What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday the temperature struggled to get out of the 20's and 3 inches of snow fell. Yesterday and today, the temps have been close to 70 and the sun is shining brightly in a clear blue sky. The bees are loving it! They are bringing in lots of pollen. If you click on the pictures below, you can see their pollen sacs are full. I think the bee on the bottom board was so heavy with pollen she was struggling to get inside the hive. Anyway, she did a great job of posing while I snapped several pictures.
My mimosa tree came last week and I planted it this past Thursday. I also planted some liatris corms. I'm experimenting this year with growing perennials from seeds, roots, corms, and bulbs as opposed to mature plants. Lot less expensive. I bought 20 liatris corms for $4 as opposed to $3 or $4 for 1 plant. I'm so very anxious to get lots of things started, but I've learned from being in the mountains for 9 years that it's way too early. As nice as the weather has been the past few days, winter is not yet over.
4 comments:
Lynn, I've been following your blog b ut realized I never logged in and posted. Sorry, I'm on my blackberry, slow typing so I'll get back soon from my computer.
Wouldn't the original Walter Bee love this blog! It's such a family affair!
I think his interest and knowledge of beekeeping and gardening was mostly a combination of common sense, trial and error, and listening to older, more experienced people. Don't think he ever took a course on either subject. Wish I had started gardening earlier and listened better when he spoke. I could have saved myself more than a few failures, but I treasure what I did learn.
We don't speak of it as often but the other green thumb in the family belonged to Mrs.W.Bee. I do beleve she could have planted a dead stick and it would have come to life and produced an abundance of something delicious.
Here's a question because I want to continue learning. What is a liatris?
The weather here is so wonderful that I can hardly wait for daylight to arrive so I can be out and about in the yard and the garden. When my head hit the pillow last night, my only thought was to sleep in a hurry so I could get going again.
Well the light of day is pouring through my window and I'm out of here.
I'm loving that it's a family affair. I hope "Walter" is proud. His legacy certainly is alive in his daughter and granddaughter. Hope I can pass it on to my granddaughter. My daughter has the fever (check out harvestproject-bgc.blogspot.com), and Miss Jenny is going to be starting a garden in Chapel Hill very soon!
FYI - a liatris is a tall, blue spikey flower. It is perennial and blooms mid-summer through fall. Birds and bees both love it. I'm all about planting to sustain the wildlife in the area. Google "liatris photos" and you'll see some great pix.
How cool! Look at that pollen sac. I didn't even know those existed, but there it is so clear in that picture. Neat!
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