Each day offers a newness
that wasn’t there yesterday
for each day is special and precious.
Today it was the
beauty and bounty of autumn.
Messy and unkempt but
banquets for birds, bugs and bees.
My pull to tidy things up
flew away with the wind.
The untidy arrangements
that autumn brings to be left to
the natural world and homeowners.
“The bounty of nature is too little for the greedy person.”
~ Seneca the Younger, Stoic philosopher
Born: 4 BC; Died AD 65 (aged 67 - 68)
While leaves fade into late summer,
Sunflowers, as brilliant as ever,
welcome bees into nature’s pantry.
“Nature never hurries.
Atom by atom, little by little,
she achieves her work.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
off nuzzling pollen from other
flowers in this Prairie garden,
these flowers are reaching,
ready to welcome them
when it’s time, while looking
stunning in the afternoon sun.
“The bees are summer-busy every sunny afternoon...”
~ Hal Borland, author, journalist, naturalist
(1900 - 1978)
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| Milk Thistle Royal Saskatchewan Museum |
Roaming the gardens
sets my prairie heart
beside bees and butterflies
gathering nectar and pollen
from native wild flowers,
while bugs and beetles
hide their busyness
in the wildness.
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
~ Mary Oliver, Yes!No!
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| Gardens at Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina ~ September 08, 2025 |
A flower bed ~
true marriage of nature
and the human hand.
Glorious colours and patterns
planted carefully, welcome bees,
butterflies (and cameras)
to these bright and bold displays.
“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.
To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”
~ Alfred Austin, English poet
(1835 - 1913)
Before the photo op
bees bumbled and stumbled
drunk on pollen
never staying long
on to the next flower
once ~
twice ~
thrice ~
til the camera was put away.
I grumbled and walked on.
“Where there are bees there are flowers, and wherever
there are flowers there is new life and hope.”
~ Christy Lefteri, The Beekeeper of Aleppo
 |
| Temps today 30 Centigrade |
Sturdy pasque-flowers bow their heads until bright yellow stamens laden with pollen welcome early season bees.
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| Temps today 30 Centigrade |
“The chance to find a pasque-flower
is a right as
inalienable as free speech.”
~ Aldo Leopold, A San County Almanac
Photographed by this author today at University of Regina (gardens outside the Research Center)
Provincial flower of Manitoba
State flower of North Dakota
Wings beat in the pause
between the bee in flight
and the bee landing on
a blossom. No hesitation
in crossing this space of a
breath. Merely on a heading
to gather sustenance before
a pause to the next blossom.
“Take walk with a turtle. And behold the world in pause.”
~ Bruce Feller
Always the bravest of flowers,
standing tall midst cheerful daisies, precious buttercups, colourful wildflowers and creeping vines, sunflowers show their joyful faces to the world. They welcome birds and bees to their bountiful centres and when the sun dries their petals and the wind brushes them to burnished curls, their joy is not diminished but made brighter.
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot
see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.”
~ Helen Keller
path, wild flowers
welcomed me. No English
country garden but a Nature
Garden of native wildflowers.
Only the organized chaos
of the prairies, welcoming
bees and butterflies. These
clusters of gold attracted me along with the bees. Their long fingers, decorated with tiny golden flowers, called
the bees and butterflies to relieve them of nectar. I was going to remember
their name but alas, that memory
only lasted a second or two.
~ Silas House & Neela Vaswani, Same Sun Here
Author's note: Native Prairie Plant Garden at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum entrance
Bees need shelter in their busy flight from flower to flower
to deposit their pollen
to make nectar and feed
their queen bee. The challenges they face are many: pesticides, parasites and humanity’s threat. We plant milkweed and bee balm to offer them help, but shelter ~ Where is it? On my stroll through a garden, a cute little house stood barely tall, tiny holes in its face and midst the grasses and flowers. The
Native Prairie Garden gardeners had added a bee nest
with the bee balm, lavender, milkweed and such.
“Wherever there are bees, there are flowers, and wherever
there are flowers there is new life and hope.”
~ Christy Lefteri, author
Native Prairie Garden the entrance to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum across from Wascana Park. (saskatchewan.ca)
For more information about bee homes, go to: garden therapy.ca
