Mowing the Lawn & Propagation

[OldGuy43]

So it finally quit raining and dried out enough to mow. I was almost done when I noticed that the bees were foraging amongst the little yellow flowers that come with some of the weeds. I parked the mower. I'm willing to live with the weeds if it benefits our friends, the bees. :bee

 

[ninnymary]

Good for you Oldguy. That was the right thing to do. I don't know if many folks would do it though. :/

Mary

 

[The Mama Chicken]

We have a couple of acres of wild mustard blooming right now that we are leaving for the bees. We just mowed some paths through it so we can get down to the creek without wading through chest high flowers.

 

[digitS']

Wow! Look at all that wild mustard! (& those babies )

Here is something I save from the mower & weedeater, OG:

It is some kind of wild carrot and the bees just love it. These plants are right beside a "Klamath Plum." How this wild plum tree got here, hundreds of miles too far north to produce its fruit, is a mystery. Still, the plum blooms like crazy in the spring. This is really the "bee's corner" of the large veggie garden. (Bee's Knees )

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

We have a couple of acres of wild mustard blooming right now that we are leaving for the bees. We just mowed some paths through it so we can get down to the creek without wading through chest high flowers.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/8829_sam_0234.jpg
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/8829_sam_0235.jpg

Beautiful sight!

 

[Ridgerunner]

My mowing consists of mowing around the house enough to keep the snakes and other critters away from the house. I also cut trails to get to certain areas without getting a lot of chiggers and ticks. Maybe three times a year I cut the rest to "keep it under control". That often gets added to my compost heap.

It's nice living in the country where you don't bring down property values of neighbors by not keeping a pristine lawn.

 

[lesa]

I ignore lots of weeds, if I see the bees on them! A flower is a flower to a bee!

 

[Southern Gardener]

Good for you OldGuy! I haven't seen any bees yet although my sister did buy a mason bee house that I'm going to hang this weekend. Mama, those are beautiful pictures!

 

[OldGuy43]

I ignore lots of weeds, if I see the bees on them! A flower is a flower to a bee!

Which brings to mind another question that I've always had, "Who decides the difference between a flower and a weed?" Some so-called weeds have the prettiest flowers. When I lived in Illinois the Canadian Thistle was considered a "noxious weed" and yet it's a protected species in Canada.

 

[digitS']

Whoa, OG!

I don't think the Canada Thistle is a protected species - in Canada or elsewhere!

The USDA tells us it is native to Europe, so it is an invasive in North America (click).

Alberta lists it as "noxious" and provides a guide for its eradication (click).

British Columbia does the same and even puts it on BC's "most unwanted" list (click).

Steve