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Offline AllenF

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #20 on: May 16, 2011, 10:23:59 pm »
Kudzu is not japanese knot weed.   2 total different plants.

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #21 on: May 21, 2011, 06:32:41 pm »
Kudzu is not japanese knot weed.   2 total different plants.

I stand corrected, I need to learn to do more internet searches on things I've been told long ago that turn out to be untrue.
I have a tendency to believe in what I was taught as a youth unless I've discovered it in error along the way, Kudzu now fits in that catagory.
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Offline SerenaSYH

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #22 on: May 26, 2011, 08:10:27 pm »
Jason, I got re-confirmation from my lawn guy that indeed sedum attracts tons of honeybees and the FANTASTIC THING about them is he showed me how to cut the stem and plant it into the ground and it will root all by itself once it's watered. Now how cool is that! As soon as my sedum matures I'm gonna try this technique!!!!

However, Russian sage has a few more advantages in that it is extremely pest resistant and it has gorgeous winter foliage. I hope you will be as thrilled about your new RS as me. Mine is also very upright and so shapely (it's got a great form to it). Plus once you have it in your garden you can easily dig up any spring seedlings and plant it elsewhere. My honeybees have been doing such an amazing job pollinating my Russian sage that I've got plenty of babies to help fill out my entire area. The seedlings to take awhile to grow up though whereas the store-bought completely fills out to a lush bush within a very fast time. But right now I'm just drooling. When things peak, I am hoping for a honeybee paradise.

Offline jaseemtp

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #23 on: May 27, 2011, 07:32:55 pm »
that sounds awesome!  I just need to find out who has sedum for sale around here.
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Offline SerenaSYH

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #24 on: July 13, 2011, 09:22:49 pm »
Everyone who lives in warm balmy areas like Florida (moist climate) I accidentally found really cool information about lime bushes. They are the best in high-quality nectar for BEEEES!!!!

I am going to repeat this post elsewhere because I know we have a lot of "orchard folks" who do beekeeping as well...

Link #1: http://thehealingpath.com/OrganicBeekeeping/honey_bee_forage_bee_gardens.shtml
"Rodale reported one lime bush could keep one hive in nectar all season and one acre of anise hyssop has been said to be enough nectar for 100 hives."

Link #2: http://thisbluemarble.com/showthread.php?t=16244
A potted dwarf lime bush will sweeten your garden and your house
July 6, 8:14 AM

Lime blossoms--elegant, fragrant, and abundant--on my dwarf
Bearss lime. Photo by Quincy Benton

After hurricanes wiped out lime orchards in Florida, the United States no longer commercially grows limes. Most limes consumed in the U.S. now are imported from Mexico, but you can grow your own at home. If you have sunny spots—both outdoors and in—you have what you need to grow a potted lime tree.

Citrus x latifolia, also known as Tahiti lime, Persian lime, or Bearss lime produces juicy, seedless limes that are less acidic and less bitter than many varieties—perfect for cooking and for beverages. The plant’s blossoms are almost as wonderful as the fruit. Abundant and fragrant, the flowers bring to mind gardenia. The blooms attract bees and butterflies. They are less acidic than key limes and don't have the bitterness that lends to the key lime's unique flavor.

Offline divemaster1963

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #25 on: July 13, 2011, 10:56:19 pm »
ah. kudzu is not that bad. my wife's cousin bought a lot that was covered in it. all it took was a t-7 dozier with a rake on back to pull the many 1+ ton root eyes then. till the ground and sprayed a combo of diesel and weed/root killer over a thirty day interval.  :shock: after that he never had the kudzu on his lot again. to bad for the neighbor tho. he lost a 4 car shop that had a classic Corvette in it when it collapsed under the load from kudzu on the roof. :devilbanana:

john

Offline annette

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #26 on: July 14, 2011, 04:12:17 pm »
I just planted lavender all over the place, any kind will do. The English, French, or Spanish variety. I prefer the English though as the bushes get really big and beautiful. They love the heat and I read when the bees forage on lavender they get all nectar. The bees go crazy on this plant. They are perennial so will be around a while.

Offline jaseemtp

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #27 on: July 17, 2011, 03:09:50 am »
I did not have much luck getting the lavander to grow.  On the other hand I planted alot of Basil, just because I heard it was good for the girls.  Well they love it, I can always find bees on the plants working.  Also I planted some of the Borage and it is a hit with the girls too.
"It's better to die upon your feet than to live upon your knees!" Zapata

Offline SerenaSYH

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #28 on: July 30, 2011, 08:23:44 pm »
Jason did you try the oregano? :-D It is one huge honeybee magnet too. You are much more dedicated than me. I can't stand to replant any annuals (borage/basil). Too much work! lol! I need things to come up every year like Russian sage and Italian oregano. And lavender is somewhat fine, but nowhere as good as the RS and Italian Oregano which come up every single year gangbusters and has the biggest number of bees on them. But what I also appreciate about lavender is that it effectively is a fantastic weed blocker without interfering with the roses, lol! That makes them winners in my book! So yes, I will grow them as a deeper purple backdrop.

But Russian sage is indeed the King, such a beautiful hedging plant and sooo tough against drought as well with the longest blooming season. :-D

Offline jaseemtp

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #29 on: July 30, 2011, 08:46:03 pm »
I tried the greek organo and it did not do well.  I never did see flowers on it, but this is a horrible year to grow much of anything in Texas because of the drought.  Next year I will do a better job at planting and adding a soaker hose with mulch over it.  I have sold my house and am moving further out so I will invest more time and energy on planting more plants for the girls.  Sehena thanks for the information I do appreciate it.  Again the borage was a HIT but jeeze its an ugly plant and requires frequent watering.  The basil did wonderful too with the girls, I just needed to prune the seed heads off to keep them flowering. 
I have a hedge row of Russian olive planted and was told that when it blooms in October it has a good flow.  This is not the tree that I hear bad things about.  It is a shrub and grows 8ft high and 6 ft wide.
"It's better to die upon your feet than to live upon your knees!" Zapata

Offline SerenaSYH

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #30 on: July 31, 2011, 06:27:55 pm »
Oh, soooo sorry Jason! I need to be butt-kicked! :buttkick:

I realize I have to be very careful about the details from now on!!! Jason, I only grow Italian oregano and have never grown the Greek version. Again many apologies!!!!!!!!!!! The oregano I have gets partial sun and is going gangbusters in the 95 degree weather. But it is mulched and seems to benefit from the shade of the house. but in the winter it dies to the ground in zone 5 and then shoots back up every single year. Italian oregano has to be ground planted in zone 5 or else it will not survive even if the pot is 4' long and 2'6" deep. Our zone is used to be very cold in the winter, but our temps shoot up in the Spring and then the summer temps are in the 90s and max out at 102 degrees. This year with global warming we may soar up to 105 degrees. Jason I too have lost many, many plants from the heat. The heat has roasted my 2 tree roses and one is nearly dead. Also all the heather is dying from the heat. The only ones left are the ones planted in the partial shade of the house in the first photo where that Italian oregano is at. Italian oregano grows to a good height. The baby band roses are also suffering severely....thank Goodness for Russian sage enduring the blasting heat! otherwise I'd go nuts!

I am purposefully letting my lawn die, hoping the scorching heat will kill the Japanese beetle grubs. Japanese beetles are notorious for devastating rose gardens but so far the hot wax pepper spray seems to be keeping them at bay. They love hollyhocks so they are gravitating toward those more than the roses so far, thank goodness! And as soon as it cools down I will be putting organic Milky spore to kill off the rest of the grubs.

Here is a photo of where the Italian Oregano is growing...



and here is one area where the Russian sage is growing...


For photos of the honeybees and oregano flowers you can view this link, I just updated it before visiting your thread, and discovered my whopper boo-boos!
The photos of the oregano and Russian sage are at the very bottom of the thread...

http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,32695.0.html

Offline VolunteerK9

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #31 on: July 31, 2011, 07:43:10 pm »
Havent ever saw that black and white version of oregano before :)

Offline jaseemtp

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #32 on: August 01, 2011, 01:22:29 am »
Its ok about the mix up Serena.  I enjoyed walking in the garden and it smelled like some one was cooking Italian food. Lol.  I have all winter to work on my new garden since I have sold my house and will be building a new one.  So 16 fruit trees and 3k square feet to garden with, not to mention the 3 acres I get to tinker with such as clover / buckwheat and what not.
"It's better to die upon your feet than to live upon your knees!" Zapata

Offline SerenaSYH

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #33 on: August 09, 2011, 06:02:48 pm »
hehe, Jason, well my clover experiment under the trees proved to be a complete Failure! Our 110 degree weather scorched everything beyond redemption. All the clover is as dead as a doornails. 2 Months ago, I had live clover, and it was fun cussin' at the rabbits and imagining Rabbit dinner at our forum because rabbits do love eating clover. I also managed to get a few lovely Crimson clover blooms as a surprise (Crimson clover normally blooms only in early Spring). But yeah, any remnant of clover is long withered and sitting atop the soil like some compost bin :( Now why does that the darn Wood Sorrel weed/clover imposter not die in this heat! Only the poor clover dies instead! Grrrrrrrrrr!

Russian sage is going gangbusters at least! Speaking about Russian sage do not get the small/dwarf hybrid versions. Do not get Blue Spire or Little Spire, which flops like crazy and has no shape to it. I cannot deal with messy, sprawly and extremely awkward plants. As soon as the LIttle Spire blooms I'm going to shovel prune it. The Version you need to get is the normal full-sized. Perovskia atriplicifolia Filigran version which is very upright and neatly formed.

Hehe, VolunteerK9.   :-D Yup my Girlie is sugar and spice and everything nice! Eluane sends her puppy greetings!



« Last Edit: August 09, 2011, 06:12:56 pm by SerenaSYH »

Offline jaseemtp

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #34 on: August 10, 2011, 01:19:32 am »
well I did try clover, but we have had a horrible year with heat and lack of rain.  So none of it came up.  The Russian sage I have is probally the wrong one since it is all sprawled out and the girls do not seem interested in it.  I did plant 6 of them together and Im not sure that is enough to draw them over.  I guess I will have a few months of home work to do before next spring.
"It's better to die upon your feet than to live upon your knees!" Zapata

Offline SerenaSYH

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #35 on: August 17, 2011, 02:51:34 am »
oh, ugh, ugh, ugh, I am screwing you up big time  :oops: :buttkick:

Ok, on the videos of good nectar plants you will see the real Russian sage Perovskia atriplicifolia Filigran there. Also in my garden photo, this is the true Russian sage, very upright and tidy... The leaves need to be very narrow and feathery. Jason I only had two Perovskia atriplicifolia Filigran last year and all the honeybees mobbed those 2 plants. Because the two plants were so successful, I bought tons more the next year to add to my garden.

The bad Russian sage hybrid has rounded leaves and is completely floppy. Maybe you also got regular Meadow Sage mixed up? They are also pretty floppy but do send up spires. My honeybees do not! like Meadow sage.

Here are closeups of the good Russian sage Perovskia atriplicifolia Filigran. When I have time to re-edit, I will send you photos of the bad Russian Blue Spire / Mini Spire. The bad I only bought 2 plants because I was afraid that the original Russian sage may be too large and may push over the roses so it was a private experiment. I never mentioned the mini-hybrid to you because I didn't know how it would perform in my garden. But I never thought you'd pick up such a plant, yikes!

Bad Blue Spire or Mini Spire hybrid also does not bloom as long or as early as the original Russian sage. This proves my theory that garden folks need to stop hybridizing because hybridizing can negatively affect the bee-attractiveness of the flowers! Grrrrrr. Well, mine haven't bloomed yet so I will reconfirm the performance when they do.

Jason, Russian sage has an extremely long bloom season from June 1st all the way to the first snows...so if it doesn't snow until December, then that is how long Perovskia atriplicifolia Filigran will keep on blooming. The pale blue flowers will shed and the deeper new purple flowers will come up... Here are more links on how yours if it had been the right one, should have looked like. That is the advantage of going to a nursery to buy the plant because you can observe the growth pattern and leaves right away...

See how neat and upright...

http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/perovskia-echinops-achillea2.jpg

http://www.webanswers.com/post-images/6/6E/6A1C1FBD-14B3-FA99-6DBFAA5C4FBFD94B.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XpZ_btgT-Sg/TT8RZEF4ONI/AAAAAAAAAAk/yb_YsxbuyrI/s1600/russiansage+1.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff108/kristinwebber/beaut0002.png

http://www.thetreefarm.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/r/u/russian-sage-plant-wilway.jpg

Here is the closeup of the real Perovskia atriplicifolia Filigran:



I'm back! here to add a closeup photo of the bad Russian Mini-Spire and no, I didn't find any honeybees on it either. The honeybees are still obsessing over the real Russian sage and the Italian Oregano. As you can tell the plants look very different although the flower shares a similar color. Even the "spires" are a bit different in the formation.



:imsorry:


OK other details. Italian Oregano requires a bit of partial shade to protect it from roasting. You will also need mulch to keep the plant rehydrated....Italian Oregano if it is grown in good soil and mulched soil gets to be one huge moppy plant. It looks like the Simpsons' Sideshow Bob, but boy do the honeybees like it!....Oregano prefers rich soils. Italian oregano normally grows from 12"-24" but when planted next to my roses which are fed with sea tea, they become mutant giants - over 3' tall. The flowers are very massive and heavy and will spill over everywhere!

Russian sage can tolerate drought and poor soil really well. Just make sure when you first transplant it that it gets good waterings. Lots of plants in will have transplant shock so initially water and make sure the roots are adjusted.

Finally do not attempt to transplant or plant new plants in the midst of the drought season. Their ability to survive can be cut as much as 2/3rds or more and will likely end up as dead as doornails. Do not succumb to "summer sales" lol! cool spring is always the best! Once Russian sage and GROUND-PLANTED Oregano establish themselves, you never have to worry about these plants ever! again. They'll come up year after year after year.




« Last Edit: August 17, 2011, 07:30:42 pm by SerenaSYH »

Offline jaseemtp

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #36 on: August 17, 2011, 08:26:26 am »
Wow, that is outstanding.  Thank you sooo much for all that information.  I do appreciate it.  I have alot of soil prep work to do once the house is built, darn red clay, but I have a buddy who owns a dairy so plenty of cow manure and the county has been clearing for a new loop around the city so I already have two semi loads of shredded wood.  I know that it needs to rest for awhile before using it.  Im thinking I wont be gardening with it for 6 months.  I may have to order the seeds for the oregano because I do not remember ever finding it here for sale.
"It's better to die upon your feet than to live upon your knees!" Zapata

Offline SerenaSYH

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #37 on: August 17, 2011, 07:43:27 pm »
Hi, Jason! sure thing! I just wish I had realized how tricky it can be for someone doing a starter garden!

 :imsorry:

Hybrids can really impact a bee-attractiveness of a plant. I am positive you will indeed be able to find Italian oregano in any store! It is such a popular herb. People and typical gardeners are crazy about Italian oregano. You just have to make sure you don't mix it up with the other varieties of oregano there are. Italian oregano is the typical seasonings used for cooking more than any other oregano out there....Hence it's popularity at the stores. Seeds also take longer to grow, so I'm not sure a seed-grown Italian oregano will ever reach the 3' tall height that mine do. However I bought mine as a 3" plant, still pretty small, lol! It's only $1.99 as a single stem plant, but boy does it grow gangbusters so long as it has mulch, has partial shade, and water.

It's the adult Russian sage that you can abuse, haha! It would do fantastic in any soil! In fact, don't fertilize the soil near the Russian sage. Russian sage does fantastic in poor quality soils. Unlike Italian oregano, it also would do fantastic with blazing full Texan sun....It needs no shade, in other words.
« Last Edit: August 17, 2011, 07:57:55 pm by SerenaSYH »

Offline anglina

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Re: bee flower garden
« Reply #38 on: November 28, 2011, 09:47:19 am »
I truly can see this fantastic............
What types of bees do you see in your garden? At first glance you may observe some honeybees ducking in and out of flowers, perhaps a bumblebee or two. 

 

anything