Wow, your ABB is white!

PlainJane wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 6:46 pm Wow, your ABB is white!

Have I been calling them the wrong thing??? All three of the shrubby plants have white flowers.

Bee on California Poppy

Bees galore, butterflies and dragonflies too, but my resident female hummingbird hasn’t shown up yet. Hope she’s ok.

A dark bee on rosemary


A different type showing a little leg also on rosemary


One sunny afternoon I opened the front door to a song of bees. It was so nice to hear the chorus of all of them singing together. The Armandii was scenting the air. A lovely day in isolation but not alone with all those bees!

Love bee porn, lol!

On David Verify cuphea.


Update: when I said this was David Verity cuphea I meant to say it's Vermillionaire cuphea.

I love my bees. My husband didn't mow for a while so that the bees could feed off the clover. I'm late doing things this year but I'm hoping to get my zinnia seeds sown tomorrow.

SpookyShoe wrote: ↑Thu Apr 30, 2020 7:27 pm 0430201248.jpgOn David Verify cuphea.


Update: when I said this was David Verity cuphea I meant to say it's Vermillionaire cuphea.

What differences are there between David Verity and Vermillionaire? I have the latter but have never seen DV for sale here.

I really don't think that there is one. I have grown them side by side for 4 years now and can't find any difference. Vermillionaire is a Proven Winners plant. These companies are notorious for taking a plant and giving it a name and then marketing as something new. My best advise is buy whichever you can find locally and I do hope that PW has stopped treating their plants with systemic insecticides which is harmful to the birds. I don't know that they have of not, but if they do then I would seek out David Verity for sure.

Vermillionaire winters over very well in the garage here and if I want more of them they take readily from cuttings. I thought they had stopped treating plants with systemics.

The Vermillionaire's claim is that it is more compact than DV.

Mona Lavender, Plectranthus, is said to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. I have never seen a hummingbird on this plant and I can't figure out why, as the flowers are everything they should want... tubular and colorful. The plant, however, does attract large bees which drill holes in the base of the flower and rob the nectar. I have also seen butterflies on the plant sticking their long proboscis into the flower.

This is in a pot and is 2 years old. It cannot tolerate hot sun and is a shade loving plant.

Lovely.

Carpenter Bee and an unknown to me species. Lots of pollinators in the garden this morning.

I think this is a bumblebee....on hyssop.

Having a good time, too!

A “faux” pollinator. That’s the point of the coloration of this Robber Fly, make the bees and bugs think you are nothing but just another harmless bee looking for pollen and nectar. Stray too close and it’s curtains, like what happen to the June bug. Been seeing these around in the garden, this is the first time I’ve seen one with a kill.

RIP June bug.

We keep a water bucket on the patio for the dogs. I have to constantly change the the water b/c it attracts so many June bugs. I thought the birds would eat more of them.

This was visiting some basil the other day.


from the front


Bumble bees love raspberry flowers.