#pollinator attractors

[rattyexplores]

⚘ 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒔

Floral Index Entry - Torenia fournieri, “Bluewings, Wishbone flower”

Fauna If you’re willing on growing a garden, this flower is good for attracting bees, and other pollinators. Highly beneficial.

There are many species of Apoidea, “Bees” That pollinate this plant. Some species I saw include: Trigona carbonaria “Native Stingless Bees”, Amegilla cingulata “Blue-banded bee”, and the Honey bee “Apis mellifera”. The flower can also attract humming birds.

Pests This flower is a meal for the infamous Spodoptera litura, keep an eye out for the caterpillar. The best method of controlling caterpillars, would be to just pick them off by hand. This caterpillar is usually found in the bud of the flower, but later instars are easier to spot on the leaves and stems, eating away at the flower and its petals.

There are also various fungal infections the plant like “Powdery Mildew”, but good growing conditions and air flow can prevent this.

Aphids and Whiteflies are also major pests. Eucalyptus oil can work well as pest control.

Appearance The flowers themselves can come in many different colours, usually ranging from pink, purple to white and yellow. The leaves and stem have a very distinct shade of lime green.

Miscellaneous information

Taxonomy: Order: Lamiales; Family Linderniaceae; Genus Torenia

Soil: Soil must be rich with organic matter, as well as moist. Loam is recommended.

Sun/Atmosphere: Partial shade and/or Full shade. The plants DO NOT like excessive humidity and heat. The best temperatures for the plants is 21-24C during the day, 18-20C at night.

Water: Moderate watering, whenever you see the soil dry, really.

Type: Annual, plant after spring when there’s snowy winters.

26/01/21

[inthecityofgoodabode]

Happy National Hot Dog Day

I can’t always think of a good title for my posts so, when I’m stuck, I check for holidays on the post date. Apparently, it is National Hot Day so this is my Happy National Hot Day post that doesn’t contain one hot dog.

We went out to Plot 420 today. No watering was required since, even though there has been almost no rain at our house, Plot 420 has received two days worth. It’s worth noting that Plot 420 is only about 8 miles from our home so gardening impacting weather patterns can be significantly different in even relatively short distances:  

Our Plot 420 zinnias are starting to blossom out which should help bring in the pollinators and other beneficial insects: 

This is a different variety of purple hull pea than we’ve planted in the past and we have never seen one vine the way it does. The purple hulls that we’ve grown before had a relatively compact bush-like habit but this variety rambles more like a pole bean: 

I have mentioned the compost bin mystery plant in previous posts (here, here, here, here & here). We transplanted it to Plot 420 along with a couple of cucumber plants a couple of weeks ago to grow on our cattle panel trellis & it has finally revealed itself. It’s a gourd: 

Today’s Plot 420 harvest: 

[inthecityofgoodabode]

Flowers, Insects & Social Distancing

My wife is our resident ornamental pot arranger:

Little Black Ants & a Ladybug larva on our hairy vetch. They are both after the same thing ... aphids. The ants want to “milk” the aphids for their honeydew and the Ladybug larva wants to eat the aphids: 

Salvia blooming in the backyard garden. I don’t recall what cultivar this one is but it is a great pollinator attractant. Planting flowering ornamentals in your vegetable garden is one of the best things you can do to aid fertilization and, subsequently, fruit production: 

I just noticed that fly on the left of center blossom. I would have liked a better shot of it: 

The fragrance of this rose is just as seductive as it looks: 

Insects practicing social distancing: 

They noticed me focusing in on them and started heading to the edges of the petals to take flight: 

Leafhopper on our hairy vetch. I have no idea what species. Leafhoppers are one of those insanely diverse families of insects: 

The New Dawn rose in the backyard is starting to blossom. They have that classic, grandmother’s rose perfume scent. New Dawns only bloom once in the Spring and are just green & thorny the rest of the year. They do form nice rosehips in the Fall: 

[inthecityofgoodabode]

Plot 420 Pollinator Attractants

We planted the orange zinnias. The coreopsis was already growing wild at Plot 420 but we transplanted them to this area:  

Most of these plants came in a mixed seed pack that my wife got for free when she ordered some eggplant seedlings online. I think the plants with the white flowers are buckwheat. In the bottom left corner of this photo, there is one sunflower that has a lot of growing to do: 

I believe the leggy plants with the yellow flowers and purplish leaves are a variety of rapeseed: