We're officially "bee-friendly"

Like I say a lot, I run down a lot of rabbit trails whenever I'm researching online different subjects. One recent trail led me to Texas Bee Watchers, where I happened onto Kim Bacon's ambitious project, "52 Bee Gardens: 52 Weeks." In her intro, Kim writes, "Texas Bee Watchers is challenging Texans to plant 52 Bee-Friendly Gardens by the end of the 2011. Since TBW may be the only site certifying Bee Gardens, you can make sure Texas has more Official Certified Bee Gardens than any other state by certifying your Bee Garden! Go Texans!"

Naturally, our Wildscape needed bee certification, too! So I wrote Kim and asked if we qualified or did we need to plant a new garden. "Of course, you can apply and get 'certified," she responded. "I saw the list of  plants on your blog, and you've got plenty of great bee plants in your Wildscape. Existing gardens certainly qualify–you're a trendsetter! I took a look at the bee posts you mentioned on your blog. I'm always telling people to watch the bees in the cactus flowers. It's just like you describe–they seem to be having so much fun."

"I'm very serious about people planting for native bees (and other pollinators)," Kim added. "So send in your photos and list, and I'll put your garden on the beewatchers website and you'll be one of the few CERTIFIED bee gardens in the WORLD!"

This morning, I received happy news from Kim: "Thanks for certifying your Bee-Friendly Garden. I've just posted information about your garden on the Texas Bee Watchers website. Your garden is wonderful, and I am sure it will inspire others to restore their their own residential landscapes to a more bee-friendly state. Attached is your official certificate. Welcome to bee-watching!"

On her cool website, Kim gave us a real nice write-up about our Wildscape and posted the photos I submitted. Wow. Give it a read! Thank you, Kim!!