Remember receiving valentine cards that read "Bee My Valentine?"

Well, every day can be Valentine's Day when there are bees in your garden.

We captured this image several years ago of a queen bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on a spiked floral purple plant, Salvia indigo spires (Salvia farinacea x S. farinacea). She had just emerged from her winter hibernation on a sunny day in November. The site: the Sonoma Cornerstone pollinator garden of Kate Frey. She's the co-author of The Bee-Friendly Garden (with UC San Francisco professor Gretchen LeBuhn), and a world-class garden designer and pollinator advocate.

It wasn't Valentine's Day, but then again, yes, it was!

Every day is Valentine's Day when there are bees in your garden.

Bee my valentine!