The Yorkton and District Horticultural Society Spring Plant and Bulb Sale will be on Friday, May 24 beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Parkland Mall in Yorkton. This is the perfect opportunity to add some new plants to your garden collection. There will be a good selection of plants at great prices, and gardeners on hand to chat with if you have any questions. Don鈥檛 miss it!
Thank you to everyone who took part in our Iron Gardener event at our last meeting 鈥� it was great fun! Our Iron Gardeners, Sonja, Jean and Allona gave us great inspiration and showed us how to have fun with our spring plantings! Thank you everyone!
Now that we are in planting mode, be sure to plant some flowers for the bees. There are many flowers that attract bees and pollinators: lavender, chives, sunflowers, roses, oregano, salvia, cosmos, and flowers that are purple or blue, yellow, or white. Remember that one in three bites of food that we eat is possible because of the bees and other pollinators, so please be sure to plant at least one row of flowers in your garden with the bees in mind.
An interesting factoid: there are over 21,000 species of bees, and not all of them make honey. There is a very interesting and informative site about bees, https://thehoneybeeconservancy.org and it is buzzing with information about these amazing and miraculous workers. Did you know that there are only seven species of honeybees? Most of the bees in the world live and work alone. They are called 鈥渟olitary鈥� bees, and even though they don鈥檛 produce honey, they have an important role to play as pollinators. Most of them do not live in hives, but make nests in the ground or in hollow stems. And like so many species, these bees are also facing difficulties because of lack of habitat.
You may have heard about 鈥渂ee hotels鈥�; the idea of them is great, giving bees a habitat in our yards. But be sure to read up on this: while our intentions are good, there are several issues to consider for the safety of the bees. Other tenants, such as wasps, may use the bee hotel. The environment is also a happy destination for spiders.
Location, location, location! The bee hotel must be installed properly to be effective, facing south or south-east, at least three feet off the ground, and on a stable base that will not move around in the wind. Nesting sections must be kept clean of mold. The hotel should have protection, such as an overhanging roof to protect the bees from wind or rain. And it must be watched vigilantly to be sure that birds are not using it as a snack bar.
So if you are thinking of having a bee hotel in your yard, please visit the bee conservancy site or type in 鈥渂ee hotel鈥� into Google and read about how to best maintain a bee hotel so that it is useful and safe for the wonderful bees. And if you are a handy person, you can even make your own bee hotel.
Edmund Burke, the Irish politician and philosopher, said many amazing things in his life, including two quotes that I have long found meaningful for life. The first one is 鈥淭he only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.鈥� and the second is 鈥淣obody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.鈥� The earth needs our protection and help, and when we hear all the gloom it may overwhelm us. But we can, in our own small way, make a difference in our little corner of the world. We must do our part in whatever way we can. Let鈥檚 not make the mistake of doing nothing because we can only do a little. Together, it all makes a big difference.
Visit us at www.yorktonhort.ca and have a great week!
