Victory Gardens for Bees in Edmonton at Audrey's Books

It was an honor two meet some Edmonton women who run with the bees, including Heather Proctor, who generously allowed us to use some of her photos in the book. And here's Jessamyn Manson who runs a lab with students who run the the bees at the University of Alberta.

Jessamyn generously brought us some pinned specimens to peruse. I highly recommend her talk on Vimeo: Biodiversity and Abundance of Native Bees in Alberta. There were also some very cool gardeners that came and I was delighted to meet Sheryl from Pesticide-Free Edmonton. She let us know that two nurseries where it is safe to buy neonic-free plants for bees here are Salisbury Greenhouse and Wallish Greenhouses. There are also businesses at the farmer's markets where you can buy pesticide-free plants. The website of the Edmonton Native Plant Group also has some great resources. They will be choosing Edmonton's top natural lawns this summer. What a great idea!

Thanks to everyone at Audrey's books for hosting a lively event.

I am staying in a very hip neighborhood here in Edmonton, with treats like these from Duchess Bakery. Gorgeous!

When you wander around a neighborhood you've never visited before, it's so awesome to meet a kindred spirit.  Such is the case when I popped in to Redemption Boutique in Edmonton and met Traci, who is stylish, friendly and funny.

 Her shop is super cool with all sorts of eclectic fun stuff. And many thanks to Traci for the plug on Facebook for my Edmonton launch at Audrey's books.

 I bought some organic Assam tea at Tea Girl, a comfy little shop with a large selection of teas.

 And in the most unexpected of places there will be these lovely bright pink roses.

More color!

 And I really like the little landscaping gems like this zen garden. Heading back home tomorrow to do the Summer Solstice Coffee House at Britannia Community Centre on Sunday night. Hope to See you there!

Don't Sit on the Bees of Edmonton!

When I arrived at my friend's house I was happy to see a small patch of flowers that was busy with the bees of Edmonton. These painted daisies attracted many species of bees.

There are many forms of Veronica, and this was one I hadn't seen before. The bumblebees love it.

I was very encouraged to see this sign, but Edmonton seems very lawn proud. The city was just laying new turf on the boulevard in front of the house as I arrived. I am so tempted to roll it up and plant the West Coast Seeds low-growing lawn alternative instead. But I was very impressed with the amount of workers the city is employing on their maintenance crews. Later a truck with a giant tank of water drove by with a man watering the lawns from the truck. Wow. Too bad they aren't watering a bee-friendly alternative to turf.

There is a strong tradition of gardening in Edmonton in the private and public sectors and this place has potential to become an official bee-friendly city.

So, bees often make a liar of me. It's ironic that two days after I tell someone bees don't forage in peonies I see this. Can you spot the "sleeping bee"?

She wasn't sleeping after all. I am very curious about the cause of her death. She doesn't appear to be very old.

I never see bees in these flowers in Vancouver. At least some of the time and water going into these hanging baskets is feeding the bees, but we can do better!

There are so many of these lovely roses in Edmonton. The bumblebees LOVE them.

A sign invites me to sit and rest a while.

 Don't sit on the bees! Notice the evidence of leafcutter activity.

The ninebark attracts Andrena mining bees. What a lovely spot!