The Haven was created in 2009: we celebrate our 15th anniversary this year. I joined the garden in 2012 and was tasked with creating an outreach and education program. Tours, social media pages, classes, and this blog soon followed.
I've written previously about the Haven's research on bees and gardens. This work included a look at bee preferences for common California landscape plants and work to help growers and landscapers provide the healthiest plants for bees.
Regular Haven visitors notice that we frequently change our planting. It's one of the joys of gardening -- there are always new plants to try and experiment with. At the Haven, research on new plants and methods for bee gardens is essential to our educational mission.
I don't know about you, but all the rain and cold weather we're experiencing in Northern California have left me especially eager for this year's gardening season to begin.
As we move into the hottest, driest part of the summer, many of our gardens are looking a bit worn out. It's certainly easier to stay inside where it's cool and put garden tasks off until the fall. But the bees are still out there doing their work to bring us food and create habitat for wildlife.