By Chris Winslow
Luckily for us, my nursery It’s About Thyme and its vegetable and flower gardens have been discovered by the ‘Bee Czar’ at Central Texas Bee Rescue.
A few months back, Walter Schumacher (aka the Bee Czar), asked if he could relocate some wild or feral bees he had captured to our back pasture. We thought it would be a great idea, since we’d be saving the bees from extermination and their presence would greatly benefit our vegetable garden.
Since bees pollinate nearly 80% of the world’s flowering crops and are responsible for the pollination of nearly every vegetable we eat, it didn’t take but a second to tell Walter to bring them on.
Since then, we have helped our friendly Bee Czar establish a mini garden of potted herbs, flowers, and vegetables atop the 38th floor of the W hotel in downtown Austin. The apiary there contains over 1 million bees and provides honey for the hotel’s Trace restaurant.
Walter and his crew will be at It’s About Thyme this Saturday (Oct. 26) to celebrate “A Day of Bees and Honey.”
Classes on beekeeping will be held at 11:30 am and again at 1:30 in the afternoon. Information will center on living in harmony with bees and what you can do to save the feral bee. It’s About Thyme’s honey will be spun on site and samples will be available.
Central Texas Bee Rescue is a non-profit and can only thrive on donations. Please come help this terrific and essential organization.
Silverberry – the Perfect Plant for Hays Co. Gardeners
Often Central Texas homeowners come into our nursery on a quest for ‘the perfect plant.’ They want an evergreen that will make an effective screen, while being a fast grower that also thrives in shade or blazing sun without any extra watering… and smells good.
This is a tall order. But believe it or not there is a plant that fits the bill – and its name is silverberry.
This beauty, known also as Russian olive (or more officially - Eleagnus fruitlandii) can grow to a height of 8 to 10 feet with a spread of 15 to 20 feet if left un-pruned. Its growth habit and the speed of this growth makes silverberry an obvious choice as a privacy screen.
The leaves are a blue-ish green on top, and lighter silver on the bottom. These are covered with small brown scales with silvery flecks. Highly attractive.
Silverberry blossoms in late winter and early spring with small, fragrant cream flowers. The blossoms ripen into a small, dark reddish fruit that’s very popular with the birds.
Personally, I can attest to this plant’s winter hardiness and tolerance of our capricious climate.
In 2001 I moved into my present home in northern Hays County. There was a pair silverberries on the property… both planted near trees. Eleven years later, through blistering heat, droughts and perishing frosts, they continue to stand tall, and flourish without any watering or extra care. They even made it through that 10 degree frosty night that happened back in January, 2010.
Looking for a versatile plant that can take what Central Texas can give? Silverberry just might be the answer. It gets my vote for plant of the month. Happy Gardening Everyone!
If you have a gardening question, send it to Chris via email: [email protected]. (Please put ‘Ask Chris’ in the subject line.) Or mail your letter or postcard to: It’s About Thyme: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748
