The wildflowers down by the road are particularly lovely right now. These are asters, also called michaelmas daisies.
There were hundreds of bees; everywhere I turned there was a bee or two or three dining on a flower.
I wrote on Instagram yesterday about wildflowers. I don’t pick them. And I don’t do that for two reasons: others should be able enjoy them, just as I do, and most importantly, bees and birds need these flowers. They are vital and essential to the well-being of our friends. So, why would I pick something and take away the flowers, just for a day or two of ‘prettiness’ in the house?
I suppose that’s why I don’t pick flowers from my garden, either – I really only do it when they are about to kick the bucket, as when the peonies are threatened by torrential rains, or the roses by japanese beetles. Otherwise, they stay where they are. A hothouse raised bouquet will do for me.
Bees are being threatened. We need to do everything we can to help them survive. These flowers help. Not using pesticides – and I can’t stress this enough – will make a huge difference. The threat to bees has been directly linked, in part, to the use of pesticides. I have never used them in any of my gardens and I won’t ever use them. Yes, I get frustrated by the aforementioned japanese beetles, and aphids, and whatever other flying critters attack my flowers. But then I stop and remind myself of something: that’s the price I pay for keeping my gardens safe for bees and birds and butterflies and, yes, aphids and japanese beetles.
If I could urge one thing, I would urge you to rethink your use of pesticides – if indeed, you use them. By using them, we are contributing to the decline and possible extinction of species that are absolutely essential to the health of our planet. And really, I know this will sound blunt, but how selfish can we be if pristine prettiness is more important to us than birds, bees, and insect life?
End of sort-of-teacher-like-lecture.
We watched a fascinating documentary the other night. It is Finding Vivien Maier and it’s on Netflix. I had heard about Vivien Maier, but certainly didn’t know the whole story. Maier was a nanny who worked in the Chicago area for years. A man found a box of negatives at an auction and purchased it – what he found inside was hundreds and hundreds of boxes of negatives – all from a woman named Vivien Maier. He googled her name and there was absolutely no information about her. Eventually, he found out she had passed away and the search for more information about her started.
She always had her camera with her – a Rolleiflex – and she took the most incredible photos of people. Everywhere she went, she snapped a shot or two. Beautifully composed, humorous, touching – they are extraordinary.
The man who discovered her has spent years on his mission to bring her photographs to the attention of the public and of galleries. There have been exhibitions. There are now two books on her work.
She never got the acknowledgement of her talent while she was alive, but she is getting it now.
If you haven’t seen it, I hope you do. I found it very moving.
Another moonflower this morning; this one rather overwhelmed by the heavy dew of last night:
Sigh of happiness.
New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page with some links for you to read.
Happy Wednesday.
I don’t use pesticides but the lawn crews do spray some weed killer now and then on the edges of my planting areas. I rent so don’t have much control over that :( Love wildflowers and I also never pick them. They are where they belong and being used by butterflies, bees and things!! I will watch that documentary, sounds fascinating! Packing today for Calif!!
hugs,
Linda
There’s so much pressure on groundskeepers to make everything perfect – it’s ridiculous. There’s no sense or realization of what damage can be done. To us, as well.
I bet you’re excited about your trip!
No pesticides around my house! And I don’t pick wildflowers or the flowers I grow in the garden. The flowers I grow are specifically for bees and hummingbirds, and I’m gratified to see those visitors daily.
Me too, Wendy!
i agree about the use of pesticides. we need to think long-term about such things and use them cautiously. i kind of freak out when I find bugs and spiders at home, but try to hustle them outside (admittedly, some don’t make it that far) and remind myself that God created them – just like each of us – for a purpose.
my sister and i recently saw that documentary about vivien maier. we are lucky … an exhibit of her photos is at the des moines art center right now! the film is well-done and will give people insight into not only her life, but all her incredible photos. her life is a lesson; i recommend seeing both the documentary and the exhibit.
and i say “well done and thanks” to the young man who saved those photos and worked to give ms. maier the gallery shows and credit she deserves.
kathy in iowa
How lucky you are to see the exhibit, Kathy! She was so talented!
Hi Claudia, my rather large back garden has been left to grow wild. It is very marshy so it attracts a lot of wildlife. My smaller front garden is planted with butterfly and bee attracting flowers. I love to watch them and also the birds that visit. Have you tried spraying your aphids with diluted washing up liquid. It’s worked wonders for me, and doesn’t harm other wild life. Blessings
I haven’t. I usually let them go. If they start taking over, I’ll think about it. But I have a real hard time killing anything!
I can’t believe how many bees and hummingbirds are going for a salvia we planted earlier in the summer. It’s growing quickly, has so many dark purple buds. I think it’s just common sage although it’s from the mint family. Doesn’t need a lot of water (good for us here in SoCalif.). We’ve planted it south facing. It’s showy and I think it can get too big for the space if we don’t keep it trimmed back. Has been a nice surprise.
Salvia is lovely – I used to grow it in California. I’m so glad you’re seeing bees and hummingbirds!
We have never used pesticides. We always had a concern over how they would affect our children, pets, and the neighborhood critters (squirrels, birds,etc.). We also enjoy our flowers and plants by going outside to see them. It feels so wonderful to just sit in the swing, or in the rocker, and admire them.
Exactly, Susan!
Dawn dishwashing liquid diluted w/ a bit of water is what I use on the Japanese beetles. Awful little things. This sounds heartless, but i don’t even mind it when I spray them as they killed a tree of ours and so many plants over the years. That is as mean as I get. We had SO MANY bees this year. Made me quite happy. And, as you know, they truly are not aggressive if you are out watering or want to get a picture. I think some people see a bee and panic. It is a simple fact that without bees, we can’t survive.
I know that the Zika virus is a very terrible thing, but I worry about the spraying they are doing in the Miami area. I am sure they have tested it, but I still remember the 1950’s when they were spraying DDT in neighborhoods and telling everyone it was fine. Not sure if it is “we live and learn” or “history repeats itself.”
Have a happy Wednesday!!
I am concerned about the spraying for Zika, also. It has to be having an effect on the environment.
I agree with you about pesticides and cutting flowers. I have had a dream about having all the flowers to cut that I could want ever since a Little Golden Book that I had when very small was about a little boy who cut a wheelbarrow full from a very luscious field of wildflowers. I don’t think the site of that field will ever leave my mind. I add flowers every year to my garden, but it will be many years before I have that field full. I absolutely love the pictures of all your flowers.
Thank you so much, Beverly.
We don’t use pesticides here either. I also leave my flowers growing. I want the seeds to reseed by themselves so I can enjoy more flowers next year. I have been watching Luther on Netflix and I am enjoying the series. Very creative writing. Thanks for recommending it.
I love it when my flowers reseed. Plus, in the winter, the birds eat the seeds and use the plants for shelter.
I love the bees! so no pesticides. A guy in our neighborhood has bee hives on his roof! If I were younger and no demands on my time, I would have bee hives out back too. I see them most often on my oregano and rosemary right outside my front window. I don’t even harvest the herbs because I like the bees better. I am looking for some wildflowers to plant in the greenbelts that have been ruined by kids playing etc. Now that the kids are grown up, I think we need some wildflowers to give it some color.
I love wildflowers. Have at it, Jan!
The wild flowers are so pretty and delicate. I’m not an advocate for pesticides…but I have used the dawn/water solution to control some pests. I too, saw quite a few bees this year…always good news. I remember the “fogging trucks” in our neighborhood in the late 50’s, early 60’s. When I think back to that now…I can’t believe that some one thought that would ever be okay? ;)
Oh, I lived on the Gulf Coast in the 90s and those fogger/sprayer trucks (for mosquitoes) would come around 9:30pm so we always tried so hard to make sure we and the dogs were inside for the night in order for that stuff to settle down enough by morning. I’ve always wondered what we were breathing in but we had a fairly-airtight/newer house at the time. I was in Florida visiting somebody once and they were doing the same thing, doing the spraying after dark…and the people didn’t even close their windows or front screen door (no air conditioning!); that was in 1981. It’s the thing of risk vs. benefit. But how can we not wonder…
I know! We were so naive in those days.
It has taken me a long time to get my husband to move away from pesticides in the garden and harsh cleaning chemicals in garage/home but he FINALLY is using non-pesticide remedies on roses and other plants…and they work JUST FINE.
I did cut roses this morning because the bushes are robust with lots of buds. Pink, white, magenta, yellow; peachy-orange. We’re in for more extreme wind and bad heat over the next several days (ugh; and huge threat of wildfire…hasn’t our recent earthquake scare been enough?!!) and I wasn’t about to have those roses wilt. So, I’ve got a vase full of them in the house this afternoon.
Enjoy your roses, Vicki!
Off topic, but….I have a cold and a little autumn melancholy but thanks to you I am spending my afternoon curled up with my dog in “Three Pines” , wishing I could be at the Bistro!
I’m so happy! Enjoy your Louise Penny and imagine being in the Bistro!
I totally agree about pesticides, picking flowers etc. And what’s more, I don’t think you should feel like you were lecturing. You weren’t. You were expressing your views, and wise ones at that. The world and its people MUST change, or this planet is doomed. It’s that simple. It starts with millions of us doing the very things you suggested. I don’t have a garden per se, just my hanging baskets, so pesticide use isn’t really relevant for me. But I no longer use most paper products – tissues, paper towels or disposable cotton pads etc. I ordered 100% white cotton cloths and pads [from a great little Etsy shop I just stumbled on a few years ago] which can be washed [I just add the small amount of cotton cloths I use each week to my Hot water laundry] and re-used 1000s of times, if not more. Just what our grandmothers and great-grandmothers used – and not for nothing, but I actually like the cotton items much more. Should have done it YEARS ago.
We have to change. We have to rethink everything that we’ve done without thinking. We’re in danger here on Planet Earth.
This year the damage by insects has been negligible compared to the animals. Deer and rabbits have eaten what has never been touched in the last 10 years, and voles have moved onto our property. I know it was a dry first 2/3 of the summer. My hostas are now spikey plants, the leaves are gone except for the center stem. My beautiful sedum is totally cropped off, as are a number of other plants. I hope next year will be a better year. I tried to spray a homemade pepper spray onto plants, but I couldn’t spray everything. Luckily, the plants on my little patio have been mostly untouched.
I imagine with the very dry weather (here, too) the animals were in dire need of food and water. Hopefully, next year won’t be such a strain on them and on the plants.
I agree with you about wildflowers and pesticides. In fact, if people plants gardens outside, they should expect that there will be insects they may not particularly want, or that there may be wildlife that enjoy munching on their pretty little plants. That’s normal especially since man is taking over all the land. We definitely should care more about the wild and the wonderful than any manicured perfection. Very interesting about the life and photographic legacy of Vivien Maier.
Agree, Tammy. We don’t use weed killers on our lawn, consequently there are weeds and several varieties of grass. No problem. We enjoy it as it is, knowing that we aren’t harming the environment.
Lovely and poignant photographs, Claudia.
Thank you, Nancy!
I have even stopped picking dandelions because I heard they are one of the first flowers of spring and are important for the bees.
And will definitely watch the documentary about Vivien Maier. I have never heard of her.
Yes, they are very important! We tend to let them be here.
I cannot believe how many people don’t believe they are not or cannot harm this world!
I’ve been hearing alot of this “God made this world and he will take care of it.” Have you ever heard such screwed up thinking?More like (rationalizing)!
-Judy A
You’re right – it’s completely screwed up thinking. We have been given this beautiful planet as a gift and we are responsible for it.