In a mid-month column I passed along a message from a gardener lamenting the lack of bees in his garden. On the morning of the column鈥檚 publication, a friend called to say: 鈥淭ell him to plant lavender and cotoneaster. The cotoneaster in my back garden was loaded with bees, and swarms of bees have kept me from getting anywhere near my three lavender bushes for weeks.鈥�
In fact, by the time I had contacted Gordon, who had sent the no-bee lament, to let him know I was including his message in a column, he replied: 鈥淪ince my email, bees have made a bit of a comeback. Not as many as years before, but at least the lavender, catnip, petunias and honeysuckle are attracting them. Our raspberries, blueberries and cascade berries were well pollinated. Thankfully.鈥�
By that time, I鈥檇 noticed bee activity picking up. Suddenly, they seemed to be alighting on almost all the flowers 鈥� the calendulas and California poppies interspersed throughout the garden, the coreopsis, larkspur, astrantia (masterwort) and many other blooms.
A row of 鈥楶henomenal鈥� lavender bushes was doing a bouncy dance of the stems as bees moved quickly among the flower heads. Several ground-hugging sheets of thyme had come into bloom and were covered with bees. One patch of 鈥楳inus鈥� thyme had grown around the base of a tall clay urn in the front garden. Bees crawled all over its purplish-pink flowers.
Bee talk. A series of emails followed from readers reporting on observed bee activity and the flowers they favour. At mid-month, some were still noting fewer than usual bees around.
In her Cowichan Valley garden, Dorothy noticed a lack of bees in the spring. 鈥淲hen my rhododendrons were in bloom I searched for bees but found very few.鈥� Since then, she has noticed 鈥渁 good number of bumblebees.鈥�
Dorothy described how she rescued a bumblebee that had become stuck to a rhododendron flower. She freed it with a little water. She thought that the flowers were likely stickier than usual because at bloom time there鈥檇 been no rain for quite a while.
In her small Brentwood garden, Wendy grows 鈥渂orage and lavender, things bees like, but still there are very few. There have been more bumblebees than honey bees, mainly on the raspberries.鈥�
On a brighter note, Anne and Peter wrote from their home on a city lot in Victoria: 鈥淲e have the constant buzz of both honey bees and bumblebees in our garden this year. The main bee plants are borage, which has been flowering for many weeks, and Eryngium 鈥楳iss Wilmott鈥檚 Ghost鈥�. They鈥檙e also very fond of the salvias, including 鈥楬ot Lips鈥� as well as the lavenders, Gaura, and scarlet runner beans.
From Qualicum, Suzana reports: 鈥淚n the spring, the pieris bushes in our front garden were covered with bees for weeks, as were the azaleas. For the last few weeks, all the lavenders have been abuzz with the activity of different kinds of bees. They鈥檝e also been all over the blooming sage and rosemary plants.
From Mary Ellen: 鈥淚 am happy to report that my flowering (white) silk tree (Albizia) is buzzing with bees. The pink-flowering silk tree will soon bloom. A joyful time in the garden.鈥�
Thanks to all. And for anyone interested in learning about more flowers for bees, consider looking at Lori Weidenhammer鈥檚 Victory Gardens for Bees (Douglas & McIntyre). It鈥檚 full of illuminating photos and charts to the best trees, shrubs, perennials, native plants, herbs and vegetables for attracting and nurturing bees.
Garden events
Government House plant sales. Government House, 1401 Rockland Ave. in Victoria, is now holding plant sales every Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., through to Aug. 27, at the plant nursery opposite the Tea Room. Visitors will find an extensive variety of plants. Among the plants for shade, there are hardy fuchsias, astilbe, Choisya 鈥楽undance,鈥� small red Japanese maples and heuchera. For sun: salvias and hebes, threadleaf coreopsis, phlox, sedum, nepeta and more.
Picnic in the gardens. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is inviting families and friends to bring their own dinners for a picnic in the gardens on Wednesday evening. Enjoy local musicians, browse through the works of local arts vendors, visit a master gardener booth for answers to gardening questions, and check out sales of plants propagated from the gardens. Admission is by donation between 5 and 8 p.m. hcp.ca.
