Busy As A Bee

Its no wonder the phrase "busy as a bee" was coined. Whenever the flowers in my garden are in bloom, honey bees (Apis mellifera)  jet in, making a beeline for their favourites.

To get at the sweet nectar of these portulaca grandiflora blooms, they can curve, contort and assume all sorts of posture.





 

The pristine white flowers of Echinodorus palaefolius (mexican sword plant) provide numerous opportunities for them to imbibe.

Double-petaled Quisqualis indica (Rangoon creeper) exude a delicate fragrance to ensure their visitation.

The flowers of Cuphea hyssopifolia (Mexican Heather) are tiny, but they made up for it in numbers. 

They scramble over the filaments of Calliandra emarginata (Dwarf Red Powder Puff) to get at the nectar located at their bases.

This is a smart cookie as it go through the "back door" to have the goodies without having to return the favour of spreading the pollens.

Cuphea hyssopifolia - Mexican Heather

Cuphea hyssopifolia (Mexican Heather, False Heather) is a densely branched shrub.  It produces small, trumpet-shaped flowers with six spreading lavender petals extruding from green calyx tubes. 

 
Leaves are elliptical, bright green and glossy.  The dainty trumpet-shaped fowers appear in the leaf axils along the many fine stems.

 Flowers are lavender or pink-purple and blooms profusely. 

 
This is a hardy shrub. It self-seeds easily and can become rather invasive.
Flowers are attractive to butterflies and bees. In fact bees absolutely love them.



Flowers are attractive butterflies and bees. In fact bees absolutely love them.

 
 
The bee's head is completely submerged in the flowers.

Butterflies find this false heather irresistible too. 

 

 
 Peablue butterfly (Lampides boeticus) with the wings open displaying the blues on the upper surface of the wings.

 
 
 

 

It is a field day, out in the sunshine siping nectar.

 
 
This tiny butterfly is spoilt for choice in nectar paradise.