I will be appearing at Colony Farm on Sunday as Madame Beespeaker. Here is a message from the event's creator and director:
Hi There,
You and yours are personally invited to Public Dreams newest Community Art event A Midsummer Fete - A celebration of Art Environment and Organic Gardening, on Sunday 27th June 1:pm - 5:pm at Colony Farm Regional Park in Coquitlem
We are excited to present an Echo-Art-Mash-Up, where you can spend a lovely afternoon do such things as - writing notes to the bee's (our sacred pollinators) - walking the Labyrinth - learning to band a birds leg - seeing visual art made from invasive plants - listening to the fairy harpist - and having tea with Isolde N Barron (my favourite drag queen) - plus much more...!!!
There's a free shuttle bus from Lougheed skytrain station from 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm (...so it's super easy to come out and join us....)
“We like to think of A Midsummer fete as sort of 'soft activism' – introducing people to ideas of sustainability, art and beauty in the environment we live in.”
“This event represents an exciting new direction for us, It’s wonderful to be working with Metro Vancouver, who are such strong supporters of community art. These partnerships are vital, in the wake of drastic cuts to arts funding in this Province.”
There is an event link on
Facebook, so go there to check out the photos and details.
Really looking forward to seeing you there - hope you will be able to come and support us (and have a lovely time doing so)!
Lv Marina x
(Creative Director of A Midsummer Fete)
I just love this garden with its jewel toned flowers. It's a good grouping of plants for a bee garden, especially at this time of the year. It's about a block west of Burrard along the railway track.
What do we have? Mallow, cornlflowers, poppies,
lychnis (not really a bee plant),
lemon balm,
and I'm not sure what the pink flowers are--maybe a geranium.
Here is a photo-tour of community gardens along the railway track: Kitsilano, Cypress, and Maple.
A bumble bee in a stunning delphinium.
A fly disguised as a bee.
I like this technique of extending the gardening space into the lawn.
An artful garden sign.
Potatoes in a trug!
I always enjoy a stroll through the City Farmer garden in Kits. It's a little oasis in the city.
It's interesting how far away the stamens are from the nectar source of this geranium.
You wouldn't expect such a heavy pollinator as a Bombus on the delicate blossoms of a heuchera.
These white flowers were a mystery to me. They were very fragrant--giving off a perfume that reminded me of lilacs.
I love this Celtic garden design.
Our last queen didn't make it, so we can assume that she was not accepted by the hive and perhaps balled to death. When I was out at UBC Farm, Beekeeper B said to cork the queen up in the hive for a few days so the colony gets used to her. He said four days would be good. Peter drilled a hole in a block of wood that would fit between frames so we could leave her in there. We put her in Sunday and I took the block out on Wednesday, so they should be used to her by then. Hopefully she is accepted and hopefully she has performed her nuptial flight. This time we also have a marked queen to make it easier to see her. Long live the queen!
Maybe I'm just noticing a wider variety of bees, but this seems to be a good year for bee biodiversity in Vancouver. I was in my neighbor's fantastic garden and her tiny climbing roses were chalk a block with bumble bees and leaf cutters. This bee (a megachilid, I think) didn't look too healthy--it was all tuckered out, which meant I could take these photos. I've never seen a leaf cutter bee (if that's what it is) with such a bald back and REALLY hairy legs. I am assuming it is male pattern baldness. Anyone out there know if this is true? Usually I see leaf cutters with more delicate legs and they are really hairy under their abdomens.
You can see the scale here as it is perched on the top handle of a shovel. It's a bit larger than a honey bee and smaller than a large bumble bee.
These are the roses with their surprisingly dark pollen. The bumble bees were absolutely loaded down with the rust-colored pollen. This one is up to her elbows in it!
