Sunday, June 23, 2019

The Pollinator Garden



Last week I went to Cornerstone Sonoma, a retail place with expensive shops and restaurants and beautiful gardens that are open to the public (and free!). Several years ago I visited the gardens with my friend Jo, but since then Cornerstone has changed ownership and consequently so has the entire marketplace.

One of the changes I was very interested in is the pollinator garden designed by Kate Frey. She is a Bay Area gardener who, together with Gretchen LeBuhn, wrote the book "The bee-friendly Garden". She lives and garden not too far away from where I live and therefore is an inspiration for my garden.


Her pollinator garden is one of the bigger (if not the biggest) gardens at Cornerstone, and when I entered this beautiful space I immediately felt right at home. I was walking around her garden, observing and nodding to myself, making mental notes about the plants that all are so familiar to me because - they are in my garden as well.


Wonderful Verbena bonariensis "Lollipop", a true bee magnet since it provides nectar to native bees. Once it's established it won't leave a garden ever again. It actually can become a bit overwhelming. It readily re-seeds and I had to pull some of them over and over again so that they don't overtake the garden. However, it is so beautiful and beneficial that it has a forever place in my flowerbeds. I love it to mingle with red poppies (gorgeous color combination) or plant some coreopsis at their base.


Agastache is another bee-friendly plant and it comes in many varieties. This one is "Tutti Frutti" (that I killed in my garden last year...), but there are also "Black Adder" and "Blue Boa" (I think you can see them in the second photo from the top) and I know that Kate also likes to plant "Rosy Giant" which I have in my backyard.


Of course there has to be Echinacea (I don't know which variety this is) - it's a favorite of mine even though it sometimes has been hard on my patience. They take time to grow to their true size, but every year when they come back they become a little fuller and bigger.


I was happy to find Gaillardia as well, I think this is "Sunrise Sunset", the one that I killed in my garden, or "Arizona Apricot". I love Gaillardia, but it seems I'm only successful with the red ones "Burgundy"...


Another yellow flower I didn't know is a good pollinator is Kniphofia "Bee's Sunset" - well, it's in the name already. I'm not really a fan of the hot poker plant, but it sure looked good in Kate's garden.


Walking through this garden to the busy humming of the bees and the dancing of the butterflies I realized happily that my own garden has turned into a true pollinator garden. I couldn't ask for more.





16 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

It's a wonderful garden, made special by the inclusion of so many plants to attract pollinators, so much needed today, and the fact that your own garden reflects this too is laudatory indeed.

Michelle said...

Beautiful to the eye and beneficial to the bees. The best combination.

windrock studio said...

Being the amazing gardener that you are I can imagine it must have been heaven walking around there! Absolutely gorgeous photos and I really like learning some of the names, so fun!

Sue (this n that) said...

Such a profusion of beautiful plants Carola - the bees would thrive on such a feast. Gorgeous photos too.

Elephant's Child said...

That garden looks a wonderful place to spend a few happy hours/days.
And a big hooray for the pollinator planters. On this side of the world I do too, and revel in the happy buzz.

joliefemme said...

So many lovely flowers!

Miss Val's Creations said...

What a gorgeous, important pollinator garden for the bees and humans to enjoy. We started a butterfly garden back in the fall so I am hoping it is lush like this within 5 years or so.

My name is Erika. said...

Beautiful blooms. What are those trees behind them? Or are they netting to keep birds away from fruit? Hugs-Erika

Red Rose Alley said...

Beautiful flowers, Carola. That is an especially striking photo of the Gaillardia. I have also seen this flower at a nearby nursery. The Agastache is also common around here. Such a pretty and dainty flower. And that bee buzzing around it makes the photo even more special. Such a lovely and peaceful garden you visited.

~Sheri

Lowcarb team member said...

Fabulous photographs.
What a wonderful garden, and so nice to see the many plants and gorgeous blooms that attract pollinators.

All the best Jan

krishna said...

Wow! beautiful garden!

La Vie Quotidienne said...

What a fun place to visit. I love verbena but it doesn't grow quite as prolifically in my garden...might be too hot. I am harvesting some seeds right now to try and propagate more of them.

Jeanie said...

Oh Carola, this is just stunning. I can't begin to imagine what it is like to be amidst it all.

Karen Lakis said...

Thank you for the beautiful photos and information. I’ve been trying to add some pollinators to my garden also. I have a long way to go!

Red Rose Alley said...

Oh Carola, so sorry I mistakenly wrote the wrong flowers in my last comment. Sometimes bloggers write their words at the bottom of their photos, and some on top of their photos, and it's hard to know, especially with flowers. The ones that I'm familiar with and see around here are the Echinacea, they are so beautiful.....and the Lollipop flower with the bee sitting on it. The others I'm not familiar with, but very pretty just the same. You truly take wonderful pictures. : )

Magic Love Crow said...

This is truly amazing and beautiful! Big Hugs!