Bees in the breeze

Although I'm really missing the rain that we all so badly need here, it really is a joy to observe the bees out and about when the sun is shining. I haven't seen many bees recently since they are mostly hibernating, but this past weekend I saw some in our garden.

While most of the shrubs need serious pruning now, for me it is always a concern that the bees have nectar sources all year round. For example, the lavatera shrub has seriously grown out of proportion, overshadowing other plants growing next to it. It needs to be trimmed both from the top and sides. At the same time, it's a popular shrub with the bees and birds. So this weekend my friend Anne and I decided to trim down all of the branches that don't have any blossoms on them. It ends up as a partial trimming, but at least there is more light and air around the shrub and the plants next to it also have light and space around them.

As you can see in the photo above, a honeybee is busy around the lavatera shrub.

And this carpenter bee was enjoying the Chiapas sage blossoms. Again, I have to make a difficult decision - this salvia plant should be cut down to the nubs so that it will have healthy thick growth in the summer. But it looks great now with lovely blossoms that the bees frequent. So I don't really want to cut it down, and I'll just take the chance of the plant getting rangy in the summer. Hmm... still have to think about this one.