Helping bees and other pollinators
I should like to thank Katie Tunkavige for her reminder about the importance of bees and other pollinators. For the past few years, I have been working to turn my front yard into a wildflower garden {it never did well as a lawn}, planting flowers loved by bees, trying to find native plants when possible. This year, I have a bumper crop of milkweed. As soon as the pods are ready, they will be harvested and the stalks taken down. Sadly, there have been complaints made about my front yard, although most of my neighbors understand what I am doing. While I can understand the complaints, I would rather have a wildflower garden than a lawn, even though it doesn't look like a "normal yard". It is also sad that these anonymous complaints have resulted in a threat of fines-and yet, few of these anonymous people have ever stopped to talk to me, or offer help. I should think that if someone is going to place a complaint, they should be confident enough to sign their name, or contact me directly to ask about my yard. I hope to help save our bees-they are an important part of our environment, as are Monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
S. Raven Diamant
Sparta