A diary of back garden botany, urban ecology, rural rambles and field trips to the middle of nowhere...
Wednesday, 23 October 2019
There are still some bumblebees on the wing seeking out the last flowers in bloom. The weather is damp and decidedly chilly but bumblebees are furry creatures. Even so flowers are in short supply by now and foraging is limited. I think this is a Carder Bee, perhaps the Brown Carder Bee?
I saw this one on the flowers of a patch of bolted radishes on the allotment. Many vegetables we eat are simply plants that have yet to flower. Broccoli for example puts on a beautiful spray of yellow flowers if left to its own devices. Then again some veg are the product of the flowering e.g. runner beans.
In so far as I tidy up the the allotment and the garden I leave it till late in the season because these late flowers are precious to the bees.