Bee Friendly

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My Mama has been here to play this weekend and we've been busy as bees in the garden. Following advice from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust we've been upping the bee-friendliness. This mainly consists of trying to ensure a long season of flowers which make bees happy - as a rule these are flowers with easy access to their pollen. As well as more lavenders and thymes we planted amongst other things a Cotoneaster: a Ceanothus:
and some Hebes:
In an ironic twist we disturbed a common carder bee nest in the mossy margins of the front lawn when tidying that up. Luckily I don't think it was damaged, just revealed to prying eyes which were both amazed to see it and sad to have upset them. I somehow forgot to get a photo in all the excitement and by the time I went to see if I could get one this morning they had pulled their mossy blanket safely back over. I'm so delighted to have seen the nest and know that my garden is already a home for bees and so glad that they seem to have been able to make it safe again.Another much less disruptive thing I do (which works well for my lazier side) is try and keep some wild areas and wild flowers - this seems to be a big attraction:and not just for the bees. I know that newts and frogs are making good use of the wild spots too. All wildlife welcome as I try and create a pretty and friendly town garden. Bee friendly to all :o)

Comments

Modelwidow said…
What a lovely idea, I really like bees and have a patch that needs attention so I will be investigating how I can increase the bee friendliness of my garden too. Thank you for including the link.
21 June 2009 at 18:57:00 BST
florencemary said…
Well, would you know, I've had my mama here too this weekend!

Very with you on encouraging as much wildlife as poss; I also love to see the butterflies flocking around the humble buddleia.
21 June 2009 at 19:56:00 BST
marycatharine said…
Bees are so important and they seem to be struggling all over the world. Your garden look really lovely!
22 June 2009 at 00:41:00 BST
Lynne said…
Very pretty garden!
22 June 2009 at 11:01:00 BST
dreamcatcher said…
Gorgeous plant photos. The bees will really love your garden now :-) We have found the Cotoneaster manages to seed itself all over the place and makes great new plants, the bees go absolutely mad for it too :-) We've already had to rescue several different types of bee from the house this year! It's great to have a wildlife-friendly garden.
22 June 2009 at 12:17:00 BST
Lea said…
Oh I do love your garden - and bees with a mossy hiding spot sounds wonderful
22 June 2009 at 14:15:00 BST
T. said…
What a lovely garden!!
22 June 2009 at 16:33:00 BST
Linda said…
We have done that with our garden to and have the most enormous bumble bees on the Lavender, as well as all sorts of other types.
Your garden looks lovely.
22 June 2009 at 16:45:00 BST
Kyoko said…
Oh, I would love your garden! It looks so much fun. I bet your kitty cat loves it too. I never new there was an organisation such as Bumble Bee Conservation. When I was a child I used to be so intrigued by the shape, size and colours of bee nest. When they were all gone, my auntie used to keep one at her home. Very interesting!
22 June 2009 at 17:56:00 BST
Anna said…
Sounds like a good weekend! I love the idea of increasing the bee friendliness of your garden.
23 June 2009 at 12:34:00 BST
Kelly said…
Great stuff. Looks like you have a very pleasant little garden space. Nice to see your commitment to keeping some natural space.
24 June 2009 at 01:26:00 BST
DrK said…
oh such a pretty english cottage garden! do you know how much sweat blood and tears gets spilled over here trying to recreate such prettiness!? sigh...
24 June 2009 at 05:16:00 BST
tinebeest said…
I gave mr beest a (joint) BBCT membership for birthday present last year, and he thought it was the bees knees, if you pardon the pun. (I even made him bumblebee socks :-) ) Glad to see you have bumbles in the garden, and are taking such good care of them!
26 June 2009 at 22:13:00 BST
azwoolgirl said…
Beautiful plants and what a terrific idea. If you planted those types of plants here in the US, you would not only attract bees, but hummingbirds.
27 June 2009 at 23:46:00 BST
t does wool said…
beautiful garden you have ;]
28 June 2009 at 15:11:00 BST
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