The Bee Garden
Fall 2009

Autumns Beauty I love this time of year. Fall is approaching, leaves are starting to turn as mother nature brings changes in the weather. One of my sons says he loves the smell of Fall...it smells like his birthday!

As we prepare our hives to make it thru winter and we make our spring equipment list it is a good time to plant trees and landscape plants for the next year. Fall is the best time to establish our plants. Do not wait until spring. Plants and trees planted in the Fall will have a jump start on any Spring plantings. They will wake up from their Winter rest and start growing stress free.

The following is a list of trees you can consider to plant that bees love to visit in their gardens. Desert Willow, Mexican Plum, Golden Rain Tree, Sumac, Willow, Japanese Ligustrum, Magnolia, Red Bud, Tulip Tree, Crepe Myrtle, Hollies and Vitex. I will be providing more detailed information about these trees in future articles. Enjoy Autumns Beauty.

Raffle Plant of the month at the last meeting October 12th.
Desert Willow, Chilopsis linearis.

This is a great tree for the bees, it provides nectar. If you have a small yard it is even better. It only grows to 25 ft. so it fits well in a small yard. It has a long bloom period, from late spring to fall. The fragrant orchid-like blooms range in color from pink to burgundy. The Desert Willow prefers a well drained soil. It is native to southwest Texas, Northern Mexico, New Mexico and Southern California. It can handle the Texas heat!

Raffle Plant of the month for our next meeting November 8th.
Southern Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora.

The Southern Magnolia is a good pollen source for your bees as well as an excellent large evergreen element for the landscape. Plant a young tree and once established this tree will be enjoyed for many many years. It blooms in the spring and has a sweet lemon scent that the bees enjoy greatly. Give the tree a large space to grow and leave the lower branches on this tree. This will help shade its root system and it will collect all its leaves under itself so you wonʼt have to rake up as many! The leaves will be its own compost under the tree which the tree really likes as well!

See you at the next meeting.

Kurt Kauffman
Horticulturist
lndscpng.com
Unique Landscaping Design And Construction
7111 Colleyville Blvd.
Colleyville,Texas 76034
The Bee Garden
October 2009