lol Sandi! That reminds me when I was young and we went to the Jersey shore. I was throwing bread out the window from our balcony - my mom was in the shower. I decided I wanted some ice and headed down the hall - but I didn't close the balcony door! You can imagine the surprise my mom had.

That's even funnier!!!

It seems that I am need of praying friends. My dh (John) is in the hospital with heart problems. He has quite a history with major open chest surgery three times. I have many great friends and relatives, but all are miles away. This comes the week after my mom had a stroke in the Woodlands and my cousin's dh is dying in Beaumont, and another cousin had a stroke as well.

Prayers are needed please.

Charlene

Bless your heart. I know this is a trying time for you both. I was going to suggest you post to LouC's prayer cubit, but I see you've already posted there.

Oh Charlene, prayers are definitely with you.

I thought I had nasty flies on my citrus blossoms a couple of weeks ago. I'd seen them just about cover the Fatsia blooms in late fall last year. I even cut off some of the blossoms to make them move on.... I couldn't imagine why flies would be attracted to pollen....

It seems they're Mason bees. I went from Uh oh...to Aha! Now I'm buggin' DH to make a house for them. I found direction for using a small cardboard box and parchment paper...which I made. I placed it on the back patio and had one bee going in and out the paper cylinders almost immediately. I thought this was going to be so easy. Apparently, they don't like cold weather and have disappeared again. Or...they didn't think much of my accommodations!

And the backyard was full of little honey bees. They didn't mind that the garden is in such disarray. That's how I found out about the Mason bees. I was trying to make sure the "flies" weren't competing with the honey bees.

Live and learn!

How exciting! I'd love to get a mason bee nest in the yard. They were part of the presentations at the RS meeting last month. If only I'd see any of them! :/

I've seen a number of honeybees too - unfortunately on the dandelion! Uh oh, guess that means I need something with flowers...

RS?

sorry about that! Rose Society.

I just found out tonight that DH's hobby of craft brew beer is good for my compost heap. woo hoo!

Charlene, I'll pray for John...and for you, also...since I know all two well that with a married couple, when one of you goes through something hard, the other one goes through it also. I came SO close to losing my DH about 8 years ago.
Sandy, I think I have them also...and they're stil around here...mainly, they like the Carolina Jessamine. Such a harmless bee...and must be a good pollinator also. My plum tree and peach tree are blooming also, so bees are going to those also.

careyana...I'd still be guessing about RS! How was the presentation?
I also have leaf cutting bees. Every fall, they cut perfectly round holes in my roses. Once I knew they really didn't damage the plants, I just let them be. They like to live in the same type holes as the Mason bees.

Linda, I haven't noticed them on my peach tree, but it's covered in huge fushcia colored blooms. Much prettier than last year. We turned the fountain off the other night when we had a front come thru. I just plugged it back in this evening. That may be another reason why the bees haven't been back lately. They really swarm the fountain usually.

The presentations were all great. We got to practice rooting some cuttings. I now have a 'Red Radiance' cutting about ready to go in the ground on the back porch.

Glad it was a good program. I found them to be very knowledgeable...specifically, that I had too much shade, deer, and oak trees to be very successful with roses!

DH and I worked on the garden club newsletter yesterday morning and today. Finally got it this afternoon!
I thought you might enjoy the garden club program this month. There will be five stations where you'll learn how to build a $25. garden bench, a rolling plant stand, hypertufa pots , a pot lifter for heavy pots, and a grow box for container gardening. Should be fun! Let me know if you'd like to go. Cheryl Hazeltine was our speaker last month. She has a new book out... Central Texas Gardening. She had a great presentation.

Sandi that sounds fantastic! I could use advice on oh...all of those. lol! Now that the weather is getting nice, you'll have to come up and visit my mess, er, backyard too. You can try to help me plan my butterfly garden.

Cheryl Hazeltine...why does her name sound familiar?

She's written a few books on native gardening. First one with a neighbor, then revised it with another neighbor, Barry Lovelace (who's a member of our club), and now the third revision with her husband.....

Our club meets at Zilker on March 31st this month at 7PM. We usually meet the 3rd Thursday of each month, but the Zilker Garden Festival will be that weekend, and we'll all be busy with that.

You'd probably love the April mtg. We're going to The Great Outdoors again....after hours. They invited us last year and had a light supper and drinks for us. Gave a program on how they got started, how they choose the plants they buy, and how far they travel to find the unusual ones. After the program, they turned us loose in the nursery and discounted everything we bought. Did I forget about all the door prizes??? Anyway, it was a very nice evening. And we can take guests.

I'll send you a link to the club newsletter when I get back to my other computer....

March 31st...I may be a little late getting there, but I'd love to make it! I'm definitely going to the garden festival too. I just can't help myself... :)

I've driven past Great Outdoors but never been in there. It looks awesome! I need to stop there some night to check out their exotics. Daylilies and roses are so tame... ;)

There's a flower show inside the main building at Zilker. This year, I'm not doing the horticultural entries. Had a prior commitment. I used to drive one of the carts for the festival, ferrying people to and from the parking lots. It was fun, and I met lots of interesting people. Last year I worked the front gate taking tickets. It's crazy when the park opens and people rush to get in! Serious gardeners with wagons and lots of cash!!!

Is it cash only? I want to pick up a few things - I think it'll be mostly looking and listening.

No! Most of the vendors take credit cards and checks. When I worked the gate last year, a lot of people handed me a $100. bill. I was just surprised how many had big bills! We're talking serious shoppers!!! Did you see the insert in today's paper about the festival?

Wow, I guess so! I don't see $100's unless DH just got back from Vegas! I did not see the insert - don't subscribe to the paper any more.