borage. chinese chives. Bee forage. Borage. 7.4.14Chine.4.14

Bumblebee on borage.  7.5.14

Bees are actively foraging borage and Chinese chives.  The yard is bee paradise now.  The borage is massive.  I did fertilize with organic nitrogen earlier this year.

Next plan for Chinese chives is to have most in one raised bed, permanent.  A few will be planted around in the flower beds as ornamentals.

Honeybee on borage.  7.5.14

Chinese Chives.  7.4.14

Bees forage the clover lawn. Hummingbirds in the Crocosmia. 7.4.14

I've been planting clover seeds in the lawn, for the past 2 years.  This is a chemical-free, fertilizer-free lawn.    Now, as the hot days of sumer are here, the grass stops growing.  The clover is in full bloom.  When white clover is intermixed with grasses, the clover supports nitrogen-fixing bacteria, pulling nitrogen out of the air and into the soil in forms plants can use.  The grass grows better, and so does the clover.  White clover is also one of the best bee forages.  They are actively foraging the clover lawn now.  Walking through the lawn, I can hear them hum.  It looks prettier in person than in the photo.  The clover lawn benefits the grass, the soil, the bees, and the environment.

Clover lawn.  7.2.14

Humingbird on Crocosmia.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14  

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Hummingbird on Crocosmia.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14

Hummingbird.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14

Honeybee on Clover.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14

Honeybee on Clover.  Photo by Ning Wang.  7.4.14

Deck Flowers. 7.2.14

Overwintered Dianthus.  7.2.14

Many of the deck plants resulted from overwintering deck plants from the past 2 or 3 years.  I simply let them dry out an keep them in the atached garage.  The dianthus overwintered on the covered porch, outside but out of the rain and next to the house.

Four O'clock "Marbles".  7.2.14

Overwintered geraniums.  7.2.14

 The four o'clocks will likely be  treated the same way.  It's 8pm and they are in bloom.  Today was in the 80s.

The geraniums overwinter very well.  The red is about 3 or 4 years old.  The smallest pink one was planted this summer.  The others are 2 or 3 years old.  Once they start blooming, they are impressive.

Four O'clock "Marvel of Peru".  7.2.14

Bee Forage. 6.29.14

Honeybee on Chinese Chives.  6.29.14

Honeybee on onion flower.  6.29.14

 Honeybees are foraging the yard actively.

They especially like Chinese chives, onion flowers, and Phacelia.   This is my first try at phacelia.  Very pretty and easy.

The bees are actively foraging Ning's wildflowers as well.

Honeybee on Phacela.  6.29.14

Wildflowers.  6.29.14

Ning's wildflower meadow.  6.29.14

Honeybees on Chinese Chives.   6.29.14

Phacela.  6.29.14

Buddleia Progress Report. 6.29.14

Buddleia "Blueberry Cobbler".  6.29.14

Buddleia "Miss Molly".  6.29.14

Buddleia "Miss Ruby".  6.29.14

The sterile buddleias are starting to bloom.

As described in earlier posts, sterile buddleias are complex  hybrids between Buddleia davidii and other species.  They have the advantage of being sterle, so do not produce seeds.  For that reason, the sterile hybrids are legal in  this SPring Oregon and Washington.  I did see some Buddleia davidii at Lowes, and walked past it a few times, beautiful dark purple.  But as an environmentally oriented gardener, I couldn't bring myself to buy it.  The B. davidii are highly invasive.  The sterile hybrids do not set seed, so are not invasive.  Despite being sterile, some varieties are highly vigorous, while others are much more restrained.

In their 2nd year, the varieties "Peach Cobbler" and "Blueberry Cobbler" are 7 feet tall, and equally wide.  Also in their 2nd year, "Miss Ruby" is about 4 feet tall, and "Miss Molly" is about 3 feet tall.  The most compact is "Blue Chip", which is about 18 inches tall.

Bloom order:  "Miss Molly" was first, mid June.  "Miss Ruby" was 2nd, late June.  "Blueberry Cobbler" followed close behind, late June.  "Peach Cobbler" is about to bloom, probably 1st week of July.  "Blue Chip" does not have buds yet.  Not a fair comparison, because I let that bed go wild while I was recuperating from surgery, and only this spring pulled out the competing weeds.  It has made a resurgence of growth, but had a late start.

These buddleias are the fastest of all my shrubs to grow and establish.  They are one of the few that deer and rabbits don't touch.  They don't seem to be affected by any insects.  Bumblebees forage the flowers.  I'm not sure about honeybees - so far, there is minimal if any honeybee activity.   The more compact varieties look ideal for smaller gardens, and the more vigorous varieties look ideal for privacy hedge.