Black-Eye Susan

The Black-Eye Susan that is not a sunflower is back. And the bees have found it. This is Halictus ligatus, another bee that I see fairly often, tiny bees bearing great saddlebags of pollen on their legs. Bugguide tells me he’s a male. If you look closely, you can see that he’s brushing his antennae. […]

Mystery Plants

Got a couple of mystery plants. One is new, one is old. I have a guess for both, but I’m never sure. The new one is a several ones all sprouting near where a small sunflower grew last year. Is it another sunflower? Or a Black-Eyed Susan? It might even be a coneflower. Or something […]

Collards are survivors

Well, the collards that poked their heads above the snow from time to time are definitely dead. But the collards out back on the hillside, the ones I didn’t see up close all winter not only survived, but look downright robust. They’re as tough as pansies.

Wrong again

Just because it’s in the swath where I scattered sunflower seeds doesn’t mean this is a sunflower. I can understand mistaking a syrphid fly for a bee, or hemp dogbane for milkweed, or the various other misidentifications I have made. But you’d think I’d recognize a Black-Eyed Susan when every summer I walk around admiring […]

The sunflower is dead, long live the sunflower

Already that huge sunflower has gone from a feast for bees to a feast for goldfinches.