Floral Visitors
mark zukaitis (Sun, 02 Aug 2015 05:24:19 PDT)

Hi Martin,

How interesting that the bumblebees have learned a new strategy to get food. Interesting that they figured out how to eat their way through the corollas. I have never seen Digitalis lutea in the USA, but in Rome I saw it for the first time and really liked it. There was another Digitalis whose name I can't remember that I have only seen there too.

Could you hand pollinate the Mirabilis to make sure you get some seeds? It would be a shame for you to have to do without them!

Mark

Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2015 11:05:16 +0200
From: garak@code-garak.de
To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [pbs] Floral Visitors

Hi Travis.

wonderful pictures and very precise observations here, a pleasure to
read. I'm always a bit jealous on your hummingbirds, since there are
none in Europe - closest thing is the Hummingbird Hawkmoth, cute little
fellows, which increased in numbers around here in the last 30 years
when the climate got notably warmer.

Unfortunately, I have more of a problem with my floral visitors here in
southern Germany: the bumblebees somehow have learned that the easy way
to feed on Mirabilis Jalapa is to bite through the side of the tube and
directly drink from this short cut - which then again lets the flower
wither and most of the time destroys the style, strongly reducing my
seed harvest. I've grown Mirabilis J. for at least 20 years, and I've
never seen such behavior. To make it worse, they now expand this
knowledge to other plants: I've found side-entries to Digitalis Lutea
and Antirrhinum Siculum, looks like any funnel-shaped flower too tight
for bumblebees is under attack. This summer was extremely hot and dry,
so I hope they're just desperate and return to normal in following
years. this, or I'll have to work without my beloved mirabilis.

Greetings
Martin

Am 01.08.2015 um 19:23 schrieb Travis O:

I've uploaded some new photos in a new blog post in my "Floral Visitors" series. Crocosmia and a few Alliums are the featured bulbs (members of the Asteraceae and Lamiaceae, among others, make up the rest). Enjoy:

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