Happy National Pollinator Week!
In celebration, I gathered some bee favorites for a little tabletop vignette the Potting Shed!
From Pollinator.org:
National Pollinator Week is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them.
Pollinator populations are changing. Many pollinator populations are in decline attributed to a loss in feeding and nesting habitats. Pollution, the misuse of chemicals, disease, and changes in climatic patterns are all contributing to shrinking and shifting pollinator populations.
Somewhere between 75% and 95% of all flowering plants on the earth need pollinators. Pollinators provide pollination services to over 180,000 different plant species and more than 1200 crops. That means that you have pollinators to thank for 1 out of every 3 bites of food you eat.
Pollinators add 217 billion dollars to the global economy and honey bees alone are responsible for between 1.2 and 5.4 billion dollars in agricultural productivity in the United States. In addition to the food that we eat, pollinators support healthy ecosystems that clean the air, stabilize soils, protect from severe weather, and support other wildlife.
Gardeners are encouraged to create pollinator-friendly habitats with native flowering plants that supply pollinators with nectar, pollen, and homes. Select old-fashioned varieties of flowers whenever possible since breeding has caused some modern blooms to lose their fragrance and/or the nectar/pollen needed to attract and feed pollinators.
I’ve been stalking bees with my camera. . .salvia and bee balm have been buzzing with bees.
Along with Lamb’s Ear blooms.
Female bumblebees and honey bees have pollen baskets to collect the pollen grains to return to the nest for their offspring. You can see the pollen basket is visible on this female bumblebee on the Lamb’s Ear.
I cut some garden blooms to fill a new-to-me beehive shaped watering can found at a favorite antique mall. . .
And filled some Quattro Stagioni Canning Jars that have an adorable (hard to photograph!) bee skep design with flowers. . .
Buddleia, commonly known as butterfly bush, hydrangea, ‘Lollipop’ Verbena, Bee Balm and oregano that’s blooming. German chamomile and Queen Anne’s Lace are growing wild along the edge of the field by Potting Shed.
Embossed salad plates are abuzz with a bee skep design. . .
Other things you can do to help pollinators is to design your garden so that there is a continuous succession of plants flowering from spring through fall.
And avoid pesticides to protect the bees and other pollinators! If you choose to use pesticides, use the least toxic ones and apply them at night when most pollinators aren’t active.
Gold bee magnets are drawn to silver napkin rings like bees to nectar, for easy embellishing and dressing up plain napkin rings!
Flatware is buzzing with bees and on a table runner found at Sur la Table on sale at the end of the season a couple of years ago.
La Rochere Bee Goblets are ideal for summertime sipping. . .
I found a vintage Woodman’s Famous Bee-Ware Smoker at my favorite antique mall a couple of years ago. . .
Beauty is in the eye of the *bee* holder ; ) and I loved the graphics on the smoker. It hangs from rafters in my Potting Shed when it doesn’t hang over the window.
I was all abuzz about a Nordic Ware Beehive Cakelet Pan on clearance at Sur la Table last summer.
Help yourself to a Honey Lemon Cakelet, recipe found here.
Table Details:
Bee Salad Plates / Tim Coffey for Creative Co-Op, Antique Farmhouse
Bee plates / Amazon
Embossed Bee Skep Plates / Naturewood by Pfaltzgraff, several years ago
La Rochere Bee Glasses/ World Market
Wallace Napoleon Bee Flatware/ Horchow
Woven Chargers/ World Market, several years ago
Bee Table Runner / Sur la Table, several years ago
Bee Cloche / HomeGoods, last year
Quattro Stagioni Jars/ T.J. Maxx
Bee Skeps / retail days
Bee Magnets / Mackenzie–Childs, last year
Silver Napkin Rings / Bed, Bath & Beyond
Napkins / Pier 1
Find out more about National Pollinator Week and what you can do help our pollinators, here.
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Tablescape Thursday
Wonderful table, I am amazed at the number of bee items you have found! Pretty!! Thank you for the information on Pollinator Week.
Good morning, Mary! It’s costly following your blog! I want to buy everything you use after reading each post! This bee-scape is no exception! Your creativity is inspiring. Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Mary, what a bee-utiful table! I love the bee salad plates. Your shots of the bees are excellent. The bees love our chaste tree, there seems to be hundreds attracted to it, so much so if I try to cut blooms they are unhappy. Thank you for all the good info!
Love the bees!!!!
Love it all, Mary, and didn’t know this was bee pollinator week. I have a table ready for later this week, and borrowed one your fantastic ideas, you are so incredibly inspiring. ;) I have that same Nordic Ware cakelet mold but forgot about it – must soon try your recipe! Thanks for another great, creative tabletop so full of great photos and info!
Thank you for the info on helping our pollinators. It is so important and so easy when planning our own gardens. I was so happy to see honeybees as well as other native bees all over a large patch of clover we have avoided mowing. The use of pesticides has been totally eliminated and I have tried to combine a lot of native plants in a large pollinator garden.. Your table settings are beautiful and I plan on bringing out my collection of honey pots and bee themed items I have bought over the past years. We had been gives when living in Va. and it was a fascinating hobby plus the honey was wonderful
Good work!! franki
I started to laugh as each new pic unfurled, we are such twins in the shopping department, we could set one GIANT bee table together! The magnets are genius, love that idea! I was crushed the bee keeper went with my neighbor instead of me, I wanted to celebrate pollen week everyday, but I can see the hundreds of hives and benefit from their daily feedings in my garden. I have read many books on bees, our world truly depends on them for our very survival. Our almost to be beekeeper uses his hives for 6 weeks starting in January to pollinate the almond crops, growers pay him $100,000 , he then parks his bees the rest of year while they forage for food, he told me they barely survive and there is no honey to harvest except the excess in March. More bee news than you expected? All from darling dishes?! Yep I love bees too, thanks for the beeutiful fun!
We’re in a world of trouble if there is no food for the bees to forage in California outside of almond season. Great minds shop alike, what fun we would have (and trouble we’d get into) if you weren’t 3000 miles away! 🐝🍽🌻🌸🦋🌞
Thank you, Mary. Beautiful and very informative post.
This has to be one of your most beautiful tables. It’s gorgeous! Your upclose photos of bees are amazing. I want to go out and plant more flowers today!
So Beeutiful-napkin rings are genius 🐝
Wonderful post! Appreciate the informative information and I love all your bee items. One day I will have a set of that lovely Horchow bee flatware! And the glasses too! Hehe. Do yo think adding a bit of blue colored water would make the design on the canning jars show up more? Just a thought. I enjoy seeing the bubble bees bumbling along from flower to flower, it’s amazing how their fat little bodies can fly. I believe they are one of God’s little miracles and really per aero-dynamics shouldn’t be able to. I have a yellow bee hive pitcher, ( the first in my collection), I’ll go get it out now and place on the counter to celebrate bee week! Thanks Mary! 🐝♥️😊
Bonjour Mary, Très joli ce thème avec les abeilles….J’aime beaucoup les abeilles !!! Magnifique table !!!
Adorablesi les magnets !!!!
Merci Catherine❣️🌺🐝🌞
Love the bee/pollinator theme! Adorable!
I’ve been eyeing that bee flatware for months now. I may pull the trigger this week in honor of pollinator week! I’ve been seeing quite a few bees in my garden this year. I don’t plant deliberately for the bees, but since I love flowers, I guess it comes naturally. Are your Lamb’s Ears a special type? I’ve seen them so many times but never with those spectacular blooms. Just growing them in my garden for the first time this year and no sign of blooms yet….
Hi Donna, Horchow has a 30% Friends and Family coupon today. Sign up for their emails to join and you’ll be notified of free shipping and sale events. The Wallace Napoleon Bee 45-piece flatware set is on sale with the coupon through 6/22! As far as Lamb’s Ear some cultivars don’t bloom. It took mine a couple of seasons to produce the blooms after planting it. Too much shade or moisture can also prevent it from blooming.🌺🐝😀
Hi love your bee plates and all the blue transferware you have, I really enjoy your posts. Be careful about the Queen Anne’s lace you pick from the side of the road. There is a poisonous weed called Poison Hemlock which is spreading like wildfire in Pennsylvania along the rail roads and along highways. It looks similar to Queen Anne’s lace. Google James Schwartzer, Franklin and Cumberland County, Pa. forester
Thanks, Sharon. I just read about Poison Hemlock showing up in Virginia. Our Queen Anne’s Lace has been growing next to the field by my Potting Shed for years and reseeds like crazy. It is a cause for concern since they look so similar. There’s a great article here on identifying the two.
Beautiful bees!
This is the first time I have left a comment on a blog. 😀😀. I love this. My daughter loved bees. Not only pretty but interesting. Thank you so much. I always look forward to opening up when your e-mail arrives. Makes me smile. Have a great day.
Thank you for your visit and taking the time to comment Jacquelyn❣️🐝🌸
Félicitations pour cette nouvelle jolie table ! Vous avez raison ; il faut absolument préserver les abeilles et mettre dans les jardins des fleurs mellifères.
Bonne soirée
Merci Granny 35! Oui, il est important de sauver les abeilles!🐝🐝🐝🌺❣️
What a darling, thoughtful post. Despite being allergic to bee stings—we keep flowers in the vegetable garden just for that purpose. Love the smoker, I have never seen one like that before.
Lovely post and thank you for the wonderful (and very important) information. Love all of your “Bee” mobilia and I also have the beehive cakelet pan! So much fun!
You make me feel that everything is going to be ok. Thank you Mary.
Love, love, LOVE that Nordic Ware Beehive Cakelet Pan! The bees on the plates make me a bit squeamish but everything else is just beautiful. Love how you’ve combined so many items with bees!!!
I love your all bee 🐝 theme, Mary, and thank you for enlightening me on so many facts. Your plates, runner, smoker, goblets, canning jars, and cloche are bee-utiful!
Thank you Kitty❣️🐝🌺
Oh my, I forgot to mention how darling the little cakes are! I want one!
Oh Mary!
Just lovely………visiting your blog is like spending an afternoon at the lake! thank you…..
You are so creative…but you know I have to ask the question where do you keep all your pretty things lol.
You are a Bees Best Buddy! Love this post from beginning to end. I was wondering if you are familiar with the Earth Day Network? A short time ago, they were requesting votes to nominate the favorite species for their 2019 Earth Day Campaign…Bees won! I was so pleased, bees need all the help they can get. Thank-you!
Good afternoon Mary-Love the bees-real ones and your potting shed of beautiful things! Of course there are favorites-the cloche, beehive cakelet pan, and the watering can are so very pretty! The embossed bee skep plates are lovely as well. Your patience in getting just the right nature shot is admirable. This was such an enjoyable read with beautiful photos after a hectic work day! Thank you for the calming and relaxing beauty you share with us! Clara 🐝
Thanks so much for your sweet comment and visit Clara…you’re the Bees Knees🐝🐝 🐝❤️
That table is BUZZING with beautiful items and ideas! I too try to plant for the bees!! They are all over my lambs ears right now and other plants!! I have several bee skeps and treasure them.. my favorite on the table are the bee magnets..will have to look for some for MY silver rings!! Thanks for the info and keep on beeing you!! 🐝🐝🐝🐝
I love all the different dishes you put together for your dining with bees display! Cakelets look yummy!
As I read this today, I am also doing a bee themed needlepoint project. Love all your bee themed items and homage to these important pollinators
Fyi – ordered my bee magnets earlier today from Amazon. They look like yours. I hope they really do look as good on my silver napkin rings as yours does. Thanks Mary. 🐝
Hi Cyndi, I buzzed over to Amazon, they look identical! Thanks for letting me know❣️🐝
Bonjour Mary,
Pour sauver les abeilles, il faudrait arrêter l’invasion des frelons asiatiques qui tuent les abeilles malheureusement…C’est un véritable fléau ! Et comme vous planter des fleurs mellifères comme l’écrit Grany35..
Bonne journée….Et bravo pour votre investissement…
I love the little fuzzy bumblebees Mary, need them to make zucchini too:@) Your cupcake pan is cute, I’ve seen candy bee toppers, you may have even used some in the past… Very cute!
Mary, as always love reading your posts & so love your pictures. You sure are talented! Can you tell me what the white spike flower is? I have a white spike flower but not been able to identify. My lambs ears bloom most of the summer. I’m going to take some to my daughter- in- law to plant by her bee hives.
Thank you Kim! The white flower with the bee is Veronica (Speedwell).I’m not sure which variety it is. Is your daughter a bee keeper? That must be so rewarding and fun too❣️🐝🐝🌺
Thanks Mary for letting me know what your flower was. I will be looking to see if they will grown in my area. DIL started to keep bees last year, it didn’t go so well but this year she now has a hive and found a swarm this past weekend which she adopted. They are all doing well.
I really enjoyed all the fascinating facts about bees and pollination, I had no idea of the impact a simple bee has! Mother Nature continues to amaze me! I do BEElieve you have everything possible in bee things Mary, and it’s all so cute! Your napkin ring trick is especially brilliant, just adorable!
Jenna
Thank you, Mary, for posting this all important message about the bees and what people can do to help them survive. Here in Chester County, PA we are most fortunate to actually have an over-abundance of bees due to the fact that we not only have an immense amount of preserved open space with just the right natural habitat for them, but folks here are very much about the land and preserving everything that lives on it. Your table setting is beautiful! I have both the bee glassware and the flatware but still need some bee topper plates…thanks for including the reference for your lovely finds.
Thank you for such a cool, beautiful blog on bees! As I sit here eating my morning cereal there is a bee buzzing around the inside of my bowl ( Butterfly Meadows dishes). I am all about bees. My dad had many hives for years and my husband also kept bees for several years until the spraying from the nursery next door killed the hives. I have wonderful memories of the best tasting honey growing up. Each year it had different wonderful tastes depending on where the bees had collected nectar that year. Luckily I have lots of flowerbeds and bees but I had seen a decline a few years back that really upset me. I’m thinking about trying some hives again. I appreciate any information regarding how important bees are to us and the world and I love the photos of all your bee “memorialbeea.” On my vacations where there is a pool I always rescue the bees that have went to the pool for water and can’t get out. Its a small deed but gives me great pleasure to watch them dry off and fly off to save the world.
Only you would have the perfect post for National Pollinator Week!!! Who knew they even have a week set aside for this? Well apparently you did!! That bee hive cakelet pan is adorable and your little cakes look fabulous!! Your posts are so sweet, its no wonder the bees love you. There are so many striking images here – just keep going back over them to look at all of them several times!!
Mary, thank you for sharing this valuable info with Gardens Galore! You not only share beauty, but you educate!❤️
Mary, I’m glad you had this link in your 2018 Potting Shed Review. I must have missed this when you posted it in June. I’m scrolling up and down again and again taking in each detail. You know my bee loving heart is loving each one of these details. I was lucky to find one of the bee skep cloches at Home Goods too. It is just the top, no wood base as you have. I simply use it on a cake plate. I use my little bee skep Nordic pan frequently. They are the perfect size for after dinner dessert or an afternoon snack. Your collection of bee themed plates makes me envious, not to mention the Napoleonic bee flatware. One of these days! Thanks for this post! The information is both eye opening and heart wrenching.