Yellow Jackets by the Beehive. 8.22.2020

 This is very worrisome for me.  I saw that some yellow jackets had taken to a fig, and wondered if there might be a problem by the beehive.  So I set out a yellow jacket trap.  Within an hour, there were three dozen yellow jackets in the trap.  So I set out three more traps.  Time will tell.

I don't know where their nest is.  I wondered in the past if yellow jackets had killed off a beehive or more than one.  I read that they can kill them off in a few hours, for food. 

I have ordered some insecticide that can be mixed with cat food and placed in an animal-proof cage.  The yellow jackets carry it to their nest.  That will take a week to arrive.  Meanwhile, the traps will have to do.

So far, no bees enter the traps.  Just yellow jackets.

Tomato "Bodaceous". 8.20.2020

 Tomatoes got off to a late start this year.  I think we are heading into a good tomato month.  This being the Pacific NW, I'm grateful for whatever tomatoes I get.  I don't know if they are supposed to be this lumpy, but lumpy is fine, these are garden fresh, home grown tomatoes.

"Bodaceous Tomato"  8.20.2020

Edit:  Unfortunately, this was not flavorful at all!  I hope the future tomatoes are better.  It was basically like a grocery store tomato.

Flowers with Honeybees. 8.20.2020

 Just a mixture of photos of flowers with honeybees.

I think borage is one of the top honeybee forage flowers.  They do self-seed, prolifically, year after year.  However, the volunteer seedlings are easy to pull out if not wanted.  Borage has a long period of blooming, and is at its peak when a lot of the others are done.

A groundcover sedum, I think Sedum kamtschaticum.  These were cuttings, basically trimmings from someones plant, they left them on the break table at work for anyone who wanted them.  I just stuck them in the ground, no special care, and they took off and filled their space.  Honeybees seem to like most of the Sedums.

Milkweed.  I think this one is Asclepias incarnata.   I had covered the area this Spring with a ground fabric and tree mulch, but it came up at the edge.  I'm glad it did.  It also has an offspring in a container, which I intend to transplant.

Oregano flowers are usually covered with honeybees.  You can hear them hum before you see them.

I don't know this flower.  It came up in the uncut grass.

Some of the Chinese chives are still blooming.  Good for honeybees, who are always all over the chive flowers.

More oregano.

This is the larger, bushier perennial type sedum.  It's similar to "Autumn Joy" but I don't think it is. 

Zinnias. 8.20.2020

 This year I didn't do as well with zinnias.  Something ate the first batches that I planted, and the second group never really took off.  Finally I bought a six-pack, which was so root-bound that I had doubts about the viability.  However, they grew and some of the earlier seedlings are starting to bloom too.

So far, there hasn't been much honeybee activity in the zinnias.  Not like, say, alliums, poppies, milkweeds, etc.

No a zinnia, but an African marigold.  It's not supposed to have single flowers.  They rest of the plants have fully double flowers.  But I like this one more than those.  I think I'll save seeds from it.

More zinnias, this time from the seeds that I planted.  On the side is a "wild" petunia.

Four O'Clocks. 8.20.2020

 When I first started growing Four O'Clocks, I thought they might be difficult to grow.  I planted the seeds inside, coddled them, transplanted, gave them TLC.  Now, having grown them for many years, I usually just plant the seeds directly in the garden.  This year I didn't even try.  Within the vegetable garden are volunteers that grew from volunteers that grew from  volunteers.  I transplanted some, left some where they were.  They turned out very nice.

I don't think I ever bought or planted pink 4 O'clocks, but here they are.  

These red ones are a very rich color, quite lovely.

I think I planted this yellow one in front of the house a few years ago.  It comes up every year.

Honeybees generally stay away from 4 O'clocks, but there can be exceptions.  It's possible that the flowers bloom before the bees are active, and close up too early.

This year I want to save seeds separately for each color.  They are all nice, and have an antique feel to them.