Sometimes sacrifice is, well, it is hooey unless there is some disadvantage to the person doing the sacrificing.
So to say I am sacrificing a neat and tidy lawn for the bees wouldn’t really be right.
There are many species of bees happily bobbing up and down all over the yard here at Mist Cottage, enjoying the organically grown bounty. What do we have on offer? Wild Strawberry blossoms, very popular with the smaller species of bees; Wild Violets, again very popular with the small set; Dandelions, a universal favourite, which is great because there a lot of dandelions in the yard; Blackcurrant blooms, the bush is humming with activity; Primrose, and Lungwort, the first choice of discerning big bumbling bumble bees. A few of the neighbours are horrified, and helpless to prevent our bountiful blooming yard.
We also have a lot of up and coming treats for the bees. In the lawn there will be White Clover, Chickweed, Plantain, Yellow Hawkweed, and the aggressive Bindweed.
In the garden there will be Bleeding Heart, Wild Geranium, Lavender, Echinacea, Wild Rose (fingers crossed, this is a transplant from my Granny’s garden), Day Lilies, Columbine, Ajuga, Lily of the Valley, Peonies, Hosta Lillies, Irises, Lilacs, Scarlet Runner Beans, and Sedum. And the blossoms on the crabapple tree will soon be filling the air with their delicious scent.
The vegetable garden will also sport a few blooms, squash, tomato and peppers. And the rest is yet to be determined.
I can’t figure out if it is a case of great minds think alike at the same time, or exposure to Joan Brennan’s post of Facebook, which was 45 minutes ago, which I don’t remember looking at until just a few minutes ago, after I’d been sitting out on the back porch, looking at all the yellow and violet and white blooms, and writing about them. Scrolling through Facebook posts might just be leaving more information in my brain than I am aware of! She posted a photo of her yard which looks to have Wild Violets, Dandelions, and I think a few Wild Strawberries.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
13°C
Date: 2:00 PM EDT Monday 14 May 2018
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.4 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 13.0°C
Dew point: 10.5°C
Humidity: 85%
Wind: S 25 km/h
Visibility: 19 km
Quote
“Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive… then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Howard Thurman
Sounds like your yard is a bee’s paradise! I just bought some packets of seeds of different flowers that supposedly attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. We get fined in our town if our lawns aren’t mowed so can’t go the natural route so I just try to have a bunch of different flowers for the bees. Love that spring is finally here. Saw my first spring rabbit today. 🙂
Eileen, it is wonderful that packets of seeds of different flowers to attract bees, butterlfies, and hummingbirds are available!
We have rules about yard maintenance in this area too, but they sound a little different than yours. Our bylaw has a height restriction, and if the lawn grows too high you will be warned to cut it, or the municipality will step in and do i,t and charge you for the unasked for service. Wild strawberries, dandelions, and wild violets don’t grow high enough to warrant the municipalities attentions. The Hawkweed is the only plant that might come closer to the limit, but not quite. The “grass” is cut here, regularly, but luckily these ground hugging wild flowers are around long enough to give the bees an after winter boost, before the flower gardens and blooming trees start to bloom. Since the yard is cut fairly regularly, any plants that might get too high are kept short, and they eventually give up and give way to shorter plants.
Rabbits are so cute! 🙂
I’m loving all the photos of people’s flowers via Facebook. I enjoy vicariously all but the smell, 🙂 That’s a wonderful inspiring Thurman quote. (I’ll soon have some posts about things which make me feel alive, 🙂 Yes, Egyptology related, 🙂 )
Wow, first bunny? We’ve had bunnies here right along all winter and now have a new family born in the back yard that Paul uncovered when he was cleaning up leaves. So cute. He hates them but I love ’em. They did a number on a lot of our plants/shrubs though.
Joan, spring is such a visual abundance, isn’t it! Glad you liked the Thurman quote, it caught my eye, and then other parts of me. Looking forward to your posts 🙂
Bex, the bunnies sure do a number on the plants! It is almost time to put in the vegetable garden, and then Attila will begin to feel like a regular Mr. McGregor, as our assorted Peter Rabbits nibble away at our food supply.