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misssherryg

Blueberry Blossoms - Good Early Season Nectar Source

MissSherry
10 years ago

The bees have been swarming all over the blueberry bushes, and today I noticed a lot of butterflies enjoying them. I saw a spicebush swallowtail, two female pipevine swallowtails, and a male and a female tiger swallowtail nursing their blooms for a long time before going to another one.

Here's the female (black) tiger -

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And here's the male -

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Seeing both a male and a female tiger reminds me to check the cherry tree leaves for eggs and/or caterpillars.

Sherry

Comments (6)

  • surya55_gw
    10 years ago

    Hello Sherry- it warms my heart to see butterflies alive somewhere out there. We're just now thawing out from one of the worst winters I can remember. Thx for sharing.

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I enjoy making and posting butterfly pictures, surya55!

    We had the worst winter here we've had in 30 years, also. My old orange tree that has given us SO many oranges was killed when the temperature got down to 15 degrees one night! :(

    Here's hoping it'll finally warm up in your area and everybody elses!

    Sherry

  • bernergrrl
    9 years ago

    Thank you for posting! You live in Paradise! What a blueberry bush. Love that the Swallowtails can use Blueberry too--and it might help the pollinator argument too, but then again maybe not, since blueberries might need "buzz" pollination.

    MissSherry--have you noticed bumblebees doing this? I've just learned about buzz pollination but haven't been able to observe it yet.

    Thanks again!

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I had to look up buzz pollination to find out what it is, bernergrrl!

    I've never paid attention to the techniques bees use when they go from flower to flower. We have jillions of bumble bees, but few honey bees, and it appears the bumble bees are doing a good job of pollination. My blueberry bushes are loaded with blueberries every summer. I've even gotten fruit from Passiflora 'Incense' with viable seeds, so the bees (mostly bumble bees) had to have transferred the pollen from the nearby Passiflora incarnatas, since 'Incense' is a hybrid that doesn't make its own pollen. One of the seedlings from my 'Incense' has made the most vigorous passionvine I've ever grown, and the gulf frits lay eggs on it readily. The bees seem to group on certain blueberry bushes for a few days, then go to another few. I've got several varieties, so I assume they're going for the nectar at the prime time for the individual varieties.

    Sherry

  • Rhonda
    9 years ago

    Sherry,
    Thanks for the beautiful pics (as usual). Just curious if you planted your blueberries or if they're wild? They grow wild on my property but I never get to eat the berries because the birds get them first :( I hope my butterflies find them :)

    Rhonda

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Rhonda, the one in the picture is one of the cultivated types I grow. I also have wild blueberries/Vaccinium elliottii in my woods - it's one of the most common understory shrubs, actually - but I usually leave the fruit to the birds. They're small, and they ripen gradually, a few here and a few there. You can pick and pick and still not have much to show for it, but when I can muster up the patience, they provide some of the best tasting blueberries for muffins!

    Sherry