Bring on the Bees!

I've been lobbying for-ev-er to put flowers in the garden. To grow something, anything, we don't actually have to eat. Why do I have to lobby? We've got limited space and so far, it's all been used to grow vegetables. All vegetables, all the time. 

But when spring arrived a few weeks ago, and the brassicas bolted, we noticed something wonderful happening in our backyard—something that was missing last year. 

See the bees?

Bolted and blooming broccoli plants.

They came, in multitudes, and were happily feasting on the broccoli blooms. It pained me to have to pull the broccoli plants to make way for the summer garden, but so goes the life of the backyard farmer.

See the bee?

Bees and butterflies—anything that pollinates—are wonderful bugs to have in your garden. They keep the ecosystem up and running and ensure that all the plants are happily pollinated.

Brussels sprouts and broccoli at the end of the season. Goodbye, brassicas...

Knowing how important these bees are, we are now planning a flowering herb garden. It will be a less structured, more colorful, sometimes edible, butterfly- and bee-attracting space with plants in every size, shape, and color.

I am so excited to get this new garden under way. Now that we have the summer veggies started, we can start work on this new bed. It's going to be in the backyard, and it will serve a double purpose: disguising the air conditioning unit. Aren't we clever!

We'll plant chamomile, lavender, rosemary, purple coneflower, and more. I hope to keep some perennials in the bed, and scatter annuals around that will change with the seasons: zinnias, poppies, ranunculus, and more.

What do you think we should plant in our flowering garden?

The baby pear tree boasts lovely blooms.