Front Yard Sleepover

It's nearly nine o'clock in the evening and do you know where your male bees are? Unlike the females, they don't have their own nests.

Well, some of my guys, and I think that they are members of the long-horned tribe (Melissodes) have tucked themselves in for the night - hanging on tightly by their mandibles (they don't actually have teeth).

In which sweet bower, you might ask? The purple Scabiosa anthemifolia, also beloved of butterflies and my young neighbor, Tessa, who comes over on a regular basis with her very own pink scissors and cuts a bouquet for her mother. Yes, of course she always asks first.

One bloom, one bee, you might think, but this flower (on the left) actually has a second bee, very snuggy, tight and barely visible on the left side.

For crying out loud, if this gets any cuter, I'll have to invite myself over to Tessas' to read Goodnight Moon.

We Love Mrs Collier!

Whoever Mrs Collier may have been, if she even truly was a real living person, her name lives on in this wonderful heirloom sweet pea. And everyone who lives on my street just adores her namesake.

Most people believe that sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) are native to Sicily and the southern Mediterranean area. But once the British, especially one Scottish nurseryman, Henry Eckford got involved with breeding and hybridizing this little wildflower, sweet peas have spread around the globe.

As an old-fashioned variety from 1907, Mrs Collier retains that deliciously strong fragrance that some newer sweet peas have had bred out of them.

Now I for one wouldn't trade away sweet scent. And I don't think any of Mrs. Collier's new local fans would either. We prefer to stick our noses in our own flowers and let those plant breeders mind their own businesses. Although in all fairness, as well as selecting for size, color and disease resistance, contemporary breeders are beginning to pay more attention to fragrance, too.

Sweet pleas prefer cool weather, so plant the seeds in the late fall or early spring. And keep picking the flowers - a real hardship, I know - because the more you pick, the more the plants will produce flowers until hot weather finally knocks them out for the season. Trust me, there will be plenty to share.