Bees in the garden

I just ordered one of these Mason bee boxes from AndrewsReclaimed on Etsy. I’m excited to take this next step in attracting yard wildlife. You can’t keep bees in Edmonton, and I don’t know if I would want to even if it were allowed – while the idea appeals to my pioneer woman sensibilities, the truth is that the jars of honey we purchase a few times a year at the farmer’s market are more than enough for us. If we kept bees, I don’t know what we would do with all the honey.

But the other wonderful function bees have in the garden, of course, is pollination. So I thought I would try a bee-box, mount it somewhere (maybe on my garage?) and see if I get any mason bees in residence next year. Mason bees are solitary creatures who like to nest in hollow holes or tubes. They are also pretty friendly (well, as friendly as a bee can be), since apparently they rarely sting. Plus I don’t think you can get in trouble for having a box for them. Because the City Bee Inspector (from the Department of Unexpected Wildlife, the DUW) might be like, “Ma’am, you can’t be keeping these bees,” and I would be like, "I’m not keeping bees. That’s a garden art object. I don’t know why it has bees in it."

I am also considering buying a box of ladybugs to help me take care of my aphid problem. Does anyone know where to buy live ladybugs in the Edmonton area?

In bloom | June 1

In bloom | June 1, originally uploaded by jocelynb.
Phlox (I think?? I forget), strawberries, chives, blueberries. 
My blueberries have never bloomed before (I just planted them last year). I was not expecting the tiny flowers. They remind me of old-timey bloomers.


I've been having a stressful time at work recently. The garden is a very welcome distraction. I wish it was more pleasant to be outside, but the bugs have been intense. Note to self: plant more carnivorous plants. Earlier today I killed a mosquito, and I gave it to Emma, just for revenge.

June 14: the veggies

I have identified a problem with having a garden blog, which is that when it's warm and things are growing and I have stuff to blog about, I don't really have time to post because I'm in my garden. Go figure. But there ARE some things growing in my yard at last, so here I am (at last).

The very first tomato to bloom, a Sweet Tumbler in a pot on my stoop. I gave an audible squeal of delight when I spotted it.

The biggest Bloody Butcher tomato plant. It is looking pretty healthy, also. When the seedling had a few true leaves, I planted it straight into this big pot and it has been growing happily in there ever since (on a bed of potting soil and styrofoam packing peanuts, so the pot is still light enough to lift). It was VERY spindly when I moved it outside, but it has filled out nicely, like that nerdy platonic friend from junior high.

Peas, growing like gangbusters. What is a gangbuster, anyway? That sounds like something I could be successful at growing in my garden. Presumably they're not too hard to start from seed. You could say they grow like peas.

James and I finally got the last raised bed built and stained. It's planted with snapdragons (along the left side), succulents (along the right side), and 2 Jimmy Nardello peppers. It's in a corner of the yard where it just COOKS during the day. I hope the peppers flourish there. Yep, those are blue plastic bendy straws holding up the tender pepper plants. I roll like that.

The other vegetables that are growing from seed are also starting to poke their little heads up, including onions and scallions. I just planted some lettuce last weekend--it should have been in the ground much earlier, but I decided better late than never. All my seedlings are in the ground, almost, except for a stray watermelon (I have no space for it and may put it in a pot) and a single hybrid zucchini (which I BOUGHT after my hybrids perished in the cold weather earlier). Still to come, some day when it's raining: flowers!