#Globe Thistle

[389]

Echinops, Globe Thistle

[samirafee]

#BEE on a MISSION in LIFE…🐝♻️💟

@samirafee

[flowerishness]

Echinops (globe thistle) and Bombus (bumble bee)

I have never seen a bumble bee with a pollen basket this full before. As I watched her methodically go from flower to flower on this globe thistle, it was pollen she was after and the globe thistle was happy to oblige.

Wind-pollenated plants produce enormous quantities of tiny pollen grains on the one-in-a-million chance that one will land on a member of the same species. Insect-pollinated plants produce far fewer but much larger pollen grains, packed with protein to attract hungry bees. They also make nectar which is the fuel that keeps those little wings beating so fast. It's true that the bumble bees eat most of the pollen but using the 'bumble bee taxi service' is still a much more efficient way to get those pollen grains to their designated target.

Unlike honey bees, who make huge amounts of honey so the entire colony can survive the winter, bumble bees only make a small amount of honey⁠—just enough to feed the colony for a couple of days during bad weather. At the end of summer, new queens and drones emerge. After mating, the queen finds a nice little hole in the ground to crawl into and hibernates through the winter.

[wiley-treehouse-gardens]

Blue globe thistle & pollinators

[sockmonkey-rockstar]

[bloomingpaint]

[wolfephoto]

Globe Thistle with a visiting bee by John Wolfe Via Flickr: (Echinops) Flower at Harewood House, West Yorkshire.

[angiec333]

Globe thistles (Echinops)

[patriciastrike]

[taunyastubler1954blog]

[yz]

Bees hard at work at dusk. The flower is a globe thistle.

[coyotydave]

Globe Thistle by Coyoty Via Flickr: Echinops setifer. At the Pittsburgh Zoo in Pittsburgh, PA.

[samirafee]

#ECHINOPS - GLOBE THISTLE🌿🟣🌿

@samirafee

[flowerishness]

Echinops bannaticus (blue globe thistle)

I usually think of globe thistles as a summer flower but they often bloom through late autumn if conditions are right. They prefer dry, nutrient-poor soils and they like a sunny spot. They're native to Central Europe but they seem to grow just fine in Vancouver. They're a no-fuss perennial and not invasive like their close relative, the Scotch thistle. If the world is indeed becoming a warmer place, then the globe thistle should do just fine.

[wiley-treehouse-gardens]

Blue globe thistle

[photospl]

Globe Thistle