Where have all the bees gone?

…To our front garden? After we laid the new lawn, I concentrated on planting up the new front flower border. As it is our only south facing spot, I really wanted hot colours and the type of flowers that have never thrived in our shady raised borders in the back.

More photos to follow soon on the planting progress, but just recently I have noticed that there is a constant wave of activity over the heleniums.

We have seen honey bees, miner bees and plenty of bumble bees in the flower bed, not to mention the hover flies, lace wings and ladybirds. Unfortunately, fewer seem to visit the border on the other side of the lawn, and a beautiful ruby-stemmed euphorbia I planted in the spring has been ravaged by aphids. It’s not looking so healthy now. I hope the bright colours of the flowers will attract more wildlife for next year, and as an autumn project we will be constructing insect houses with the children.