I love gardening, and luckily I married a girl who loves to have a beautiful garden. Unfortunately, her idea of what makes a garden beautiful and my idea are a little different. For me, I like it to be interesting and I don't always care if it looks as tidy or uniform as something you'd see in a magazine. I love to see bees and butterflies and birds, and I want to smell the flowers. She's a landscaper, however, and she has a rare eye (more rare than she knows) for knowing what looks good and what doesn't. And as much as I appreciate her talent, I'd still like my garden to be interesting and useful, so as we plan for a re-do of the beds in our backyard, I'm hoping to incorporate more of the flowers I loved in my dad's garden (stuff like bee balm, black-eyed susans, cleome, and even the garish marigolds and red salvia), even though they might be a challenge for the overall scheme of things.

This is an interesting book. It focuses primarily on attracting bees - both honeybees and other native types - into our gardens. They are, after all, not only helpful but essential to polinating certain fruits and vegetables. It even discusses concerns some gardeners may have, such as kids and bee stings, but says the concern is mostly over-rated (I would agree, but I'm not allergic). It talks about the different kinds of bees a gardener is likely to see and why we should want them in our gardens. There are some pictures, but I was disappointed that they are very small - about an inch square - and difficult to see very well. Annuals and perennials are listed, as well as flowers that attract bees and hummingbirds, although the lists are a bit on the short side. Interestingly enough, even plants to avoid are listed - something I hadn't thought of.

There are a lot of very beautiful pictures here. As I mentioned, some of them are very small and more pretty than helpful. There is also at least one page that has the credits for the pictures incorrectly - a middle row shows 3 pictures but only 2 descriptions (I think the 3rd picture is listed with the bottom row), and I suspect there's at least one picture that is incorrectly identified. The text seems to be without such flaws, but with gardening books the pictures are as important as the information, so I feel obligated to mention it. Otherwise, however, it's a very nice book and I'm using it to pick some flowers I want to plant this year. ( )

Written by someone who makes a living designing fancy gardens which attract pollinators. I read bits of the book and found it difficult going as I know a little about bees and even less about plants.

The book included a very interesting discussion of the various wild bees and their habits. As a beekeeper I know something about the habits of honeybees, but dramatically less about their relatives, other than the bumblebee.

Spring is in the air so I am really excited to review this "garden" book. The cover looks so "Spring-like" and bright! So what comes to mind when you hear the words, "bee" and "garden" ? Most people will have the honeybee come to mind and flowers or vegetables in nice, neat rows. I was surprised to find out a bee-friendly garden does not need neat rows. Did you know that over 70% of the world's plants depend on the pollination services of bees? Why should humans care about bees? Well, bees are a big chain link in the earth Eco-system. If plants don't thrive because they haven't been pollinated, then animals will not be able to eat those plants and then humans will starve because plants and animals will not be available to eat. The book was well written and easy to follow. The author made a good case for why we all could do our part and make our spaces "bee-friendly." In any given region of the country, there are a variety of bee-friendly plants that can be combined to suit every taste and style. This good point was brought to my attention by reading this book, "Native plants are especially beneficial to the survival of bees. First and foremost, we need to grab whatever opportunities exist for preserving important native wildflower areas." This book is worth a read if you want a guide for your garden or care about the world we live in. I will be encouraging my library patrons to page through this beautiful book ( )

First the cover, and then the title drew me in to reading this book. I know and have been reading about the bees dying, and we are heading for a major disaster if that happens.
I do plant my flower garden with the bees in mind, along with the hummingbirds, Monarda, Oswego Tea, or Bee Balm, all the same name for one plant, is one of the plants that comes to mind.
This book is a plethora of beautiful pictures and advice, and it is one that I will be referring to for a long time to come. Love that we come to the back of the book there are plants that are suggested along with their climate zones for each section of the country. I am sometimes very surprised that I can grow a plant that I didn’t realize would tolerate my zone.
There is so much information presented here, I love it!
I received this book through Blogging For Books, and was not required to give a positive review. ( )

I enjoyed this book very much and will be referring to it often as I continue to improve my bee-friendly garden. Firstly, the photos of bees are amazing. You get a handful of the most common varieties in glorious, colorful close-ups. This is a bee-lovers bonus. There are, too, nice close-ups of flowers and of a variety of gardens/settings to promote ideas for your own design. While the photos made me rather jealous of what others have, the book made very clear that no matter what you have, you can use it to help bees. Everything counts.

The book went into more depth than I expected. I thought it would be just plants and garden designs, but it went into detail on bees' life cycles, nesting, why they like certain plants more than others, how and when they collect what they need, and even how/why plants offer nectar/pollen. I learned facts that amazed me and enriched my learning beyond just having a pretty flower patch that hopefully attracts bees. Included were lists of the best bee-attracting plants to put in your garden/property divided by region and zone. The only thing that disappointed me was that I did not come across info on which bees appeared in which regions. But an internet search will easily tell me what I can attract here.

A list of "citizen science" projects, organizations, seed sellers/nurseries, websites, and a bibliography and index complete the book, making it far more useful than just a how-to garden tool.

*This honest review was provided in exchange for a free copy of the book from bloggingforbooks.com ( )