THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Fine news for beekeepers today – a total ban on bee-harming pesticides has been announced!
To celebrate, here is a list of plants we recommend as being brilliant for the bees:
- Helenium
- Sedum
- Echium vulgare
- Marjoram or Oregano
- Eupatorium (common name? Joe Pye-Weed. But don’t let that put you off!)
- Borage
- Nepeta
- Veronicastrum
- Teucrium
Bonus plants for shady spots? Try hellebore, lamium and pulmonaria.
Looking for a shrub to plant near your apiary? Phillyrea ought to do it. Although it is difficult to get hold of because it is so hard to propagate…but keep looking for it and buy it up if you can!
Somebody asked me about tulips – are these good for bees?
The bees certainly work hard to get the pollen. I guess the common sense approach is to make sure the tulips are as open and easy to access as possible.
The BBKA offer this top ten list of plants for bees.
My favourite nursery for bee friendly plants is Rosybee Nursery. You should all check out her plants and her brilliant research!
Her recommendations for bee friendly plants for summer baskets are:
- Trailing lobelia
- Lavender
- Echium
- Salvia
- Campanula
- Scabious
I would probably add Cleome and Fuchsia. But any other suggestions, please send them through!
Finally, are Dahlias good for bees? Again, I imagine single flowers are the best. But would love people to let me know what they see this summer….
Thank you and lets hope for a long, warm season for the bees!
And for more about my speciality, take a look at my Topiary.
Why I Wrote The Book Modern Topiary
I have written this book, Modern Topiary, because I wanted a collation of useful information that would give people access to everything they need to know in order to start making topiary. Topiary is an amazing (and niche) line of work to follow – amazing because it offers up opportunities to travel all over the world, making gardens, meeting people… but also, the work is intensely physical, hands-on, yet requires creative thinking in order to solve the puzzle of how to make the shapes you want. This mixture of the craft and the art is what I love the most …
Buxus the Norfolk Terrier In Modern Topiary Book
This is Buxus, our Norfolk Terrier, who I acknowledge in the acknowledgments of the book of Modern Topiary. The book of Modern Topiary can be read, for free, here. There you go. Buxus the dog on ‘doorstep duty’ at a friend’s house in Edinburgh. For those asking what he looked like!
What People Think Of Modern Topiary, The Book
Yesterday I put out the book – Modern Topiary – that I have spent the last six years writing. Download for free a pdf of Modern Topiary here. And what seems amazing to me, is that not only have people actually been reading it, but then responding to it. So below are a number of comments I have been sent from those who read it last night, and this morning…. “Brilliant read, exactly the right amount of info to take in and digest.” Rachel, a gardener “I love your book, the advice is so straightforward and your writing is so …