#nectarsource

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Thursday 2 March 2023

A great early source of nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinators is Pulmonaria officinalis (lungwort, soldiers and sailors, spotted dog, Bethlehem sage, bugloss cowslip). This semi-evergreen perennial has clusters of flowers opening pink and soon changing to blue. New foliage will be produced after flowering with broad leaves spotted with greenish-white.

Jill Raggett

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Sunday 11 September 2022

Still providing some late nectar for pollinators the scented flowers of Lonicera periclymenum (honeysuckle). This is a British native and according to the Woodland Trust “Dormice rely on honeysuckle for both shelter and food. They use honeysuckle bark to build nests for their summer young, but also eat the sweet, nectar-rich flowers as a source of energy”.

Jill Raggett

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Monday 3 October 2022

In this urban border the wildflower Linaria vulgaris (common toadflax, butter and eggs) has seeded into the planting and is creating a great display. This plant thrives in an open sunny site. The flowers provide a good food source for pollinators and the leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of the Calophasia lunula (toadflax brocade moth).

Jill Raggett

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 27 September 2022

Just a few flowers are left on the annual plant Cakile maritima (sea rocket, strandby) which grows on sandy beaches. The flowers provide a useful source of nectar for migrating butterflies when they make landfall. The seeds are salt water resistant and dispersed by the tides.

Jill Raggett

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Wednesday 7 September 2022

A wildflower of damp meadows, marshes, and riverbanks Succisa pratensis (Devil’s-bit scabious, lady’s pincushion, bachelor’s buttons, blue bonnets) is flowering along the roadsides of Orkney. The flowers provide late season nectar for pollinators and the foliage is the foodplant for the declining butterfly Euphydryas aurinia (marsh fritillary).

Jill Raggett

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Sunday 15 March 2020

In the tropical glasshouse of Cambridge Botanic Garden, UK, the pendulous racemes of Thunbergia mysorensis (Mysore clock vine, Indian trumpet vine, lady slipper vine, brick & butter vine, doll's shoes) were creating a dramatic display. This vigorous, evergreen, twining climber is from southern India where the flowers are pollinated by sunbirds. In the Americas where it has naturalised the abundant nectar is a food source for hummingbirds.

Jill Raggett

[teufelskunst]

This photo shows a bumblebee accessing an aconite flower through an artificial hole, which it bites in the side of the flower. If you look closer you will notice more such holes on the other flowers heads. Bumblebees do this to gain better access to the flower's nectar source, which in the case of aconite is located deep inside the flower head. The bumblebee would have to reach all the way down towards the bottom of the "helmet"-shaped extension of the flower. Larger bumblebee species don't have a problem accessing these, but the smaller species will look for an easier way to reach the nectar source. Bees for example cannot access these flowers at all, since they are too small and not able to bite a whole into them. Observing different bumblebee species on my Aconitum lamarckii, I noticed all off them will take advantage of these little holes and large earth bumblebees will access the flower's nectar source both from the front and through these bite holes. As a result almost all the aconite flowers now have these holes and some are already frayed from being visited so often. #bumblebee #bombuspascuorum #carderbee #ackerhummel #aconite #flower #aconitumlamarckii #eisenhut #blüte #pollination #pollinator #bitehole #nectarsource #shortcut