The Bee-Friendly Garden…

Planning and organizing a landscape and an edible garden involves not only endless hours of hands on labor of love, resources and researching, it also includes deterring and repelling pests and attracting and calling for beneficial friends like birds, hummingbirds (they’re a class all their own!) and the ever diligent native and honey bees. The Bee-Friendly Garden…bee kind to the bees, please!

Bee-Friendly Gardening – Babcock peach blooms

We have steep hillsides surrounding a good part of our main backyard that we covered with red apple ground cover. It’s a lush green ground cover that’s drought tolerant, attractive and attracts some good friends, the bees. We had an unusual cold spell in southern California a few weeks (or was it months?) back. The cold mornings were very beneficial for some of our stone fruit trees, like the Babock Peach who requires hours of chill time. However, it really did a number on the ground cover, freezing and killing a majority of it back. It’s recovering and slowly returning, but my main concern is what it may have done to my warm invitation and beckoning of beautiful winged friends like the hummingbirds, butterflies, and busy bees? Fortunately, there is a myriad of other beneficial plantings to coax these winged fairies to stop by and visit.

Bee-Friendly Gardening – Wickson crab-apples | Even though self-pollinating, can benefit from honey bee pollinators too!

In addition to what has already been planted in the gardens, this year I’ll be better at planning companion planting in the vegetable beds, adding even more glorious color with fragrant blossoms to repel insects that will do the plants harm, and encourage eco-friendly buddies to socialize a bit longer and maybe even take residence closer by.

Bee-Friendly Gardening – Tomatillos | Tomatoes pollinated by native bees produce larger and more numerous fruits.

DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of The Bee-Friendly Garden: Design an Abundant, Flower-Filled Yard that Nurtures Bees and Supports Biodiversity to review from Blogging for Books. Opinions are my own. I was not monetarily compensated, obligated to write a review, or write a favorable review. Links to the book may contain Amazon.com affiliate links where, if clicked and a purchase is made from that click, I may earn a tiny percentage of the sale that is applied for TeenieCakes.com operating expenses. Read more here.

I’ve been looking forward to this book by authors Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn for more guidance and inspiration on how to further make good use of space by adding beneficial plants that will naturally attract winged creatures to help with pests and further pollinate our edible gardens.

The Bee-Friendly Garden by Kate Frey & Gretchen LeBuhn

Spaces of all sizes, large, small, container or patio gardening, can benefit from colorful, safe, and healthy gardens. Just some of the many benefits of nurturing a bee-friendly garden include:

• Improving the quality, flavor, and size of your homegrown produce
• Increase the quantity of your fruit and vegetable harvests (and who doesn’t want that!?)
• Developing healthy and fertile soil
• Attracting beneficial birds, butterflies, and other garden-friendly insects
• An organic, pesticide-free, and ecologically sustainable environment for your family and furchildren
• A continuously colorful and blooming garden through the seasons with an array of bright and lively flowers

This is an informational and beautifully laid out book with full-color images that starts with a chapter on “Our Friends the Bees” (myths and facts) and ends with a chapter on “Beyond Your Own Backyard – Becoming a Bee Activist” which I am (an activist for bees) and thoroughly enjoyed the introduction on how bees are beneficial and their desperate plight and challenges due to their environment changes by both man and perhaps some natural phenomena, as well.

I was especially drawn to the chapter on “Bee-Friendly Plants for Edible Gardens” as I’m planning and reworking our edible garden and happy to learn that many of the herbs and plants I already have in the landscape are doing their bee duties. Herbs like everyone’s favorite basil (which is also an excellent companion plant for tomatoes and peppers), lavender, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme and mint.

The section on “Designing Your Bee Gardens” will give me a lot to think about and consider as our ever-changing garden and landscape matures and changes over the years. As trees and shrubs provide more shade and warmth to our surroundings, I’m able to better integrate more colorful and aromatic areas that are not only eye-pleasing, but beneficial to all our fruit trees, vegetables and herbs, welcoming in beneficial creatures, like the bees, and hopefully overrun and repel our foes.

There’s a great “Resources” section listing bee-friendly nurseries and gardens, recommended books, pollinator organizations, and more online information. The Regional Plant Lists will prove invaluable and I’ll have to place a handy bookmark for this section as I know I’ll be referencing it often. Although generous in content, I would’ve liked it to be even more extensive but it definitely shares plenty for me to work with!

Take a peek at the extensive preview pages on Amazon.com (←affiliate link) and consider a bee-friendly landscape and/or garden to benefit your environment and bee-friend our native and mighty honey bees!

DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of The Bee-Friendly Garden: Design an Abundant, Flower-Filled Yard that Nurtures Bees and Supports Biodiversity (ISBN-13: 978-1607747635) to review from Blogging for Books. Opinions are my own. I was not monetarily compensated, obligated to write a review, or write a favorable review. Links to the book may contain Amazon.com affiliate links where, if clicked and a purchase is made from that click, I may earn a tiny percentage of the sale that is applied for TeenieCakes.com operating expenses. Read more here.