Celebrate National Pollinator Month and learn what you can do to help the bees and other pollinators.
June is National Pollinator Month, I’m celebrating the bees today,
to bring awareness to importance of pollinators!
If you’ve been a follower of my blog for any length of time then you know I love all things *bee*
including seeing them buzz and bumble around the garden!
If you’re a gardener, you recognize the importance of bees and other pollinators
and celebrate them everyday!
I’m sharing some ‘bee’ favorites and tabletop fun on the Potting Bench.
in celebration of National Pollinator Month!
🐝🐝🐝
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I have an assortment of vintage honey cans that were eBay and Etsy finds. . .
I love the graphics with the bee skeps on the honey cans. . .
Instead of bee skep, this one has bear that is after the honey!
I cut some garden blooms and used them as vases on the top shelf of the Potting Bench. . .
Hydrangeas, Speedwell (Veronica), Lantana and Cleome. . .
Coleus, Verbena and Popcorn Drift Rose. . .
The cans are buzzing with bee magnets.
I gave the bee magnets a 2-minute makeover, adding some silver highlights, HERE.
Verbena Lollipop is a bee and butterfly magnet and also attracts hummingbirds!
It grows in USDA zones 6 – 10, prefers full sun in well-drained soil.
If you’re looking for a flower that attracts pollinators, self-sows and tolerates the heat,
Verbena Lollipop is the garden flower for you!
From Pollinator.org:
June is National Pollinator Month, with Pollinator Week, June 20th – 26th,
a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them.
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 we should be grateful for pollinators, as we have them to thank
for 1 out of every 3 bites of food we eat.
Most pollinators (about 200,000 species) are beneficial insects such as flies,
beetles, wasps, ants, butterflies, moths, and bees.
About 1,000 of all pollinators are vertebrates such as birds, bats, and small mammals.
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.
There are more than 4,000 native bee species in the U.S. with over 500 species here in North Carolina.
They vary in size, shape, color and carry pollen in various places on their body
and even have different seasons of activity.
An English chimney pot corrals an assortment of old garden tools. . .
and a new addition, an shovel buzzing with bee and flower design.
A Woodman’s Famous Bee-Ware Smoker was an antique mall find.
I was smitten with the graphics of the bee keeper on the smoker. . .
Beauty is in the eye of the *bee* holder. ;) 🐝
We’re raising a glass of Camelot Mead Honey Wine to celebrate pollinators!
Wallace Napoleon Bee Flatware is buzzing with bees . . .
In a mug with a honeycomb and bee design.
As well as garden tools, a recent HomeGoods find.
Did you know most species of bees don’t sting?
Female bees are physically capable of stinging,
but most bee species native to the U.S. are “solitary bees,”
that don’t live in colonies and don’t sting
unless they are physically threatened or injured.
Only honey bees are defensive and may chase someone who disturbs their hive.
🐝 Bee Kind to Pollinators:
🐝 Reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides. If you must use them, use the most selective and least toxic ones and apply them at night
when most pollinators aren’t active.
🐝 Plant in clusters to create a “target” for pollinators to find.
🐝 Plant for continuous bloom throughout the growing season from spring to fall.
🐝 Select a site that has shelter from wind (by trees and shrubs), has at least partial sun, and can provide water.
🐝 Allow material from dead branches and logs remain as nesting sites; reduce mulch to allow patches of bare ground for ground-nesting bees to utilize; consider installing wood nesting blocks for wood-nesting natives.
🐝🐝🐝
Details:
Bee skeps / Hobby Lobby, HomeGoods, several years ago
Embossed Bee Skep Plates / Naturewood by Pfaltzgraff, discontinued
Bee Sweet dinner plates / Certified International, used HERE
Bee Sweet 8.5″ Salad/Dessert Plates / Certified International
Ciroa Buffalo Check Dinner Plates / HomeGoods, several years ago, used HERE
Bee Mason Jar Mugs / Tuesday Morning
Bee Garden Tools / HomeGoods
Flower Chargers / Pier 1, several years ago
Placemats / Target, several years ago
Bee Post Box / Michaels, several months ago
Bee Salad Plates / Tim Coffey for Creative Co-Op
Honey Tin Cans and Bee Smoker / vintage
The hum of bees is the voice of the garden.
This concludes my post! :) 🐝
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What an absolutely stunning post.
Always,love your pollinator blog this month. I have to get out my honey dipper collection and my honey comb teapot and tea cup for a pretty vignette on my kitchen counter.
I have noticed my catmint is attracting lots of small bumblebees and my vitex is just starting to bloom which is always alive with a variety of bees.
Need to get more verbena bonariensis since mine seems to have disappeared this year. Only have couple of plants in a large pollinator planting in a container.
Thanks for Beeing a great friend to our very important pollinators. Bee well.
Mary, Your potting bench is decorated beautifully! You have a nice collection of all things bee. Your dishes and filled honey cans are so pretty. Your flowers are flourishing. Whenever I’m out at HomeGoods and see bee pretties, I think of you. My hubby made a bee watering station from a large but somewhat shallow double fountain after your post about the need for them. He added small rocks to each tier to ensure it wasn’t too deep for them. It’s so important to have bees in our lives. Thank you for reminding us! Happy Monday! Clara ❤️
BEEUTIFUL! Display! I work with and around my bees and have never been bothered by them..I even talk to them..don’t know if they hear me but they have never back talked!! 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
The bees are alive and well in my flower garden this summer in the Triad of NC!
Baptisia, Bee Balm, Stokes Astors and other flowers have drawn them in!
What a joy to watch them!
Thank you, Mary for celebrating National Pollinator Month with beautiful images and important info. The potting bench is buzzing with all things “bee” and the honey cans make for a fabulous display🐝🐝🐝 Love it all and Happy Monday!
Thank you for your wealth of information on bees, Mary. Your collection of vintage honey tins is amazing and they look so pretty as vases. My East Palatka Holly and Savannah Holly trees attract the bees while they are flowering. I hope you have a 🐝-utiful week!
Beautiful! You are so talented! I love your post. Bee happy 🐝
Thank you for reminding us of the importance of bees. i love your pictures ~ just outstanding. Your shovel with the 🐝 and 🌸 just made it on my husband’s to do list! Beautiful potting bench too, so glad we will get to continue to see it!
Mary I have learned so much from you about bees and how incredibly important they are, thank you for sharing so much valuable information. You are having so much fun with your new/old potting bench and it looks wonderful set with all your bee things and those fun vintage cans full of flowers!
Your posts are not only lovely, but educational. I really love the posts about pollinators. Thank you for the beautiful, informative work!
Love it! 🐝Where did you get the shovel with bee design?!
Sandra, I found it online. Go to etsy.com – MeyerWorksDesign is the seller. Tons of bee stuff too.
Last year for first time there were alot of bees on one of my fountains and this year they are back. The only flower I know they like in my garden is Bee Balm. But what I don’t understand is I’ve still got a couple of carpenter bees drilling in my She Shed?? Love your potting bench decorated in bees.
I was raised to understand and appreciate the importance of bees and pollinators and I’m so glad I was. I so enjoy working in my garden among the pollinators and watching them work away among my flowers and vegetables. Your posts are so valuable, fun and beautiful Mary. Your collection of “beeutiful” things is a delight to see….thank you for doing your part and more to take care of our precious earth!
It goes without saying that I adore the buzz of this post. I need to get a post written to celebrate pollinators! Honey in a can!!! Love your collection! Viewing a post of yours is much like flipping through the pages of a beautiful catalog. I see all sorts of beauties that intrigue me and make me want to find my own. The post box is fabulous! Do you recall where you found it?
Keep on buzzing, Mary! Your posts are the best!
Your collection is growing!! You, my friend, are also a pollinator of sorts!
PS…..I love it all!🐝🌻
It’s All a Buzz! Mary has a bee-utiful post that is pollinating beeuty on my computer screen!
This was another gorgeous post my friend! I love your potting bench… you and I have two things in common, A Potting Shed and potting bench!
Loved all of this! Happy week to you!
Love that Camelot Meade… the label is exquisite! Absolutely beautiful post!
Beautiful post in honor or the pollinators. Your collections are amazing. Bee cans, who knew, even wine with a picture of a bee.
Love your lovely photos. I was getting ready to write a post about bees since I found a beehive on our property. Have a 🐝 bee-it-ful week.
So educational, thanks Mary for all you do to keep our little buzzers happy and content. As usual, your “bee stuff” is amazing as your collection grows. Kari @ Me and My Captain
I love all things bee, we share our passion with all the darling pieces! I love how much you share and teach us with beauty surrounding us!