It's a Holiday Open House!
Saturday, November 20, noon - 4pm
You are invited to our Holiday Open House, with Bee Sweet Blooms and Beyond Toxics! Stop by, say hello, and enjoy a cookie freshly made by our friend Allie Zweig of Opa Gardens! Make a wish on our Giving Tree, drop in a ticket for our Gift Basket, or pick up some last minute seeds at our Seed Center! There is a good chance you will meet an old friend or make a new one while you are there. There is plenty of parking behind the building off of 4th St. (Please wear your mask). We look forward to seeing you! See the Facebook event here, our website here, and the flyer below.
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Seriously? Seeds! Their Beauty, Magic and Science
There is so much to know about seeds! This fun and informative presentation by Arti Kirch explains how and why seeds make our world go round. Thanks to all who attended the live presentation. It is now available for your viewing pleasure on our YouTube channel here. Thank you, Arti!
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My Garden of a Thousand Bees
Have you seen this yet? If you have, you know it is worth watching again! Many thanks to PBS for this incredible film that brings us up-close and personal to see just how wondrous the world we live in really is. We want a camera like this, too, to better see the bees in OUR garden!
"Viewers will marvel at moments timely captured .... such as bees laying tiny eggs preparing for the next generation, green-fanged spiders feasting on male flower bees and a female yellow-faced bee attacking a Gasteruption wasp to protect her nest. Other fascinating behavior featured in the program includes two male bees fighting each other over a female, different species of bees competing over territory and one busy bee building a nest with a shell and hundreds of sticks."
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Bumble Bee Queen
We were excited to capture on video (but just on an iPhone camera!) a fall-foraging Bombus in our garden on Halloween, a warmish, sunny day. Most likely a yellow faced bumble bee, or Bombus vosnesenskii, she looks fresh and shiny, like a recently emerged female that will be or has been mated, now collecting lots of pollen and nectar to carry her through winter hibernation. Here she is foraging on a purple top verbena - other excellent late blooming pollinator plants include asters, goldenrod, and California poppy.
Soon she will be looking for a nice safe place in the ground to overwinter -- which is a great reason to leave untended areas in your landscape, with fallen leaves, branches, rock piles and native grasses. Please Bee Aware as you take on your fall and winter garden work that 70% of our native bees (not wasps!) nest in the ground.
If this queen makes it through the winter, she will emerge in early spring, hungry to find more flowers that provide pollen and nectar to feed her brood. (Now is a great time to plant and/or sow seeds for next years pollinator garden!)
For more information about the amazing life cycle of bumble bees, check out this lovely brochure from the Xerces Society. Here's hoping we all will have lots of bumble bees in our gardens next spring!
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Pollinators' Pick
This is the first time the pollinators have picked a song! But very appropriate, considering the title and the message - and the preceding articles in this issue of the TPT! New from ABBA, its called .... Bumblebee. With a haunting melody and a sad message - or not, depending. Thanks, ABBA, for sharing your wonder, love, and concern about these 'tiny, fuzzy balls'. (Although we wonder if using female pronouns would be more accurate.) Enjoy!
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Please Support Our Work!
We continue to inspire, educate, and advocate for the pollinators and beneficial insects who pollinate the nutritious food crops we grow and enjoy, and the trees, shrubs, and flowers that provide for our Valley in so many ways.
We are grateful for your encouragement and engagement! As the year draws to a close, we invite you to support our work with a tax-deductible financial contribution -- whether $3 or $3,000, it helps us get the work done!
Thank you!
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* PPRV Seeks Volunteers!
Volunteer with us!
How can you help us make our Valley a better place for pollinators and people?
We invite you to bee involved!
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Questions or Comments? Please contact us at
pollinator@pollinatorprojectroguevalley.org
Keep up to date with all things Pollinator on our Facebook page:
Pollinator Project Rogue Valley
Office Hours: noon - 4 pm, Tuesday - Friday, some Saturdays
and by appointment
312 N. Main St., Suite B, Phoenix
Mail: PO Box 242, Phoenix, OR 97535
458-214-0508
Visit our website.
Click here for archived editions of The Pollinator Times.
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Pollinator Project Rogue Valley is a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit,
envisioning people, communities, and landscapes all working together
to support and increase healthy and thriving pollinator species everywhere.
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11/13/21
