My February Garden

[JanM]

Spring is coming..

Winter Aconites and Snowdrops

[JanM]

Cyclamen



Hopefully the Helleborus will bloom soon too ....

[hazelrunpack]

My Dawg, Jan! We still have 2 feet of snow on the gardens! But now I can see that there's hope!

[CearaQC]

*shakes fist*

Darn you west coast gardeners!

Lovely, just lovely!

But how dare you to tease us poor snow bound folks. hehe

[JanM]

Originally Posted by CearaQC

*shakes fist*

Darn you west coast gardeners!

Lovely, just lovely!

But how dare you to tease us poor snow bound folks. hehe

Oopsie - so sorry

[clm]

Originally Posted by JanM

Oopsie - so sorry

You don't sound very sorry.

A couple of feet of snow on the ground and temperatures below normal means I won't be seeing any of my early spring flowers soon.


Cindy

[cpietra16]

OMG.... I MISS THE ISLAND....WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED...I WANT TO COME BACK....

[Luba]

Holy Carp it's February and this is what you have I am SOOOO jealous!! I can't even believe we are in the same February

Here is OUR February garden

I know some of you can relate....... you'se a teasing us!!!

[jiorji]

sigh...snowdrops my favorite spring flowers

[JanM]

Originally Posted by cpietra16

OMG.... I MISS THE ISLAND....WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED...I WANT TO COME BACK....

I'm between Duncan and Nanaimo. Is this when I mention that the trees are all budding and the yellow crocus are blooming Right now is it sunny and 8 degrees - saw my first bee yesterday and first was today.

Sorry, Luba, but your February garden just doesn't get my heart started I remember too well what that is like - coming from Winnipeg - brrrrr

[chico2]

OMG,here we are sooo sick of snow and cold(well,I am!!)and you are showing us flowersvery pretty though!!

[Luba]

Oh you're from Manitoba, my mom is as well (cold lake much further north of winnipeg) Seems like you welcome these little flowers you have now.
So do you dance around them and dress up like a faery?

[14+kitties]

Jan - I have been seeing yellow jackets for the last month in my greenhouses. They built a couple of nests in there. You can have them.
But it is so nice to see flowers. I love cyclamen. Wish they could be grown here besides in the house.

[JanM]

Originally Posted by Luba

Oh you're from Manitoba, my mom is as well (cold lake much further north of winnipeg) Seems like you welcome these little flowers you have now.
So do you dance around them and dress up like a faery?

tee hee - I don't have to dress up and you bet I welcome those cheery little flowers in February!

14+kitties - No thank you - you can keep yours all to yourself! Last spring I had to take down 4 nests from my deck - I took them down before they got to any size - they had just started building so this year I have a Waspinator to hang out there - shouldn't be any on the deck this year. You might want to get one of those to hang in your greenhouse to keep the nests away...

[14+kitties]

Was actually thinking about getting about 7 or 8 of them. Let me know if they work and I will do that. They look neat but not sure how effective they are. We pay the exterminator every year for the house and my hubby's shop. I leave them in the greenhouses.

[Luba]

((Luba runs from yellow jackets))

Have you seen any bee's out that way Jan? I wonder if the colony collapse situation will be any better this year. We're losing a lot of bees every year. So much so that the ones that do survive are being bought for premium prices and shipped 'world wide' (not kidding)

WINTERPEG!

[JanM]

The Waspinator worked for me last year - I put it up after removing the wasp nests - on consecutive days - and after I put it up - not a one! This year it's going up real early..

I saw one bumblebee day before yesterday. Last summer I noticed an unusual number of unusual bees - ones I had never seen before so I don't know what's happening with the bee population. The "regular" bees were fewer but these new (to me) bees were quite plentiful. A honey producer very close to where I live has had a dramatic bee loss so I wonder what the honey situation will be this year.

[Luba]

Yeah that's what they're calling 'colony collapse disorder'
it's been happening on a huge scale world wide, and without honeybee's we are in big trouble. They don't know what is causing it but some farmers are losing up to 80% of their hives. Which means fields and groves and farms do not get pollenated. That means lack of fruit and veggies for 'all of us' and higher prices, less to choose from.

There was some talk about it being some sort of bacteria/parasite. Then talk about it being because of the hold in the ozone and them not being able to navigate back to their hive, getting lost and dying. BUT some of the hives themselves are full of dead bees come spring so maybe it is some sort of 'organism'

I know what you mean by 'unusual' looking bees. I think these are taking over like the wild african bees that are starting to cross breed with our species. Those ones are very aggressive and attack.

http://www.beeculture.com/content/Co...seDisorder.cfm

Lots of info on colony collapse disorder at above link
if anyone is interested it's a big deal we should all be concerned.

Sorry I stole your garden thread, but it's all in the same flower needs pollenation.

[CearaQC]

Last summer I hardly saw any sort of bee. But we had lots of hoverflies and those little guys also pollinate, and are predator bugs. I keep watch on all the predator species and never disturb them if I can help it - spiders included. If I end up destroying their little area by weeding or changing crops I make sure they are placed in a new spot.

Honey bees are down. I don't think anyone really knows why, although there are lots of theories. I feel that all the antibiotic drugs and anti-mite chemicals have taken their toll on the poor little creatures. Heard rumors though about the organic bee keepers. Supposedly they haven't had near as much bee death compared to the ones that use chemicals in the hive. But I read a ton of stuff every day and it was almost a year ago that I read that. If bees are truly disappearing and never to return...well, that could be disastrous.

I wanted to get a hive at one time. But the state they are in, and the expense...I decided against it. There are other pollination alternatives.

Edit: Found one of the links about organic bee keepers not having the same problems.

http://www.celsias.com/2007/05/15/or...-disorder-ccd/

[chico2]

Last year we had lots and lots of bees,so much that we had to buy one of those net-thingys(like a tent over the patio-umbrella and table)just to eat outside.
Bumble-Bees galore too,they drill holes in our pergola and go in and out of there,probably feeding a Queen(I guess).
I hope we have a better flower-year than last year,my Magnolia only had 5 flowers,usually hundreds:sadthers also did not bloom very much..

[JanM]

The honey bee - and now the bat - declines are truly alarming. There's no doubt in my mind it's a man-made problem either! I just hope that solutions are found before it's too late!

[CearaQC]

chico, maybe you have the Carpenter bee? They make their nests in wood.

Some types resemble bumble bees a bit.

http://www.utoronto.ca/forest/termit...Carpenter_bees

[chico2]

Ceara,it could be,but they look like cute Bumble Bees,I often find them dying on the ground
The Pergola is made of pressure treated wood,we somtimes see the BB's lining up to get in to the hole(honest truth).