25 Year Old No Dig Permaculture Garden

Living Big In A Tiny House ‘Back To Nature Living In A Beautiful Tiny House Tent’

Bees are dying at an alarming rate. Amsterdam may have the answer.

Sedum telephium, aka Hylotelephium telephium, Crassulaceae

When you think of succulents as a concept I am sure you don’t picture the often dreary climate of the British Isles as favourable to them, but in reality there are a few native species and they live quite happily here –the first plant id post I wrote on this blog was actually about one of them. When I was hill-walking north-west of Glasgow a few days ago I happened across a small colony of another fairly common one right where the edge of the path I was following met a grassy meadow. Known by many names, the most popular of which is orpine, the deep rosy inflorescences of this upright succulent were standing out among the greenery and a few bumblebees were taking advantage of them. By the way, I’ve always had a weak spot for the foxy fuzziness of the common carder bee, Bombus pascuorum, since I saved one trapped in a cobweb when I was a little kid. Look at that adorable wee face!

About a year ago I wrote about my experience with growing indoors what I now know to be an ornamental cultivar resulting from crossing this species and Hylotelephium spectabile, and described some of the uses of this practical plant (plus a funny anecdote), so check that post too!

lynseygrosfield:

Oxalis acetosella

Source: lynseygrosfield

Hi. I just mowed my lawn cause the real estate sent us a letter about it cause it was slightly overgrown and it made me feel bad cause there were so many bees out there enjoying the weeds. I”m trying to think of what I can do for the bees that won’t eventually get mowed down. Do you think I can put clover and dandelion in some kind of box? Since they’re weeds I’m not sure whether that’s pragmatic…

foxthebeekeeper:

imgoingtogobacktheresomeday:

foxthebeekeeper:

As long as the majority of your lawn on the road/path side is mowed and clear, generally you are able to plant anything close to your house. What I would do in that case is get a bag of clover seeds and pick lots of dandelion seeds and make little raised planters close to my house. I have turned to lavender and basil for my bee feeding lately because clover has a hard time growing here and these plants typically aren’t considered weeds so I can grow them anywhere.
I would absolutely love to turn my yard in to a clover yard but I’m not so sure how feasible that would be.

So yeah. Plant in “enclosed” or raised areas close to your house and nobody can tell you to do anything. Grow lots of flowers and try to grow plants that flower all summer and maybe even in to the fall. ^^

Flower beds full of wildflowers are great, as are bee watering stations. Bottlebrush trees produce tons of bee-friendly blooms. Sunflowers are excellent. Honeysuckles and Chinese Hedge are also massive bee lures.

^