I'm in my third year beekeeping. This hobby has such a learning curve. Kinda like gardening when I first started except most plants don't try to sting you. Stinging nettles and poison ivy don't count. L. angustifolia 'Blue Scent' with honey bee. My first year I haven't written a beekeeping post since my first season of beekeeping. In the first year, I learned:  To install a package.To identify the queen and mark her. To manage a small colony of bees that grew to be a large colony. The parts of the hive (their home) versus the colony (them as a group), the super (where the beekeeper's honey resides), frames, deeps (big boxes with eight or ten frames), bottom boards, and inner and outer covers.That if you accidentally squish a bee it makes the rest of them very angry. The dying bee sends out an alarm pheromone that smells like bananas....

In July and August, my summer garden waits for fall. We are in that in-between stage in the vegetable and perennial gardens. Phlox paniculata is starting to flower, and the daylily magic is over for the year. Asters and goldenrod are still growing for their late August performance. Phlox paniculata 'Cherry Cream,' a newer and shorter variety. It is also very disease resistant, but I don't see a lot of pollinators on it. I'm seeing very few butterflies this summer. I did find some Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars on my dill, but otherwise, I've only seen a few American Lady adults on lavender. Other pollinators are in abundance especially the carpenter bees. I have plenty of flowers for pollinators. I have water available. I grow plenty of host plants too. Still, no butterflies. It makes me a bit sad, but at least the Clearwing moths are out enjoying the phlox...

Green grows the meadow. The meadow at high summer is full of yellow flowers this year. After speaking with the knowledgeable folks on Oklahoma Native Plant Society, I now know this is Chrysopsis/Bradburya villosa, hairy goldenaster. Thanks to Michael Palmer for the ID. Green grows the meadow. And, yellow, red, orange, and purple for that matter. Gaillardia pulchella with a friend. G. pulchella with Blackeyed Susan Just add water. I'm pleased to write that the meadow in the upper pasture is growing well now that we added water to the equation. We found the soil too dry to support the wildflowers. We run 30 minutes of irrigation five nights a week from two commercial sprinkler heads. Because the well must pump uphill, we get about an inch a week with this watering program. We move the sprinklers around the pasture for more even watering. One of the sprinkler heads. We...

It isn't easy to grow lavender in Oklahoma, but it is well worth it. Drainage is the biggest issue. Lavender, like many Mediterranean herbs, wants sharp drainage. As the hosts on BBC's Gardeners' World are always so fond of stating, lavender likes a "gritty compost." Translated to American-speak, that means gritty potting soil. Here's looking at you honey bee! Growing lavender grows happiness If you can grow lavender in Oklahoma, your garden will be filled with pollinators like carpenter bees, honey bees, and small butterflies. Even when the lavender isn't blooming, if you run your hands across it, its intoxicating scent will waft over you. It's almost like having a spa day in the garden. For years, trying to grow lavender in Oklahoma successfully eluded me. It does not like our red clay or even our red sand. What plant does like red clay you ask? Maybe horrible bull thistle,...