Is It Finally Over?

The storm last night that brought early snow and gusty gale-force winds might have put the final period on the last sentence in the last paragraph written about the gardening/gathering bee season. For several weeks now, things have been slowing down, but the weather continued very pleasant for gardeners and bees alike.  Yesterday before the wind picked up, my husband and I dug the dahlias and hustled them into the garage along with other late season groundskeeping tasks.  In the midst, he noticed a honeybee that had landed on one of the hives packing bright orange pollen in her pollen baskets.  Yesterday, it was still not over, at least not for non-native honeybees.  Today, except for them, it might be.

On Thursday, I  scrounged a few cuttings of a bright burgundy coleus from a neighbor's yard, with permission.  The next plant over, a helenium with mottled orange, gold and red blossoms, hosted a small bee.  Since I had my little "happy snap" camera in the car, I quickly ran to get it and was able to make at least a 'record' of the little bee who was slowly navigating around the pollen patch.  On a nearby yellow Dahlia, a bumblebee was tucked in.

On Friday, a walk to a nearby outdoor chapel led to a conversation with the gardener who was in the process of cutting things down.  A group of Montauk daisies in the late stages of bloom had a group of pollinators actively flying around  - bees, she said.  I love showing people the difference between flies, which they were, and bees because they are usually so amazed that an insect could look so much like a bee but is really a fly!  But, there was one solitary bumblebee amidst all the drone flies, clinging to one of the mostly-spent daisies.  I think they finally run out of gas and spend their last hours resting on the petals of a flower.  Could this bee have been the last native bee I see until next spring?

Here are the latest yet of fall native bee sightings:

Native bee on Helenium

Bumblebee curled up on Dahlia

If I have learned one gardening adaptation for the fall it would be this:   refraining from cutting down any blooming plant until the absolute end of the season.  Certain flowers that seemed to have no appeal to pollinators earlier on were clearly offering something the past weeks.  Examples would be the corn marigold, Chrysanthemum segetum; Dahlia varieties; and marigold 'Striped Marvel.'  Annual flowers that continue their bloom with benefits would include Nicotiana sp., Salvia hormonium, Cosmos, Verbena bonariensis (especially for butterflies), Ageratum, and Zinnia selections.  A few perennials on site and still blooming that bees visited are Gaillardia, Scabiosa ochroleuca, and Monarda punctata.  

Here are a few photos from before the storm that show the continuing bloom:  

Veggie enclosure with Gaillardia and corn marigold

The blues of Ageratum, Cosmos, Verbena b. with Dahlias behind

Striped marigold and Mexican sunflower, Dahlia, Zinnia

Add in Nicotiana to the mix.

Vignette of corn marigold