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Bumble Bees Like My Coleus
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Posted by iowa50126 z5IA (My Page) on Thu, Sep 22, 05 at 19:41
| My light green coleus have had a tough summer. It was hot dry and buggy for them. In July they all looked like Swiss cheese. I hit them with a lite spray of bug-b-gone in mid August. And now they look great and have produced many flower stalks.
I've seem my humming birds at those blooms...but now it's the bumble bees.
I counted 18+ bees on my 2 plants this evening. I always wonder where bees like this nest.
Pete in I.F. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Bumble Bees Like My Coleus
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| FYI A quick note, if you let your coleus go to seed/flower,they will die and will not come back next year |
RE: Bumble Bees Like My Coleus
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Huh? No matter what you do Coleus will bite the dust at the first light
touch of frost.And they won't come back next year.They are bent on flowering now because of day length
(I think).
I love them.Doris |
RE: Bumble Bees Like My Coleus
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| Bumble bees like to nest in old mouse burrows, or cavities in old buildings, etc. I had some new queens that had over wintered in one of my perennial beds. I found them while I was cleaning off the bed while doing some weeding in late March early April a couple years ago. I accidentally dug a couple up. I didn't get stung cause it was a bit chilly for them to be moving really fast, and for the most part they aren't really aggressive bees. I just left the area alone for a couple weeks and didn't bother with it till they had all emerged and moved on to find new nesting sights. I like bumbles, they really are nifty bees. :) Diann
IA Z5a |
RE: Bumble Bees Like My Coleus
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| Yeah Coleus won't live if you leave it outside all winter. But some people, especially those who use them in pots , will bring them in to overwinter inside (or some people will dig them up and bring them in in a pot to overwinter). However, if you let them bear seed, they will die wether you try to overwinter them or not. |
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