Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Green Acres hosts virtual pollinator party

Recipe for Honey Bee cocktail that's part of the fun

Cocktail glass with lavender
The signature cocktail for this event is the Honey Bee.
(Photo courtesy Green Acres)

Happy National Pollinators Week! Time to show bees and butterflies some love.

Planting nectar- and pollen-filled flowers is a wonderful way to celebrate. Beneficial insects love a blooming buffet.

To get us gardeners in the mood, Green Acres Nursery & Supply is hosting a virtual garden party. At 4 p.m. Friday, June 26, take a trip to “Playful Pollinator Paradise” on Instagram Live.

According to Green Acres, the free event will feature “our hands-on pollinator container garden, a lavender-honey cocktail, and special music provided by our guest DJ to get you in the mood and keep things moving.”

When it’s time for the party, just go to
www.instagram.com/idiggreenacres/ and click to join.

Guest DJ will be Tessa Young, founder of Prism Djs. Supplies and plant suggestions are available online at www.idiggreenacres.com under “Events.” (Here’s the direct link: https://bit.ly/3evNjYT )

For the container garden, Green Acres experts suggest agastache, coneflower, petunias and sweet potato vine. Since this is for Instagram, the project is billed as “Picture Perfect Pollinator Pot-Up.”

As for the party’s signature Honey Bee cocktail, it’s also post-worthy and guaranteed to get you buzzed. Here’s the recipe (adapted from Green Acres):

Bee on lavender flower
Bees and lavender are a perfect pairing. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Honey Bee
Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

1-1/2 ounces lavender-honey syrup
3/4 ounces lemon juice
5 to 6 ounces champagne or sparkling wine
Ice
Lavender flower for garnish

Instructions:


In a cocktail shaker, add lavender-honey syrup, lemon juice and ice, and shake vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a champagne coupe (a shallow, saucer-shaped, stemmed glass). Top with champagne or sparkling wine. Garnish with a fresh lavender flower. Serve immediately.

Lavender-Honey Syrup

Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
1 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon zest
5 to 6 fresh lavender flowers

Instructions:
Add all ingredients into a small saucepan and heat to a low simmer. Maintain at a low simmer for 1-2 minutes, then turn off the heat and let cool. Strain the mixture into a storage container. Will keep in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Cleveland sage ad for Be Water Smart

Local News

Ad for California Local

Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!

Join Us Today!