Mints and bees

Elisabeth — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:19:00 GMT

For the last few years, there have been all kinds of reports about the decline of bees, especially honeybees. An epidemic of parasitic mites killed many bees, and then a bizarre phenomenon called "colony collapse disorder" caused entire bee colonies to simply disappear. Since bees are critical for pollination of all kinds of plants, including major food crops, every gardener should think about bee-friendly plantings.

Some of the most bee-friendly plantings around are members of the large mint (Labiatae or Lamiaceae) family. If you are into growing herbs, try basil, thyme, oregano and any of the culinary mints, all of which will attract scores of bees. Ornamental mint family members include popular favorites like ajuga, salvia, agastache, monarda and perovskia. In my garden, both the cats and the bees are drawn to various species of nepeta. (Somehow the cats avoid being stung, but I can't figure out why. Maybe both cats and bees are too busy to notice each other!)

I can't even begin to pick a favorite mint, but this past year I have been especially taken with the blue flowered Salvia nemorosa 'May Night' (sometimes sold under its original German name, 'Mainacht" (above). Russian sage or Perovskia atriplicifolia is also among my favorites. Like most mints, it grows like a weed, but its many tiny blue flowers and gray foliage are especially ethereal and lovely.

Of course, mints also attract butterflies and, perhaps equally important to many gardeners, do not attract varmints, including deer. Planting as many mint relatives as possible is a great way of garden multi-tasking; the plants attract the good creatures, repel the bad ones and beautify the landscape all at once.

Ajuga

Elisabeth — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:00:00 GMT

It has taken me nine years, but I have finally made my peace with ajuga.

Most people have to plant ajuga in their gardens. Not I. When I moved into my house nine years ago, there wasn't much garden to speak of, but there was ajuga everywhere. Most of it came up in bare spots in the lawn, which was a blessing at the time, because without the ajuga I would have had ordinary hard-packed dirt in many places. As time went on and I began creating garden beds and planting schemes, the ajuga seemed to want to help me out by invading all the beds. Thinking that I could get control of the situation, I removed it from the beds. I gave it to neighbors and friends and there was so much that I even started giving it to people that I didn't really like.

Of course ajuga can be lovely. The glossy leaves are roughly oval-shaped and the blue flower stalks are inspiring in the spring. Like many ajuga, the ones in my yard have leaves that take on a reddish cast when they get lots of sun. If I wasn't blessed with such an abundance of ajuga, I might have appreciated its winning qualities more.

Then one day I finally wised up and decided that perfection is seriously overrated. There are some very worthwhile plants that take time and effort to grow and I am quite willing to put in that time and effort. But time is always in short supply so why not take advantage of the equally worthwhile ones that take no time or effort at all?

Now the ajuga flourishes and (mostly) I let it have its way. In the spring I pick scores of flowering stalks. They look especially good in arrangements with the flowers and leaves of yellow archangel (Lamiastrum galeobdalon), another extremely vigorous grower.

The ajuga is still in the lawn, as are violets and, in the spring, lots of self-sown Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica). I have stopped seeing my flower-bedecked lawn as a badly spotted green carpet and started viewing it as an English-style "flowery mead". When the flowers finish, I mow, and from time to time, I spread grass seed. For most of the year the lawn looks just fine.

Now I have made so much progress that I am trying some of the newer ajuga hybrids like 'Chocolate Chip'. It doesn't spread quite as rampantly as my inherited ajuga, but requires little effort once it gets established.

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If life gives you ajuga, make a bouquet!

Growing Wise : ajuga

Mints and bees

Ajuga