Jun 16
2010
Two Reasons I Like This Photo
This may look like just another sunflower photo to you.
To me though, there are two very interesting things about this image.
First, I didn’t plant this sunflower. I have planted sunflowers, but not this one. The sunflower I planted are ‘Titan’ and they aren’t quite blooming yet. This sunflower was planted by a bird, probably, with seed from the birdfeeders. This would happen quite a lot if I allowed all the little seedlings around the birdfeeders grow instead of mowing them down. It also happened once before in an oddly pretty and serendipidous container arrangement that also included some hearty pansies that over-wintered.
So that’s the first thing I find interesting about this photo.
The second thing is all the bees. Bees are naturally attracted to flowers, so that’s not what I find interesting. What’s interesting, to me, is that there are so many bees. Not just here but all over my yard.
I named my garden Bumblebee Garden when I began gardening here about nine years ago because of all the bees. But in the past couple of years there have been relatively few bees by comparison. There has been the odd and lazy carpenter bee, but not so many other bees. I don’t know why. We don’t spray chemicals on the lawn. The farmer who tends the small hayfield doesn’t spray anything. I had sort of attributed it to the overall colony collapse disorder I’ve been reading so much about. But really, I don’t know.
But this year, whoa doggie. We have bees! We have little patches of clover in the lawn covered by bees. Bees are all over our flower boxes. Bees are everywhere! They are mostly what I just call bumblebees—fat, slow and lazy little bees that are not aggressive. When I am working near the flowers and the bees, I don’t hesitate to just bump them out of the way if I need to work on one of their flowers. They don’t care.
I love the bees.
So you see, for me, this photo isn’t just a sunflower. It’s a volunteer and an image of the return of the bees.
I rather like this photo for those reasons alone.
June 16th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
That is a spendid photo indeed! Love the sunflower and love the bees!!!
Gardener on Sherlock Street´s last blog ..Fort Hackberry
June 16th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Love the photo! Love your thought process too! I have tons of wasps this year and bees that burrow in the ground. Hopefully it’s good news for the pollinators.
Laura Mathews´s last blog ..Diggin’ the natives; Prairie Dropseed
June 16th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Lucky you! That is a lot of bees on one flower!
Sheila´s last blog ..Forever Annuals
June 16th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
All those bees are good news. Not using pesticides is really paying off.
Mr. McGregor’s Daughter´s last blog ..Hydrangeas, Campanulas & Clematis- Oh, My: June Bloom Day
June 16th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
That’s great you’re getting so many of them. But I wonder why they all of a sudden showed up? Nature is so mysterious.
Jean´s last blog ..Happy Bloomsday and GBBD
June 17th, 2010 at 4:37 am
I love your photo too – and your blog. Bees give me such a buzz.
Laurax
PatioPatch´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Japanese Painted Fern
June 17th, 2010 at 6:55 am
I’ve never seen so many bumblebees on a flower at once. Beautiful!
June 18th, 2010 at 12:16 am
We don’t see many bumblebees by us. Wish we saw more of them!
meemsnyc´s last blog ..New Gardening Tools
June 21st, 2010 at 4:09 am
I’ve never seen so many bees on one sunflower, our buddleia always attracts dozens of bees, but somehow I don’t think a picture of that would be as impressive as this pic. Lovely!
Rob´s last blog ..Hello world!
June 21st, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Beautiful! I always get tons of volunteer sunflowers from the feeder, too. Makes me wonder if the birds are actually eating them, or simply having fun making a huge mess!
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:19 am
I, too, love the fat bumblies. Just reminded that I have some sunflower seeds yet left to plant. Maybe before the thunder storms tomorrow.
June 24th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Just look at all those happy bees!
July 1st, 2010 at 4:32 am
I loved your Bee photo and story. Maybe you have just the right mix of flowers and clover, and dont use chemicals in your garden. Enjoy their company and drowsy buzzing sounds.I also enjoy volunteer plants that the birds plant when they drop bird seed..
David (Snappy)´s last blog ..Hot Day And Garden Therapy
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:57 am
Hi Bumblebee! I’m Busy as a Bee in Paris! Me too, I love that photo for those great reasons!