching and ID, and an observation honey bee hive. We'll have bee houses for sale and free plants (while they last) to get your bee garden started.
May 9
The Haven will host a reception as part of the Keeping Bees Healthy symposium sponsored by the Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute and the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. The symposium is intended for a general audience at the level of high school students and up; student registration is only $15!
June 19
National Pollinator Week open house. Join us between 5:30 and 7pm for informal tours, information about bee watching and identification, and an observation honey bee hive. We'll have bee houses for sale and free zinnia seeds (while they last) to help your bee garden grow well into the fall.
July 17
Native ants lunchtime drop-in. New at the Haven this year are lunchtime drop-in days, each featuring a topic related to the garden with docents present to answer questions or give informal tours. Stop by anytime between 12 and 1:30pm to view and learn about native ants. Like bees, ants are social insects with amazing biology and life histories.
September 25
Honey bees lunchtime drop-in. New at the Haven this year are lunchtime drop-in days, each featuring a topic related to the garden with docents present to answer questions or give informal tours. Stop by anytime between 12 and 1:30pm to view honey bees and their fall host plants as well as an observation bee hive.
October 2
Fall open house. Join us between 5:30 and 7pm for informal tours, information about bee watching and identification, and an observation honey bee hive. We'll have bee houses for sale to help support the garden.
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- Author: Christine Casey
From a human perspective, we don't often think of February as an important time for flowering plants, but for bees it's another matter. Honey bees are out foraging when it's sunny and over 55 degrees, while native bumble bees that become active early in the year are in need of pollen and nectar resources to grow their colonies. The solitary bee Osmia lignaria -- an important alternate pollinator in early fruit and nut crops -- is also active.
A group of native plants that provide resources for all these bees with their February flowers are the currants. The first to bloom is chaparral currant, Ribes malvaceum; we grow the cultivar 'Dancing Tassels' at the Haven. This plant starts to flower in January and will continue its showy display through February. In addition to bees, look for lots of hummingbirds on this plant.
Following close behind is fuchsia-flowered gooseberry, Ribes speciosum. Primarily a hummingbird plant, the photo shows how accessible the pollen is for small bees. We don't grow this at the Haven, as it has large thorns that could be a visitor hazard. It can be espaliered up a fence, where the thorns can serve as a living security system. Another consideration when siting this plant is that it copes with our summer heat by losing its leaves in July.
Next to bloom, and the most commonly planted, is the evergreen currant, Ribes viburnifolium. This plant's stems tend to arch over and root where they contact the ground, creating a dense groundcover. I've often seen this plant placed in full sun, which it can't tolerate, leading to leaf scorch and poor growth. A better location is under native oaks or any other dry, shaded spot. Although the flowers are not showy, they are still valuable for bees.
The last plant in this group to bloom is golden currant, Ribes aureum, which will start to flower around the middle of the month. Its bright yellow flowers make it a good, low-water substitute for non-native forsythia. It can tolerate a range of watering regimes; at the Haven we grow it in both a wet area next to a bee waterer and in a dry area under a valley oak. It tends to stay smaller and lose its leaves earlier (around late August) in the dry area but still flowers well.
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- Author: Christine Casey
Our mild California weather gives us the luxury of year-round gardening in most areas of the state. And warm enough for plants means warm enough for bees, whether it's honey bees from a local hive or native bees with queens that fly early, such as the black-tailed bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus.
A great way to provide resources for bees in the winter is with winter-blooming annuals. Take a trip to most garden centers this time of year and you'll typically find calendula, Iceland poppy, pansy, primrose, and snapdragons, along with flowering vegetables like fava beans.
Poppies are great bee plants, and Iceland poppy is a winter bee favorite in the Haven. Plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, are also generally great for bees, and pot marigold (calendula) lives up to these expectations.
Surprisingly our English daisy, also in the sunflower family, fails to host many bees. Other common winter annuals that are not much used by bees are primrose and pansy.
Another great choice for winter bee forage is fava bean. Not only do the bees use it, their pollination will provide you with a nice crop of beans.