Today was a good day for birds in the garden. Hummingbirds buzzed around, catching insects on the wing, then stopped by their favorite flowers for a sip of nectar. Scrub jays sipped from the fountain, mockingbirds flitted through the branches, a black phoebe paused in the tree and two bewick’s wrens chased each other acrossContinue reading “Birds!”
Tag Archives: nectar
Here come the butterflies!
As the California asters come into bloom, flocks of butterflies stop by for a meal.
The incredible flying circus
The Aster chilensis is blooming, and it’s the biggest insect party of the year. The plants are covered with skippers, with frequent visits by mason bees and other creatures. Despite its Latin name implying South American origins, it’s a California native – but from the Southern part. It’s common name, California aster, makes its originsContinue reading “The incredible flying circus”
Testing a new plant: Dicliptera suberecta
Uruguay. I’ve never met a plant from there before, yet there it was at the nursery: Uruguayan Firecracker Plant (Dicliptera suberecta). The plant, in a four inch pot, was covered with bright red-orange tubular flowers, the type that shout, “hummingbirds!”. It has fuzzy gray leaves, suggesting that it might be a water conserving plant. OtherContinue reading “Testing a new plant: Dicliptera suberecta”
Native plants, native bees. Alien plants, alien bees
You might think that bees think like this: see nectar, drink nectar. Find pollen, collect pollen. Simple, but incorrect. It’s more like European bees have European tastes and native bees have native tastes. Our familiar honeybees originated in Europe. They generally like European flowers: thyme, rosemary, lavender, mint, oregano, stone fruit and apple blossoms. YarrowContinue reading “Native plants, native bees. Alien plants, alien bees”