{"id":782,"date":"2009-09-08T15:27:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-08T15:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2009\/09\/birds-and-bees.html"},"modified":"2026-01-28T15:21:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:21:35","slug":"birds-and-bees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2009\/09\/birds-and-bees.html","title":{"rendered":"Birds and Bees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don’t get too excited. I’m not talking about those<\/span> birds and bees.<\/p>\n

I’m talking about the yin and yang of the garden, the swarms taking over the strawberry and zinnia beds.<\/p>\n

I went to pick strawberries last week and got stung pretty badly in my right hand by tiny yellow bees – we called them yellow jackets back in New York, but I’m not sure they are the same here. Those magnificent strawberry plants I got from Lowe’s haven’t stopped producing crop after crop of organic berries, and it was so wonderful to see fat, plump red strawberries in September. I just reached down to pick them and came up with a fistful of angry yellow jackets stinging me.<\/p>\n

They’re not interested in the flowers. They are actually biting holes into the fruit and eating it!<\/p>\n

I was more cautious this weekend when picking vegetables and fruit from the garden, but lo and behold, as I dumped a pail of compost into the pile I have in the woods, a big cloud of angry yellow jackets rose and chased me a few feet. One got into my hair, but thankfully no stings this time.<\/p>\n

What gives? I saw them swarming my hummingbird feeder, but that made sense – after all, a hummingbird feeder is nothing more than red tinted sugar water. I had to take that down because anyone entering the garden and ducking under the archway was in danger of hitting their head and releasing a stinging swarm.<\/p>\n

Now on to birds….we have been treated to goldfinches alighting on the zinnias every day. A pair, male and female, delights in flitting among the zinnias and picking out the flowers. They also enjoyed my Echinacea seeds but I did manage to salvage some to try to start next year.<\/p>\n

From swarms of bees to pretty birds, it’s Mother Nature at her finest as September starts the fall season in the garden!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don’t get too excited. I’m not talking about those birds and bees. I’m talking about the yin and yang of the garden, the swarms taking over the strawberry and zinnia beds. I went to pick strawberries last week and got stung pretty badly in my right hand by tiny yellow bees – we called them…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"","restrict_content":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2301],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-782","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-personal","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nBirds and Bees - Home Garden Joy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Birds and Bees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don’t get too excited. 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