Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem

As we move through the cycle of the seasons, each seems to have its own message for us. With its fragile and short-lived indications of the warmer weather to come, spring is a yearly reminder to seize the day.

Here in the Washington, DC region, flowering cherry trees are the undisputed celebrities of spring. The first crocuses might be more eagerly anticipated and the flowering plums put on a more colorful show, but the cherry blossoms best represent the fleeting nature of the season.



My neighborhood is full of cherry trees, so I have a front row seat for their annual performance. This year, heavy rain the day after the buds fully opened littered the ground with pale pink. For three perfect days, blue skies framed the blossoms. Then, high winds knocked down more of the flowers. Thunderstorms predicted for today will also take their toll, and soon the blossoms will be gone for another year.

A good friend recently sent me a copy of Robert Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. Thanks to her, for the first time I noticed that some trees show a fleeting touch of gold at their crowns just before bursting into green leaf. Like the cherry blossoms, this ephemeral sign of spring won’t wait for us to find a convenient time in our busy schedules. It’s up to us to stop whatever we’re doing, if only for a moment, to appreciate the beauty of the world around us. The wheel of the year keeps turning, and this particular part of the annual journey is fleeting.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

I’m going to go take one more look at the blossoms, because I can hear the thunder rolling in.

The Birds and the Bees (and Butterflies and Bats)

I’m the undisputed queen of procrastination. If something doesn’t interest me, I can find hundreds of ways to avoid it. It’s been more than a month since my last blog post, and I know why. I just don’t care very much about the things I’m “supposed” to blog about to market my shop. If I don’t care about what I’m writing, why should you care enough to spend your time reading it? So, from now on I’ll be blogging about whatever interests me at the moment. I can live with being a failure at on-line promotion, but I just can’t accept being boring!

Today’s topic is the birds and the bees. Spring has finally sprung in my little corner of Maryland, as you can see from the exuberance of my crocuses. Today, the first bee of spring bumped against the window where I’m working and reminded me of the terrible problem with the honeybees. In short they’re dying. Or, at least, they’re disappearing. In comparison to other issues the country is facing, like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, high unemployment, home foreclosures, etc., why should we worry about some missing bees? Well, let me tell you …

Many, if not most, of the crops raised in the U.S. are pollinated by so-called “managed bees”. Beekeepers, usually running small family businesses, load their hives onto tractor trailers each spring and travel the country pollinating crops. This has become necessary because, in many areas, intensive agriculture has virtually eliminated the natural habitat needed to sustain local populations of bees and other pollinators.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), first noticed in 2006, is decimating the managed beehives. The bees don’t return home to the hive. The cost to beekeepers has been enormous, with many forced to leave the business. Fewer managed bees result in a higher cost for pollination – a cost which trickles down to us in the form of higher prices at the grocery store. You can Google “Colony Collapse Disorder” for more information on the race to discover the cause of CCD, as well as insights into the human and financial impact of this problem.

For a variety of reasons, including the economy, the green movement, and a general desire to eat more healthy and nutritious foods, many of us will be planting vegetable gardens this year. Our crops will also need to be pollinated, but many of our native pollinators (mainly bees, bats, butterflies, and birds) are suffering from habitat loss and the increased use of toxins in the landscape. Here are some tips for how to make your little piece of the world pollinator friendly and increase the yield of your garden, whether it’s a farm, in your back yard, or on a balcony:

1. Plant a three-season butterfly and bee garden, making sure that there will be some flowering food for pollinators whenever they’re active – those of you in more tropical climates may need to work on a four-season garden.

2. Learn to live with your native pollinators, foregoing bug “zappers”, pesticides, and other means of controlling insects – any measures you take to get rid of pests will also eliminate the many friendly insects that are beneficial to plants and your plants.

3. Encourage pollinators by providing habitat – this can be in the form of some land left to revert to native ground cover and wildflowers, or you can provide shelter and nesting areas designed specifically for the pollinators you want to attract. You can find directions for making your own online, but some wonderful, eco-friendly mason bee boxes, bat houses, and butterfly houses are available at AndrewsReclaimed.1000Markets.com or AndrewsReclaimed.etsy.com.

4. Think about becoming a bee keeper – beekeeping is a “graying” hobby that few younger people are interested in, but it is possible to keep a hive in your suburban backyard (not recommended for apartment dwellers, lol). The bees require some work to maintain, but it can be satisfying to know that your hobby is helping you and your neighbors achieve better producing and more beautiful gardens.

So, that’s what is on my mind today. I hope I've encouraged you to do something this spring to help the bees and other pollinators sharing your little piece of the planet.

And, just so I don’t feel like a complete marketing failure, if you have the time and inclination, take a look at my stuff :-) (RowanTreeStudio.1000Markets.com or RowanTreeStudio.etsy.com)