Pollinator’s Choice

Autumn Wood

The daylily season has wound down to a few late blooms. The remaining flowers are still lovely, but the full blush of mid-summer has come and gone.

Flaming Wildfire

Although daylilies like Flaming Wildfire, above, and Golden Tycoon, below, certainly are eye-catching, the daylilies have been overtaken as the garden stars.

Golden Tycoon

The huge hydrangea bush at the corner of the house is now taking on the starring role.

Certainly, this is the case for visiting pollinators! From the time that the sun warms the morning air until late in the afternoon, the hydrangea plays host to a wide range of industrious insects. Spectators can stand next to the bush, ignored by the workers, and listen to and watch their comings and goings.

Many bumblebees, representing several species, set up a buzz, but there are many other insects at work, such as this honey bee.

This bee looks like a honey bee, but lacks the golden coloration.

There are paper wasps…

and yellowjackets,

and several different types of flies, such as this greenbottle (Lucilia sp).

After studying my Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, I concluded this is probably a flesh fly, family Sarcophagidae.

I’m sure this is just a partial inventory of the pollinators that visit the hydrangea. The longer you stand and watch, the more you see. The bumblebees are my favorites. Below, you can see the salmon-coloured patch of pollen this bumblebee has accumulated.