Garden for Bees & Butterflies

Most of us are aware of the importance of bees in our natural world, and are anxious to do our part to help them. The most important thing that bees do is pollinate.  Why not try to give them lots of opportunities to do just that? And who doesn’t love to see butterflies in their garden? So, in lieu of vegetables, that have become increasingly more difficult for me to grow, I am creating a garden for bees & butterflies.

Herb gardens are a haven for bees. I already grow several perennial herbs and I want to provide bees with even more “food”. I have a big patch of mint, oregano, horseradish, lemon balm and chives that I let flower. I also have a  good size raspberry patch. These are all big bee attracting plants.

Chives

HorseRadish

Bees are drawn to plants with open or flat flowers with lots of pollen and nectar. The scent of a flower can have particular appeal to bees, and bright colors may also attract them. Avoiding herbicides or pesticides is very important, both of which are not good for bees.ChiveBlossoms

To attract even more bees, I added phlox, coneflowers (echinacea), and bee balm (monarda) where I use to grow tomatoes and squash.

BeeBalm

Did you know that there are over 200 species of butterflies in Michigan? They are attracted to red, pink, and purple flowers that grow in the sun. From over 100 different kinds of plants in the Midwest that attract butterflies, nearly 50 of them are also excellent for attracting bees. It’s nature’s win-win scenario!

Butterfly

Every Spring I plan to add more perennial plants that will attract bees and butterflies. You can create a bee and butterfly garden too. Try to plant at least 3 different types of flowers to have blooms through early spring and late summer. Join me and together let’s make our gardens, and our world a healthier place for bees.

World Clothes Line Charity Event

Tonight I attended World Clothes Line Charity Event hosted by the Hungry Dudes.  It was a wonderful event. *Great food * Great folks * Great example of social responsibility*
World Clothes Line’s Mallory Brown and her team travel to the poorest areas of Indonesia, Peru, and throughout the United States to give new clothing to those who need it most.Mallory BrownProceeds from the evening help fund World Clothes Line’s charitable clothing deliveries.

The event was catered by the Forest Grill, Detroit Free Press 2010 Restaurant of the Year. The strolling buffet was delicious. I managed to snap quite a few photos.

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I met Executive Chef, David Gilbert, and he told me he is of Greek decent and has relatives living in Greece.Forest Grill ChefAnd of course there were yummy desserts like these cookies…
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but the real star of the evening was World Clothes Line.
Make sure to shop and support this company.
Inspired Apparel, Clothing the World
They will match every item sold with a new item for someone in need.

Haggis

Haggis!We had some delicious haggis at Robert Burns Night at the Kilgour Scottish Centre. My photo got a bit of attention. I have had two requests for permission to reprint it. One was from the Haggis group on Flickr and the other was from the Kilgour Scottish Centre’s monthly newsletter.

I have tasted haggis several times. The first time was on a visit to Scotland. The haggis served at the Robert Burns Night at the Kilgour Scottish Centre was very good.