In Galveston, Sidney Holliday owns Pure Beeing.  He started small with just one hive about ten years ago.   After years of working in construction, Sid Holliday  wanted to do something good for the environment so he decided to raise bees.   Along with collecting and selling his honey,  he will remove bees from homes and buildings around the county. 

"We want to conserve the bees."  "We want to protect them."

From Our  Landscape Architect: "Enhancing your Entrance?" by Janielle Guzinski

Galveston has many gorgeous homes. We have so many styles from the old Victorian homes, to the mid-century modern, to the large beach homes up on pilings. But sometimes we just need to spruce up that first impression our house/garden gives to new visitors or old friends.

 

Symmetry

We often see symmetry as beauty. That's one reason why the Mona Lisa is considered such a lovely portrait; she is remarkably symmetrical. So if your front entrance has a sense of symmetry, that can enhance the impression it gives. Paired planters, or even sets of planters, on either side of the door are a very classic look for an entrance. Alternatively, symmetrical plantings on either side of the path can frame it and direct visitors towards the door/gate without the fuss of planters. Now perfect symmetry doesn't existing without living things like plants, but our eyes will fill in gaps and you can still create symmetry without perfection.

 

Asymmetry

On the other hand, you could throw symmetry out the window and go completely asymmetrical. The trick with asymmetry is to be purposeful. If your door is off to one side of the porch, have a large statement planter/group of planters on the large side and don't even try to fill the other side. Make singular pieces that coordinate without matching. If you have a curving walk, add plants or a fountain only to one side of the curve so you are moving around them as you approach the entrance.

 

Additional Paving

Adding some decorative paving can also add to your entrance. Even if you just have a simple concrete walk, you can still add antique bricks to expand either side. That is a cost effective way to increase both the size of your walk and its aesthetic appeal. Paving can also be used to give you space that you wouldn't otherwise have. Consider adding some paving on either side of a gate that was otherwise grass and using some large planters. That way you don't have planters just sitting in the grass. They have a purposeful place to be.

2018 CATALOG

Celebrate Earth Day Weekend with us

The National Wildlife Federation and Beesponsible team up to save threatened bee populations

 

Beesponsible

 

The National Wildlife Federation and Beesponsible on March 5 announced the launch of "Don't Kill My Buzz," a social advocacy campaign aimed at reversing the decline of bee populations and promoting bee-friendly, pesticide-free gardening and conservation efforts.

 

The partnership comes after news last year that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added the first bumble bee (the rusty patched bumble bee) to the endangered species list as part of the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The species was once an excellent pollinator of wildflowers, cranberries and other important crops including plum, apple, alfalfa and onion seed.

 

"Bees are responsible for one in three bites of food we take. Without them, our entire food production system as well as natural ecosystems would come to a grinding halt," said David Mizejewski, naturalist for the National Wildlife Federation. "But bee populations have been declining at alarming rates. This campaign deals with the issue head-on to educate people on the role they play in the decline and the actions they can take to reverse it."

 

Bee-lovers can participate in the campaign and help spread the word by sharing their love of bees via social media using #dontkillmybuzz and tagging @beesponsible. For each such post, Beesponsible will donate $1 to the National Wildlife Federation (up to $100,000) to support the organization's conservation efforts, such as Garden for Wildlife and other pollinator-friendly, pesticide-free gardening programs. They can also purchase campaign T-shirts via Beesponsible.com, with $5 from each sale also supporting the National Wildlife Federation.

 

"Don't Kill My Buzz is a playful statement with serious roots, taking the issue of the world's bee decline to a literal level. Our goal is to bring attention to plummeting bee populations and inspire people to do something to help," said Jessica Cummings, communications director for Beesponsible. "We're proud to be supporting the National Wildlife Federation and turning all the buzz about bees into meaningful change."

To learn more about #dontkillmybuzz and other ways to Beesponsible, such as bee-friendly gardening and community activism, visit  Beesponsible.com and follow Beesponsible on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.