The wildfire smoke level is down to about 100, from well above 500 two days ago. That's still not "clean" but not "hazardous to life" that it was.
I checked on the bees, through the window in their beehive. I THINK they are OK. Not much activity, today was cook and rainy so I think they wouldn't be going out anyway. The yellow jacket traps have a few dozen yellow jackets - bad news, really. That means there are still lots of them out there.
Since it's cool and there are no bees out there, it may not matter now to have nectar and pollen plants. But there might be sunny days now and then.
This is the patch of wildflowers that I planted in July, I think. It was after the irises that were in this spot finished blooming, and I moved them elsewhere. They are blooming nicely now. I was surprised that they did this well, planting the seeds so late and watering only a few times when first planted, and a few times this month. I don't know the source of the wildflower mix. There are lots of bachelor's buttons, some coreopsis, cosmos, and a few zinnias. That is most of it. Deer have not eaten any of it.
These are the buckwheat that I planted in the former potato patch, roughly two weeks ago. I think they benefited from the smoke emergency, because the soil did not dry out so fast. I don't know if these will just be a ground cover / "green manure" cover crop, or if they will bloom before the first frost.
These are the other buckwheat, planted in mid summer. They are blooming very well. It's not a big enough patch to sustain a hive, but it's not nothing. This is a learning process for me.
Phacelia is not blooming yet. I think it might be close.
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