Herself’s Houston Garden

Plant a bee pocket garden.

Bee Colony Collapse disorder has been in the news for about a year now. Bee colony collapse disorder is something that seems to happen every 40 years or so to commercial growers. But just because it is part of a cycle doesn’t mean we can’t help bring the bee numbers back up.

I thought all bees lived in hives like honey bees. Turns out that 85% of bees live alone, not in hives. They build nests in dirt. They will need water nearby and prefer to lay eggs in soft mud rather than packed dry dirt. Dead trees or rotting logs are also good spots for nests.

To attract bees to your garden:
- Use a large variety ( 10 or more is best ) of bee friendly plants in your garden.
- Pass on the mulch, many bees lay eggs in the ground and need bare dirt to do so.
- Flowering weeds are often good providers of nectar.
- Modern hybrids often do not have much nectar compared to heirloom plants.
- Don’t use pesticides.

An added benefit is that butterflies and hummingbirds will also be attracted to your bee garden.

Some entomologists are so convinced of the importance of creating backyard habitats that they’re planting bee gardens in their own yards. Noticing that the gardens in his neighborhood are mostly filled with hybrid flowers, Lansing, Mich., entomologist Rufus Isaacs has planted native perennials and berries that attract hordes of bees — as well as nervous neighbors. “The bees are too busy eating to worry about humans as long as you watch and don’t bother them,” Mr. Isaacs says. Gardens with a buzz: gardeners work to protect beleaguered bees

I thought I’d start a pocket bee garden. I have a bed that is surrounded with Mexican Heather. The bees love the Mexican Heather. There are humming bird feeders just above the garden. They and the butterflies like many of the same flowers that the bees like.

I went to the nursery with no idea what plants to purchase. I was planning on just looking for native plants that hadn’t been over hybridized. Finding the right plants turned out to be an easy task. I found I could watch a while and some plants were full of bees, and some varieties the bees totally ignored. Now I’ll be watching for bees on all the plants I purchase.

See also:
Bee colony collapse disorder
Mexican Heather
Purslane
Shrimp Plant
Bat Faced Cuphea
Lantana
Hummingbird bush
Turk’s Cap
Sage
Pentas
Cigar Plant

More information:
Guide to bee friendly gardens - creating a great bee garden
What’s the buzz on planting a bee garden?
Guide to bee - friendly gardens

I first heard about these plants at a talk I attended on ‘Recommended Tropical Plants for Houston’. I knew I had to have some even before I laid eyes on them. At the Mercer March Mart I was able to score two of them. Despite a bit of deer damage they are settling in very well and I fully expect blooms next May. The pictures above are from Mercer Gardens in May 2007.

The Crinum lilies are part of the amaryllis family. The leaves reach 3′-4′ in length. The plant will have a 5′ spread after it has had some time to grow. ( I did read a report online of one reaching 8′ tall ) Blooms are impressive. You should have several blooms per plant. If in an unprotected location they may need staking but in full sun in a sheltered location they do just fine on their own.

Crinum lilies prefer sun, but will grow happily in dappled shade. Watering needs are average to above average but they are drought tolerant once established. Fertilize regularly to encourage more blooms. Once establish you may get as many as 7 blooms/year.

Foliage may brown a bit in the winter here depending on how cold winter is, but they should stay green and leafed out year round. If they lose leaves in the winter they will bounce back come the warm weather.

Divide the bulbs as needed. Plant is poisonous.

One of the two crinums I planted grew lots and lots and is thriving but hasn’t yet flowered. The other didn’t put forth a single leaf, but gave me some short lived blooms. Go figure. The deer do not seem to like this plant.

12/13 I saw a beautiful collection of these blooming away down in Galveston last week. There was a row of several of the plants alongside a drainage gully. All were white and all had a half dozen to a dozen flowers in bloom.

More information:
Crinum asiaticum
Crinum.org

Earlier this week I attended a talk by a local Master Gardener, Robert Dailey, on organic gardening. Now we all know about organic gardening Mr. Dailey informed us 45% of gardeners claim to understand how to garden organically and how to use garden chemicals safely. He also explained only 5% of gardeners actually do so.

Herbs have been grown organically since before people began putting them in gardens and have done so quite well with out chemicals. Homeowners are far more heavy handed with chemicals than large farms. It is a far smaller part of our budget. Texas is one of the top 10 states for use of herbicides and pesticides.

A recent UN study showed that Texas is losing 1% of arable land a year. There will be enough lost aquifers in Texas by 2050 that there will not be enough water for the population. While we can build desalination plants they too have a negative environmental impact not to mention high cost.

A good compost bin, smart use of rain water will allow you to grow most plants successfully with out using toxic chemicals or large amounts of city water.

Essential elements for plants:
Photosynthesis: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
Primary food/macro elements: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium
Secondary food elements: calcium, magnesium, sulfur
Micro nutrients: boron, manganese, copper, zinc, iron, molybdenum, chlorine

Compost bins do best when they are the wire frame model at least 3′x3′ in size. This allows the heat to build up enough to kill off weed seeds and pathogens. Good soil contains not only the essential elements for plant life but also micro and macro organisms.

On a not totally unrelated note I ran across an interesting story Big roots, tough leaves, help plants survive on why some plants survive better in high heat areas. It’s worth a read.

More information:
Soils: Soil Fertility and Fertilizers
The Environmental Problem Desertification and Its Causes
Humus: An Organic Solar Battery: Converting Sun’s Energy into Food

I bought some crotons and snake plants to fill in the back bed that got tore up a couple of weeks ago when the electric company replaced the underground electric transformer. As I type this the water company is digging up my front garden to fix a water pipe. I’m beginning to see why the locals give up on gardening. But onto crotons, I’m new to growing them.

The foliage is bright and flowers are not the main attraction on these plants. They are said to be very easy to grow. It can also be easily grown from cuttings placed in water.

It will drop its leaves when the temperature goes below 40′ but will recover once the weather warms back up, provided the temperature does not stay cold for long. It is really at the edge of what we can grow here in The Woodlands, really only zoned up to 10a, we’re 9b. The lower half of Houston should have no trouble with this plant. They do best between 60′-85′. I’ve read reports of gardeners growing crotons in Tennessee, zone 7a, quite happily so we’ll see what happens come winter.

This plant loves humidity, how perfect for Houston.

Croton can grow to 10′, but often stop between 3′-8′ with a 3′-6′ spread.

Best color is achieved in full sun, the croton should do fine in shade as well.

Little is said at any source about watering needs so I’m going to start with average watering and see what happens. Since water needs are inconsistent on the sites I’m checking, some say go easy on water, some say it likes lots of water. I’m guessing it’s not really picky about water.

Several sources report parts of the plant are poison so don’t eat it.

More information:
Floridata: Codiaeum variegatum