That Fantastic Gaillardia

So today I got the nicest email from a regular visitor to the site. She mentioned that she enjoyed the site, thanked me for the pictures and posts, and told me that she’d found and purchased some of the Gaillardia Mesa Peach (blanket flowers) in order to better attract (and provide for) bees – and reported her (and their) success in glowing words.

That note really made my day. So gratifying on so many levels. Thank you!

So…for today…I went out a few minutes ago and grabbed this shot. Patty, this one’s for you:

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Going back to the Blanket Flower Well…Again

I have so many neat pics on this flower and have posted quite a few here. But it just keeps giving. Pollen all over her face. Great wings. And you can really see the softness of the flower. Next year will be worse with the blanket flowers in the new parking strip garden. A number of new ones in there. But the bees will be happy…and if they are, that’s something.

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Back to the Well that is Mesa Peach

One thing I know: bees can never, ever have too many blanket flowers. Also, I have carte blanche to buy as many as I’d like next summer as I see them. So there’s that. Who knows where they’ll go? Maybe I’ll cut another garden in the lawn dedicated just to them.

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Three Stages of the Blanket Flower

Apart from being a neat shot of a bee, this picture of the Mesa Peach shows three different phases of the blossom. You see the one in full bloom, the fuzzy one has bloomed, and the one on the right that’s out of focus (maybe I should have picked a better shot of that?) and cut off is one yet to bloom. Maybe I’ll find another to illustrate the three in better focus.

In-flight is neat, though. And it’s a great bee!

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Bedhead on the Blanket Flower

This one…won’t quit. Hunt’s bumblebee…or as I’ve christened it, the beadhead bee. Love the way it’s fur/hair looks so unkempt – always. And the blanket flowers just don’t quit. And I like the shape the bee’s making in this one. Seems to fit well with the flower – that elongated profile.

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Parking Strip Payoff

Another Mesa Peach. Actually several in the new parking strip garden. Finally saw bees on the blanket flowers there yesterday. Not the best shot – not the best light – but very cool that these decided to bloom this fall. And the bees decided to show up. It’s going to be magnificent in a couple of years. Full of irises. Wish the bees thought more of those blooms. Here’s today’s:

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