A new bee…every day
Ouch…so late in the day for this daily bee. And I’d prepared it so early, too…
Anyway…check out her pollen basket. She’s got it packed so full yet is still collecting. Guess she knows better than I what she can carry. Really enjoy getting them in/on the rock rose, too.
Catmint again. And sedum angelina in the background again. Was trying to shoot some bees and got distracted by the ladybug (turns out they have compound eyes, too – not a surprise but neat to see in some other shots). As I was following her (him?) with the camera, a bee showed up. Strange composition and kind of distracting with the blurs in the foreground and the deep shadows…but pretty neat to get both with a bit of focus. We’ll call the ladybug an “inadvertent pollinator”, too.
These have been blooming a little while now. Fun little flowers. They open in the morning and close in the afternoon. And they’re so fragile that when a bee lands on them, you generally get nothing but the back of the flower – and a few bee parts peeking out. And even worse with bumbles.
But this is a good shot. Looks like the bee is just landing (and not rested her weight on the flower entirely). Think this is the first shot of the year for this flower.
Don’t think I’ve gotten one on this one this year. This allium is so neat. Don’t know the name, but it’s like a ball of shooting stars when it’s at its peak. And the bees really do like it lots. The other neat thing about it is that it retains its shape even after it’s finished blooming. The petals are robust and even as they dry, it remains a ball of shooting stars.
Plus in flight is always neat!
Doesn’t get much better than this. They get filthy when they’re in the Dalmatian Bellflower (Campanula portenschlagiana). Pollinators love this one. Apparently it’s supposed to be good for hummingbirds, too, but I’ve never noticed one on it. I’ll keep my eye out.
Love the filthy bees!
So is ‘Biokovo’ (the white one). Love these geraniums. They’ll bloom well past late summer and into the fall. And they’re great for pollinators. I’ll confess that they get a little ratty looking. Not very cohesive in the plant itself. But the blossoms and buds are fantastic. And I’m sure that the bees are less than disinterested in my aesthetic opinions.
Some good beeneck in this one. And the salvia’s started. Another well to go to – they’re always full of bees. Great plant. They kind of morph from year to year as they seed. You can see a more magenta one there in the background on the right side of the pic. One of the things I like about them as they seed and wander about.
Yes, I did make up that word. And it’s been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to know if I used it right. Tough.
Here’s today’s bee. Shot before the next pic happened.
Phone pic of the aftermath of a HUGE hailstorm that just wrecked everything. Notice that the standards are shredded and the middle of the flower is full of hail. I got there a bit late…after it melted some. Brutal on everything blooming.
I keep saying, “there’s probably a lesson there” here on this site. There probably is. I’m going to go with two: First, no matter how well you do your stuff…mindfully and elegantly…sometimes life comes along and hails (that may or may not be a euphemism) on it. Second, the hail melts and becomes a memory quickly…while the protected buds unfurl and the beauty returns. Irises and other flowers keep going. So do the bees. So do you. It’s what we all do.
Inadvertant pollinator and that hail damage. All of the larger irises are shredded. But it’s a neat fly.
If you’re missing it, that hole in the lower-right corner was made by a hailstone.
Pretty sure that this is a sweat bee, but I’m not 100pct on that. I’m entirely sure that it’s a neat shot, though. Look at that pollen all over her.
Hail the day before yesterday – right on schedule after the taller irises opened. Every year. And looks like the hail tore up the petal a little on the right side of this one. Every year.
Low forties overnight here. Very cold all day no bees out in the rain today. May showers bring??? Stream of consciousness yammering, apparently.
