“The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life.” ~Jean Giraudoux
We don’t grow a ton of flowers just for flowers sake. Most of our flowers are on things like herbs, vegetables, and fruits because they’re a precursor to the stuff we want from the plant – the tasty bits. Still, I appreciate beautiful flowers and truly love walking through flower gardens belonging to other talented gardeners.
I have planted some things specifically with our bees in mind, the bee balm above for example. I did plant that bee balm last fall when I got a deal on it at a local nursery. I planted it even before I was sure we were going to add a hive but I knew it would be good for the local bees even if we didn’t add a hive of our own. A neighbor also thinned out her Lily of the Valley patch and gave me a bunch of roots. I planted those very close to the bee hive so that when they bloom in the early spring the bees will have access to it rather close to home.
Sunflowers, especially the giant varieties, are a tricky thing here in northwest Montana. If we get an early frost these might never bloom, still I had been given some seed from friends and gave it a whirl this year. I’m about 5’2″ and as you can see most of the sunflowers are easily 5 feet high. I’m hopeful that we’ll get to harvest some seed for eating and if not that at least some blooms for the bees to feast on.
I must admit that the purple coneflowers (echinacea) are my favorites. Oh, I love the calendula, daisies, marigolds, bee balm, all of them but the purple coneflowers they just stir something in my soul. I do harvest some of the roots for tinctures each fall but mostly I just love the flowers on this beautiful plant and look forward to it spreading throughout the various gardens of our home.
How do your flowers bloom?
