I chose Old Blush because I wanted one that would bloom a lot and would take some shade. It never has done really well for me, but I am not sure why. This Spring, it seemed like this was going to be the best year yet for it. But...
Once again, like previous Springs, it is being eaten. And by an unlikely suspect. I have never heard of this before, but every year these small bumble bees love to eat the buds and flowers of Old Blush. This picture shows 4 bees on the blooms, but later there were six, all chowing down. I don't think the poor flowers have a chance.
Have a beautiful day!
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3 comments:
This is very interesting. I had never heard of bumblebees chewing flowers before, so I started doing some searching....came across this fascinating website and sort of got sidetracked (ha, of course!)...
http://www.bumblebee.org/foraging.htm#Robbing
jw
Oh dear!!! That is the strangest thing! Well, the leaves look nice, very nice, even if the flowers are a bit, uh, eaten.
Hi, jw - I have seen bumble bees slit flowers to get to the nectar at the base as is mentioned in the link you gave. They do that all the time to my salvias. But I have never seen them chew up and destroy a flower like they do Old Blush!
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