A Balm for the Bees

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Janet

By the first week in August, we are halfway through calendar summer in Ontario and the little meadows outside my Lake Muskoka cottage are buzzing with bees. Nowhere is that more evident than on the pink blossoms of lovely wild beebalm or bergamot (Monarda fistulosa).

The flowering period of the beebalm is a time I cherish, because it fills the meadows with soft colour and a real sense of environmental purpose, given the number of pollinating insects that seek nectar in the tube shaped flowers, or fistulae in Latin, that give the species its botanical name. Apart from the bumble bees, that roster includes the unusual hummingbird clearwing moth (Hemaris thysbe)….

…and butterflies of all kinds, such as the great spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele), below,

….the white admiral (Limenitis arthemis), below, and many more.

From seed I planted several years ago, wild beebalm has made its way throughout the property. It flowers well in the dry, sandy soil in my little east meadow, along with tall yellow cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum) near the stairs,

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and along the path in front of the house to the west meadow on the other side. Cool days and regular rainfall extend bloom time considerably.

Pink is not as common in prairie plants as yellow, of course, and its main companion in both meadows is false oxeye daisy (Heliopsis helianthoides).

But it looks pretty spectacular as a filler alongside the gorgeous, big blooms of the Orienpet lily ‘Concha d’Or’ in this little garden area.

Have a look at this short narrated tour I made just after a morning rain, to see a few more plant partners for wild beebalm. And since I was a little cavalier with the names, let me also offer a midsummer bouquet starring Monarda fistulosa and some of its beautiful meadow companions, including blackeyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta), single and double false oxeye daisy (Heliopsis helianthoides), brilliant orange butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), blue vervain at upper left (Verbena hastata), and lilac-purple ‘Fascination’ culver’s root (Veronicasstrum virginicum) at top. Enjoy.

Echinacea Fantasia

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Janet

I stopped by the Toronto Botanical Garden on my way out of town yesterday, because I knew if I left it until I returned to the city in 10 days I’d miss the echinacea show. The TBG has incorporated into its various gardens the “regular” (pinkish) purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), like these ‘Rubinstern’ flowers in the entry border…..

……and many of the beautiful colour variations that have permeated the market over the past few decades, including white, yellow, orange and red hybrids. The varieties below are featured in the President’s Choice Show Garden. Many are the fruit of the echinacea breeding program at Portland’s Terra Nova Nurseries.

And, of course, they were all ravishingly beautiful, for their moment to shine is mid-July. ‘Amazing Dream’ from Terra Nova is a dramatic, glowing, crimson-pink.

Orange ‘Tangerine Dream’ and double gold ‘Secret Glow’, both from Terra Nova, make fine bedmates.

Reproductively, echinacea is self-infertile, meaning it must be cross-pollinated to make seed. It does that in an interesting way. Each inflorescence (capitulum) is composed of ligulate or ray florets (the colourful petals) on the outside and an inner cone made up of roughly 276 tiny, whorled, bisexual disk flowers, each subtended by a tough bract that lends the plant its Latin name, echina, meaning hedgehog. Each whorl of disk florets, starting from the outside and working towards the centre during the bloom period, goes first through a staminate stage, in which the stamens elongate and release pollen on the first day, then a pistillate stage on the second day, in which the ovary becomes receptive – but only after the flower’s own pollen supply has been disseminated. This sexual strategy of separating the male and female phases on one inflorescence to facilitate cross-pollination is called protandry, Nectar production is not left to chance, but is carefully controlled by the plant to ensure pollinators visit at the appropriate time to effect cross-pollination. This tiny sweat bee (Agapostemon virescens) got the message, and was carefully probing each tiny disk floret for sweet nectar.

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And not just the little sweat bee, but the bumble bees, too, like this Bombus impatiens on ‘Amazing Dream’..

And this one on ‘Meteor Red’ (which made me happy, because though it’s a semi-double, some of those nectar-rich flowers are accessible to insects).

The butterflies got the nectar memo as well, like this American painted lady. We were all there for the sweet echinacea fantasia festival!

The High Line in June – Part 1

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Janet

I spent 3+ very hot, sunny hours on the High Line this week, along with several thousand other New Yorkers and visitors. In fact there were so many people walking the city’s unique linear park between 14^th and 30^th Streets, that when I stopped to photograph a fetching plant or a beautiful scene, I felt like a boulder in a rushing river. But despite the terrible light conditions, I did stop every now and again to photograph Piet Oudolf’s beautiful plants. Because who could resist these lovely and unusual partners: copper iris (Iris fulva) and twisted-leafed garlic (A. obliquum). Oh, and that pointy building in the background isn’t too shabby either!

The honey bees just loved the copper iris. Normally an ornithophilous (bird-pollinated) plant in its native habitat in the central-south U.S., moisture-loving Iris fulva was nevertheless a great hit with the honey bees, which climbed right into the style arm to nectar.

And all kinds of bees were visiting the twisted-leafed garlic (Allium obliquum), which made a pretty neighbour to a light-pink form of Knautia macedonica, bottom right.

White wild indigo (Baptisia alba) and creamy-white oxtail lily (Eremurus himalaicus )made charming partners, too.

I love watching bees nectar on foxtail lilies – such a lot of tiny flowers to explore in this beautiful foraging ground!

One of the more statuesque alliums is the white Allium nigrum, here with Bradbury’s eastern beebalm (Monarda bradburiana), a low-growing native of the central-south U.S.

Like all alliums, A. nigrum is a great bee lure.

Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ nestled its compact, beautiful self into the crevices abutting the High Line’s popular walkways.
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While Lonicera sempervirens ‘Major Wheeler’ flung itself luxuriantly across its high, mesh trellis a stone’s throw from Frank Gehry’s bold building.

Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) was in full, glorious flower, the female inflorescences held separate from the male ones.

And the honey bees were making sure those flowers would turn into fuzzy red fruits later.

Clusters of ripe Allegheny serviceberries (Amelanchier laevis) dangled like rubies over the street below.

And they were being eaten by hungry birds that knew just which berries would be the sweetest.

Ensuring there would be red berries, a honey bee patiently nectared from the tiny flowers of the ‘Red Sprite’ winterberry (Ilex verticillata), below. In fact, the entire High Line was buzzing with bees and alive with bird song – the sign of a well-designed, holistic garden with intrinsic value not just for humans, but for the small creatures that visit it for food and shelter. Ready to join me for Part 2 of the High Line in June?

Janet Davis Explores Colour

In the garden & the world

Tag Archives: bumble bees

A Balm for the Bees

Echinacea Fantasia

The High Line in June – Part 1

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