In honor of counting my first bees for the Great Sunflower Project, I'm devoting this Bloom Day post to all the pollinators out there. I really needed to spend a couple hours out in the garden to try to capture the range of pollinators in my garden, but you get what you pay for, and no one has offered to pay me yet for blog writing. So you have the pollinators for the 15 minutes I was out taking photos. Hmm 15 minutes seems very appropriate since that is how long the Great Sunflower Project wants you to count your bees. Well onto the flowers.
Lemon Queen sunflower with a bumble bee
Music Box sunflower with a bumble bee
Tithonia (aka Mexican Sunflower) with a bee fly
Black-Eyed-Susan with a bee fly
Coreopsis with a moth
Dill with a honey bee
Cilantro with a bumble bee
Squash with a honey bee
If you want to join GBBD head over to May Dream Gardens.
wow such an array of sunflower! And lucky you for attracting the bees. If you have any bees spare can you send them our way?
ReplyDeleteYour post is literally 'the Bee's Knees' this month. Lovely, great photos.
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos, Daphne! Wow....I don't see how you got that close without them flying away.
ReplyDeleteFifteen minutes to get all those pollinators is wonderful! Your blooms , especially the sunflowers, are lovely!
ReplyDeleteSpectacular photos! Love the theme.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm jealous. You get all the bees and moths, and what do I get? Yellow jackets that sting my dogs! Yep, Otto got it too, we just didn't notice his at first because it wasn't on his nose. Annie got 3 shots and a big vet bill, Otto got a day of generic Benedryl and a good night's sleep!
ReplyDeleteNice pollinator shots. I can't wait for my lemon queen to open. The next couple days will top out at 90-102f with the humidex so I am hoping it gets opening! I find the bee fly's fascinating.
ReplyDeleteprue, Oh I need those bees. I actually have fewer this year than last year, fewer kinds too.
ReplyDeleteNell jean, thanks.
EG, my bees rarely fly away when I come around. They are way too busy to notice me.
Kanak Hagjer, all I have to do is pick a nice sunny day. There haven't been too many of those, but it seems we are on a roll now.
Iris, thanks.
Annie's Granny, Oh no. Poor Otto. I could never feel a lot of sympathy for my dog when she used to eat them bees then get stung. I kept telling her not to but she would never listen. Luckily she wasn't allergic to them like yours seem to be.
Dan, thanks. We are going to get some nice hot weather too. It will be sunny and in the high 80s. Whoohoo. We might even have our first 90 degree day of the summer, but it will probably just miss the mark.
Fabulous photos, Daphne ! (I love the bee on the dill). I can't say I've seen seen many honey bees this summer (sadly), but there's been plenty of bumble bees buzzing around. Remarkable numbers of them.
ReplyDeleteThose are great pics. I love that you've got insects in each one and that they are clearly visible. That bee fly is really interesting.
ReplyDeletegreat photos! The sunflowers are really pretty. I keep meaning to save some space for them. Are the coreopsis hardy in Mass? I thought the only ones we could grow were the moonbeam (I'm in Maryland). Or maybe I'm just thinking of the dark red ones that aren't hardy.
ReplyDeleteThat moth is a favorite (or its West Coast relative is) with my kids. I remember chasing them when I was young -- skippers, I think. Do you all have green bees? I should try to get a picture of them; they make me laugh.
ReplyDeleteIf you keep bees, you have lots of pollinators around. Just sayin' is all.
Miss M, thanks. I've seen more bumble bees than the honey bees, but at last we have some honey bees.
ReplyDeleteBrad B, the little bee flies are all over the garden. They are really pretty but oh so tiny.
Wendy, yes these were planted last year. They are small flowers and short plants. They have a tenancy to spread all over. Sadly I planted some in the back of this part that are so much prettier and taller and attracted the pretty metallic green bees, but they weren't really hardy (despite the tags claims to the contrary). One of them survived, but it is not happy this year. I'm really sad about it because it is such a stunning plant.
Stefaneener, lol it is true if you keep bees you will have pollinators. I think I'd rather have my neighbor keep bees. Then I don't have to worry about killing them off.
Oh! I'm hanging my head in shame. My packet of 'Lemon Queen' from the Sunflower Project disappeared into a pile somewhere and hasn't been seen since. I threw a handful of sunflower seeds into the potager and only one came up--I think it's going to be a dark one. Loved your GBBD post Daphne!
ReplyDeleteI was so glad to hear that they figured out what might be killing all the honey bees. Now I hope that they figure out how to get rid of the virus.
ReplyDeleteWe just found a green bee nest in our garden this year. They see curious, but shy. They are fun to watch. We also just got a ton of what looks like giant blue/black mud daubers. They LOVE our thyme plants!
I love the Lemon Queen sunflower you have. I have tried it in the past but haven't had any luck with it.
Two comments:
ReplyDeleteThere's still no consensus about the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder, although many small scale beekeepers (who are not experiencing big due offs) point fingers at the "factory farming" techniques of the migratory beekeepers.
Also, your moth is actually a skipper butterfly. Notice the club-like ends of the antennae. That's the sign of a butterfly. Moths have feathery antennae.
I'm really enjoying reading the tale of your garden. I'm starting at the start of the blog and am working forward.