Category Archives: Design trends

How to Attract More Bees to Your Garden

I’ve been worried about the bees lately. Can’t be easy being a bee given the severe weather we’ve had this winter. They’ve also had to deal with habitat loss, pesticides, climate change, pests like mites and pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and fungi. What can I do to help bees?

There are 1600 species of native bees in Santa Cruz county. They are solely responsible for pollinating many of our native plants. Being solitary they do not make a hive but make nests underground or live in wood, one female per nesting hole and she lays her eggs there. Leaving areas in your garden near flowering plants un-mulched helps her find a nesting hole. The hard working females mate, make nests, collect pollen for their young and lay eggs. Males live to mate and only pollinate inadvertently when they visit flowers for nectar to fuel their flight.

Common native bees in our area are the yellow-faced bumble bee and the long-horned bee which has stripes a little like a yellow jacket. The hard working bumble bee is easy to identify from its bight yellow facial hair and yellow bands on their backs and abdomens. Female bumble bees’ hind legs widen to form pollen baskets often filled with bright yellow, moistened pollen pellets.

The Long-horned native bee gets their name from the long antennae of the males although the females do not have this. Males may be seen by day jostling for female attention above a patch of blooming plants while the females are collecting pollen. Only the females have branched hairs on their legs for carrying pollen.

Bees eat two things: nectar which is loaded with sugar and is their main source of energy and pollen which provides proteins and fats. Some of the common native plants that are recommended for our area to attract bees of all types include yarrow, columbine, California poppy, coral bells, silver lupine, penstemon, ceanothus, toyon, big leaf maple, mahonia, monkey flower, buckwheat, western azalea and purple sage.

Common garden plants that can attract bees and provide pollen in your landscape and vegetable garden are herbs such as African blue basil, bee balm, oregano, mint, catnip and cat mint, borage, rosemary, chives, hyssop, dill, comfrey and fennel. Edibles that attract bees are blueberry, pumpkin, squash, sunflower, blackberry, hazelnut, artichoke, beans, cucumber and peas. Crabapple, iris, lavender, salvia, aster, coreopsis, sunflowers, monarda, aster, butterfly bush, sweet alyssum, alstroemeria, red hot poker, gloriosa daisy, verbena, scabiosa, coneflower and echium also attract bees of all types.

The higher temperatures that come with climate change can affect a bee’s ability to detect a flower’s pollen. A flowers scent is what tells a bee that nectar is present. If the weather gets too hot the plant will spend less energy on producing fragrance and just try to survive. When flowers stop emanating these enticing smells, some bees have a tough time finding food and may abandon certain area. Studies have shown that warming climates already have affected our central coast bumblebee population during the past 30 years especially the California bumblebee.

In your own garden an abundant and healthy population of pollinators can improve fruit set, quality and size. Crops raised in California depend on both domestic honeybees and native bees for pollination of almond, blackberry, cucumber and artichoke crops.

Honeybees and native bees need help to survive and we’re the ones to give it. Besides planting nectar and pollen sources you can help by buying local honey which support beekeepers. Use only organic pesticides and avoid applying during mid-day hours when honey bees and pollinators are most likely to be out foraging for nectar and pollen on flowering plants and only then if you can’t control a pest with any other methods including Pest Management techniques.

Help save the bees.

Forest Bathing in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Most of us around here either live in a forest or near one. We are no strangers to nature as some city dwellers might be. We often spend time on a trail. You know the feeling you get when you are out walking slowly in the forest, stopping to admire a wildflower or mushroom that catches your eye? You know it’s good for the mind and body, but why? It turns out that there are more benefits to being out in nature than the calmness it brings.

In the past several decades there have been many scientific studies that demonstrate the mechanisms behind the healing effects of simply being in natural areas. Many of the benefits from the forest actually come from the air. Trees give off phytoncides, such as alpha-pinene and d-limonene, which are volatile organic compounds or aerosols. These compounds protect the trees and plants from insects and disease, but they also benefit us.

Forest bathing is what the Japanese call it. Shinrin-yoku is their term that means “taking in the forest atmosphere.” Forest therapy has roots in many cultures throughout history. John Muir wrote that “Wilderness is a necessity.” Scientists is Japan are measuring what’s actually happening to our cells and neurons.

Trees give off organic compounds that support our immune systems and help our system fight cancer. Other scientifically proven benefits of forest bathing include reducing blood pressure, accelerating recovery from surgery or illness, improving sleep and our mood and reducing stress. Also being around trees can help alleviate anxiety and depression.

Forest bathing lowers our heart rate and lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Soaking in the forest air increases our NK or natural killer cells by about 50 percent. One study in Finland found that spending time in nature cut the odds of using blood pressure medications down by 36 percent. And that’s pretty good.

Other studies have found that something about being in the nature is good for our brains. One study published last year by BioMed Central, a peer reviewed journal sharing research, found that older Americans living in regions with lots of greenery had lower rates of dementia. Another study from the National Library of Medicine found that cognitive decline slowed over a 10-year period for people living in lush spaces.

All I know is that when I am out in the garden or strolling in the forest I feel good. I stop to watch the progress of a banana slug. I listen for new bird calls. And as a garden designer I strive to create a space for clients that brings that feeling to them whenever they are outside.

And part of of that good feeling we get from being outside has to do with the color green. Green is the color of spring, of growth, renewal and rebirth. It renews and restores depleted energy. It’s a positive color and increases our feelings of relaxation and calmness.

If you don’t have a forest of your own bring that forest feeling to your own garden. Stroll in a relaxed way without thinking about weeds or pruning or other items on your to-do list. It’s relaxing, calming, rejuvenating and restorative.

Blooming Plants in a Tough Spring

Nature is amazing. No matter how heavy the rain or gusty the wind, flowering trees & shrubs haven’t missed putting on their much awaited spring show. The nectar these flowers provide for bees and other insects is indispensable for nesting birds and the human spirit. This world would be a dull place without them.

The cold and rainy weather didn’t stop an old fashioned shrub like forsythia from blooming. They figure prominently in many old gardens because they are tough plants, able to survive neglect and still look beautiful. The bare stems of forsythia are completely covered with deep golden-yellow flowers in late winter and early spring and become the focal point of the landscape when in full bloom. The showy stems of this easy care shrub are great for cutting. Forsythias are native to eastern Asia but a chance discovery in Germany by a grower who specialized in breeding for the cut flower industry led to the especially vivid variety ‘Kolgold’ in the 1800’s. Forsythia has long been used in Chinese medicine. The flower petals contain powerful bacteria-fighting properties which make it an important dressing.

Flowering quince is another old garden staple providing early color. They are easy to care for and nearly indestructible in almost any soil that is well drained and not overly fertile. Once established quince is a very drought tolerant plant and their spiny branches make them an excellent choice for hedges, screening or as a security barrier. There are red, pink, orange and white flowering varieties. The Toyo Nishiki cultivar even has pink, white and solid red flowers all on the same branch.

Who doesn’t appreciate camellias at this time of year? It seems they are always in bloom given that there are so many varieties with different blooming times. Camellia flowers, thick, tough and full of color, easily sail through rainy weather. Camellias bloom for a long time and with so many types you can have one blooming from October all the way through May. This showy evergreen shrub is quite drought tolerant once established. Yes, with some mulch and and a deep soak every so often they require much less irrigation than you’d think. There are even fragrant varieties, such as Pink Yuletide, a sport of the popular Red Yuletide.

Another tough plant that can take weather extremes is the Lily-of-the-Valley shrub (Pieris japonica). There are many varieties of this spring bloomer. Some have pure white flowers, other sport various shades of pink or dark rose.
I have the smaller variegated foliage model with dainty, drooping clusters of pure white flowers in early spring. Right now it is covered with flower buds so dense that you’d think it was already blooming. The new growth in the spring has a beautiful pink tint. This shrub will hold up to the wildest weather. Another plus for the Lily-of-the-Valley shrub is that is useful for fire-scaping in the landscape and it isn’t on the menu for deer either. I love this tough plant so much I now have a Valley Valentine plant with lovely deep rose flowers.

I was able to rescue a few potted hellebore from my burned out property. They didn’t look like much that year with all the foliage burned off but they came back nicely and are in full bloom now. One of my favorites is called Cinnamon Snow but all of the varieties of this buttercup relative accept wind, rain, cold and less than perfect soil while getting by with only moderate watering in the shady summer garden. Deer aren’t attracted to them either.

Don’t let the weathers spoil your spring fever. Spring may be a little slow in arriving this year but it’s coming.