Willow can be an important early spring pollen. I think it is actually rather low in nutrition (protein) but it comes early and the bees take what they can. Red maple is another early source of both pollen and nectar...again I think the pollen is fairly low in protein. I have been told bees will work coltsfoot in spring but I have never seen it. I thought most species of witch hazel bloom late in the fall and experienced keepers say the bees will certainly use it if the temps are high enough for them to forage. I guess in some regions it blooms early spring instead? Fall pollen storage is pretty critical for honeybees. "bee bread" is how they store it, a mixture of pollen and honey that is cultured with yeast and fungi. In the north, It's what they use to start rearing their first rounds of new bees to begin replacing the old spent winter bees.... and it happens before their are any blooms coming off and snow is still on the ground. I think many of the native pollinators overwinter as either dormant stocked larva or solitary mated females/queens so I don't know if the timing of their needs coincide.

Buford, If the fish heads are cod, you might make a convert of your DH if the heads come with their cheeks. Cod cheeks are a delicacy that most of us have to go to Nova Scotia to enjoy (it's on my bucket list) Patricia, The boat was moved from Decatur to Florence yesterday. A long story. To a nicer marina. Towed by friends because our manifold started an untimely leak. This fall we need to have a rose ramble, even if we just get together for Birmimingham garden visit. Do you know about the winter of 1898? Back OnT Did I tell you about the vultures near the road two weeks ago on our way into Blaine? (Narrow road, vultures covered most of it.) Coming back out, I saw that they hadn't been after an armadillo carcass, but a really big ugly carp. I guess some fisherman caught it, decided to make sure it didn't get back to the water to reproduce..... I was tempted to retrieve it for some rosey recycling. It was just over the too big to handle with two hands...And the vultures had been selective for their lunch entree.

Evening! Boy has it been cool out there! And i don't mean far out cool either! LOL We went from hot and dry to cold and wet - nothing inbetween. Well, the past weekend wasn't bad, but i was doing laundry like crazy to take advantage of the nice weather (sheets, comforters), so i didn't do as much in the yard as i could have. The fall bulbs are starting to come in now, so i've been planting the past couple of evenings. Even with all the rain we've had, the ground is still powder dry in places. Of course, i've over-ordered and am now wondering where the heck all this stuff is going to go! Typical, typical! :) I've brought in a whole whack of containers that i couldn't bear to give up on - daturas, impatiens, begonias, geraniums, coleus, alternanthera, hibiscus.... I really don't know if i'm going to be able to keep them all. I tried to pawn some off on my daughter but she said no way. Darn! I wish i had a good place to keep things more or less dormant. Dh talks about building a root cellar, but so far it's just talk. Debbie, both of us really like swiss chard, but we always have way too much of it and dh wants me to can it. That's the part i hate - canning it is an all day job. The deer have been at other stuff too. They chewed off a whole bunch of stuff in the container i have out near the road. I wasn't too worried about that either, but i don't want them any further than that - the restaurant is closed!! No deer allowed! Funny about your cranberry turning red already. Mine is still green. One of the burning bushes has turned but the other (only 4 feet away) hasn't. A lot of trees have lost all their leaves, but some haven't even turned colour yet. Weird. I emptied the pond out once but the rain has filled it part way again. And i've fished out about eight shrews over the past couple of days! Maybe i should put a little ladder in there! LOL Not much else going on and i'm getting sleepy. I was trying to stay up because my friend from out west wanted to chat, but she isn't on yet. Yawn! G'night! :)

Hi everyone, I'm still trying to catch up here and get my body back together after being away. Have been moving dining room and kitchen furniture around for the past week. Now that my hip has sort of gone back into place I have started steam cleaning the couch and chair we had the movers bring up from the basement when they were here, it has a musty smell to them. So that will keep me busy for a week. I have been busy putting mom's stuff away too. Still lots of stress going on here with sister, but mom is doing better. yesterday she told me that she didn't have any pain, so that is great! Today she sounded good too. I have started sending her snail mail and jokes and stuff to give her something to look forward too, and pictures too. Did some work in the garden, put a couple of the hoses away, caught one fish, still 2 more out there, bronght in the pond pump and pulled out a bunch of flowers in pots and put the pots away. Marcia, sounds like u have been very busy too! I love foxglove, I was able to grow it once here but it never survived the winter. I'm sorry to hear your having trouble with your knees too, I hope you can fix them up. What kind of bulbs are u going to be planting? I miss planting bulbs but with all the landscaping fabric I have on the beds now it is just easier to use it to keep the weeds down, though the weeds did take over when we were away. Things are still blooming here, but I have most of my 50 pots ripped out before we have gotten frost. I pulled out a bunch of geraniums and put them in a cardboard box in the basement. I picked a lot of tomatoes when we got home and have frozen a lot of bags of them as we just can't eat that many. Gale, do u have a trick for catching your fish in your pond? I have been trying every day since we have been back and have only been able to catch one.... LOL I had a ton of elochea sp this year and had to pull some of it outta the pond in order to see the water. Also the water hyacynth almost blew apart the rain barrel when we were away too! LOL It just loved the hot weather. Congrats on your Hort winnings! Did u enter your gardens too? Here u can enter as a Novice for the first year in the garden show and Hort show. Tina, sounds like your garden did great this year too! I envy u being able to grow peppers, I wish we could grow them here, but tomatoes are a big enough headache to grow, though of course, this year they did good! Janet, Mom told me today that she is getting use to the nursing home. My sister has talked her into giving up her apartment so that is sad. But that is all I will say about my sister, it is too upsetting. Mom is doing well and we talk to her every day, I just wish she could of moved up here with us, but hopefully the other family members won't forget about her where she is now. Well I have to go and move the fans again that are blowing on the couch. Still fighting with getting rid of the musty smell. If any of u know of any tricks please let me know. I have tried Frebreze, dehumidifer, lysol and now steam cleaning. Take care Debbie :-)