Yellow Bees, Red Ladies and Blue Gardens

And that pretty much sums up my day as a garden docent for the Bringing Back the Natives Tour.

If you read my earlier post, you know I spent last Sunday helping Bob and Mary Lu out in their garden.  Despite early drizzles and an overcast day, the tour was well attended, which is either a testament to the beauty of the gardens or a reflection on the fanatical enthusiasm of native plant lovers.  We had about 250 come through and other gardens had over 300 visitors.

Some of the highlights of Bob and Mary Lu’s garden:

The blue garden was inviting as usual, and at this point, the blue accents remind of a beautiful yet invasive plant, as I notice blue touches seem to be multiplying throughout the garden.

 

Lots of complimentary comments from visitors on the interesting variety of plants in this particular garden and the many whimsical pieces of art scattered throughout.  This Phillip Glasshof sculpture is my favorite – I’m thinking of purchasing one of his pieces for my own garden.

 

I was surprised Mary Lu had planted a full sized fremontodendron in a spot where it really won’t have the room to spread out, but she explained that her plan is to train it up into a small specimen tree, which should show off its weeping habit beautifully.

 My friend Gary is a beekeeper, and generously brings his demonstration hive to garden tours and other events (East Bay locals, he’ll be at Wild Birds Unlimited this Sunday).  This is the third time I’ve been a docent on a tour with him and he is hugely popular.  On this particular day, it was possible to see the queen actually laying eggs, so a lot of visitors were interested in hearing about what happens when a queen gets too old (her hive “disposes” of her), what happens when more than one queen is hatched (the bee version of a cat fight to the death) and exactly how she becomes fertile (mates with 15 to 20 drones mid-flight).  Discussion definitely veered into PG-13 territory for a while.  What can I say?  We're not afraid to push the envelope out here in the East Bay.

All in all, a fine way to spend a Sunday.  Thanks Mary Lu and Bob, and thanks as well to all the gardeners who generously opened their gardens for the tour and shared their knowledge and enthusiasm!

 

Mary Lu and Bob with me in the middle

Comments

[DaffodilPlanter]

Just let me scrape the dirt off my shoes ... there. Well, what an enjoyable tour that was of Mary Lu and Bob's garden. Thanks to them, and to Gary for his fascinating apian information!

[Susan (garden chick)]

And thank you for teaching me a new word - writing apian instead of bee elevates the whole tone of the post!

[Town Mouse]

Sounds like a great time was had by all! Beautiful garden. Next year I'll have to do that tour again.

[Rob(ourfrenchgarden)]

Hi Susan

I had to look up the word 'docent' on Wikipedia. I'd never heard of it. Anyway, I understand it's a good thing to do.

The bee, I mean apian info is so important right now. I read somewhere that the Californian almond harvest is worth $1.9bn, takes 1.2 million bee colonies to pollinate (the largest pollination in history) and accounts for 80% of the worlds crop. In these days of colony collapse, awareness is pretty darn important.

[wayne]

glad you had fun. Keep having it.

[Susan (garden chick)]

Town Mouse, the turnout was not as big as your tour a few weeks ago, but still quite respectable (although I can't even imagine 900 people, 250 seemed like plenty).

Rob, I think at this point they've determined that Colony Collapse Disorder is some sort of virus and hives are gaining in strength again. Gary mentioned that it used to cost about $15.00 for one hive, which is enough to pollinate 2 acres of almonds. Now the cost is more like $150.00. I guess supply and demand works everywhere.

Wayne, not only did I have a great day, I even got volunteer hours!