Here's a honey bee on my erigeron, just for you. 😊
I did have the same concern. I have a community bed planted up just for pollinators and I added a lot of erigeron for the edging. I was worried to not notice much using it. But then I got down on hands and knees and hung out just watching and so micros flitting about.
I think larger insects might have a hard time landing on daisy - you can see the honey bee doesn't really fit.
I might be wrong here but a number of flowers like this change colour when they've been pollinated as a signal to insects that they don't need to visit that flower anymore. I suspect that the colour change here happens as the seeds start to form but I'm not 100% on that.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Ah phew @BenCotto, at the moment it just looks like the daises have escaped from the ‘lawn’ to the border
That’s interesting @wild edges, not that the insects would mind either way I guess, but if the pink is less attractive to them it would be best for the plant
That’s interesting @wild edges, not that the insects would mind either way I guess, but if the pink is less attractive to them it would be best for the plant
I think the flower would stop producing nectar and pollen at that stage and start directing energy into the seed so there would be nothing for the insects to visit the flower for. Maybe this means less pollen is wasted on unreceptive flowers.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
It's a good question. Oddly, I discover that willows produce nectar, even though they are pollinated by wind, not insects. Maybe it was an oversight.
I would think that erig blooms change colour as they age, just as lots of flowers do, including some roses, tulips. I would think it's just a mutation that breeders have made use of, rather than a pollination signal. But it would be cool if it were sending out code.
I would think that erig blooms change colour as they age, just as lots of flowers do, including some roses, tulips. I would think it's just a mutation that breeders have made use of, rather than a pollination signal. But it would be cool if it were sending out code.
It's a known process apparently. The Nature article below is really interesting.
For example, some flowers may have a large amount of nectar as well as
high pollen viability and stigma receptivity, but all these
characteristics decline after the floral colour change
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Posts