Bee Watch

As much as I love the color and form of these black peony poppies, I don't think they are great bee plants. The poor bees spend a lot of energy foraging in the frills. This poppy above is a lot less frilly than its compadres, perhaps reverting back to its no-frill genes. This is actually better for the bees because they have easier access to the pollen. I will tag this pod and make a note to see if these seeds bear this trait next year.

I can just feel the frustration of the bee above, getting lost in the petticoats of that poppy.

Here's a tiny visit to the cornflowers today.

I've seen lots of these bright yellow bombus this year.

I love the delicate nectar guides in these geraniums.

So I realize I've got lots of shallow flowers and lots of these nasturtiums with deep nectar spurs, but not a lot of good nectar plants with mid-size nectaries. I'll have to do some research to remedy that gap.


Did the old lady who swallowed a fly ingest a syrphid fly, perhaps? "Dude, that's too deep for me, I just wanna hang out on this bean leaf and catch some sun."

California (poppy) dreamin'....