Rain and Bumblebees

 I woke to a nice cool morning. I ventured out with the the canine contingent and encountered a swarm of bumblebees right outside my back door.

See those two on the fence? Looking at me!

The azalea bush is resting just above the ravine and at the back of the house near the back door. It is outside the fence, but the fence will not contain the bees. I know you can't see in this picture, but the bush is alive with bumblebees. They have taken up residence here. The only thing that might make this particular bush different form all the vegetation here is the fact that I toss the mop water on it! My mop water usually has dog pee and bleach in it!

After my bee discovery, I gathered my tools and headed uphill. I planted 11 cone flowers along the drive two days ago and they need to be watered religiously to get a good start. They look a little dismal, but next year they will be blooming in full force.


I rescued a pot in the clearance section. It had lots of spent blooms and brown leaves. I removed it from the confines of the pot and carefully untangled roots, removed dead or dying leaves and blooms and split it into 11 rooted stems. Next step will be weeding around them, applying a layer of cover to prevent weeds coming up and mulch.


The big lily that used to reside by the the propane tank found a better home. It looked like maybe a tree had been there before and was somehow uprooted, leaving a gaping hole.. The lily was big enough to make the hole look almost deliberate. This area will also need to be treated and mulched.


The sky was overcast, but the cone flowers and lilies were in the sun and I was soon drenched in sweat. I turned my attention to my "stairs" and path to the She Shed. I put the "steps" in some time ago and carefully pounded stakes in front of them to keep them from slipping while being stepped on. I have no problems gong up and down, but realized a handrail would make one feel more secure ascending and descending.

I have some 4 foot fence posts left from the dog yard. You know, the ugly green metal ones. They are nice and sturdy, but unappealing to look at. Unfortunately, I didn't plan the locations  with much thought other than that they needed to be reachable from the concrete "steps". 

They are not in a straight line. I had no intention of using straight lumber, but one of the small trees I cut down with my handy dandy chain saw. I covered the ugly green fence posts with lengths of tree branches. Looks rustic and makes the "posts" much beefier. 

I pulled out a few possible candidates for the top rail. I was pondering how much bend I could force into the tree without compromising the strength of it when it started to rain. What a fine how-do-you-do. I felt like I was getting something accomplished and then the rain that has been forecast for the last 10 days finally arrives!

On the bright side ..... rain is good for all the newly planted cone flowers.

Comments

  1. Heh, heh! Those bees are giving you the stink-eye! I love your handrail!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want the bees to live, just not right outside my door! Having been stung once, I am being cautious!

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  2. I hope that bumblebee bush is far enough away from the door that they won't develop an interest in getting inside your house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They do get on the porch. I am cautious, but they pretty much leave you alone as long as they don't feel threatened. I don't want them to die.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. I am quite proud that I didn't spend one penny on it!

      Delete

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