[Pollinator] Question about home garden plants and pollinators

[Jen Marks]

Here is a question and story from a woman in New York.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Louise Kosta" <lkosta at pronetisp.net>
To: <info at pollinator.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 10:34 PM
Subject: home garden plants and pollinators


> Hello:
>
> I just learned about your org from a piece that appeared in Physorg.com's
> earth science section--
> http://www.physorg.com/news80414290.html
>
> I live in upstate New York, near the PA border. Ever since I learned of
> the problem with honeybees being affected by parasitic mites, I've been
> growing more herbs in my garden, and planting other things they seem to
> especially like. I've allowed creeping thyme to infiltrate my lawn and I
> also grow it as a fill-in groundcover. I've also started using common
> oregano the same way. I let them both bloom, then cut them back for a
> second (and sometimes third) bloom period. I generally grow a lot of
> nasturtiums, which bees seem to enjoy, as well as scarlet runner beans
> (ditto). I also grow hedge roses and other herbs (sage varieties, lavendar
> varieties, basil and so on).
>
> Since I have all these plants, I do get quite a bit of bee traffic.
> However, it's not nearly as great as it was years ago. Back then, every
> spring my redbud tree was full of buzzing bees, so many and so loud that
> you could hear them from quite a distance away.
>
> Why have I been unable to attract the bees that used to visit my redbud
> tree? The tree blooms as much as ever. Did it attract a type of bee that's
> becoming extinct?
>
> Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this--it's puzzled me for
> years.
>
>
> Louise Kosta
>
>
>