Bees in Chicory

European honey bee (Apis mellifera) in Chicory (Cichorium intybus) flower

I grow Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus) for my rabbit Bertie. There’s an awful lot of it, and it grows too fast to keep under control in summer when it becomes a prolific flowerer. The scapes grow several centimetres a day, and before you know it the raised beds are full of scraggly droopy stems with lovely blue flowers and almost no leaves.

European honey bee (Apis mellifera) in Chicory (Cichorium intybus) flower

The flowers attract members of the local European honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony, important pollinators of crops, garden plants (and weeds), and then I have a photo-op!

[Click on individual photos to embiggen].

Mount Tomah Botanic Garden (2013)

Little Wattlebird (Anthochaera chrysoptera)

If you’re making your annual trip to the “Plants With Bite” Display and Fair at the Mount Tomah Botanic Garden in the Blue Mountains, you really should take some time to walk through the gardens as well, especially if the weather is good. The place is beautifully maintained and full of interesting plants and wildlife.

These photos are the result of an hour’s walk-and-stalk. Weather: warm and very slightly hazy, with high cloud and bright sunlight.

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Bobbin Head, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is part of the Hawkesbury River system and in fact is where the Hawkesbury meets the sea. These photos are from a short day trip I made to this location.

Yellow

Honey bee (Apis mellifera)

Today’s post is brought to you by the colour yellow.

A few things

A cluster of hazelnuts

Someone nearby has planted a hazelnut tree of flowering age, because for the first time in four or five years I have many clusters of hazelnuts. Then again, this fruiting may be a response to the very aggressive pruning I did last winter. I’ll have to do some research to find out why.

I did prune the apple tree as well, and this happened:

Apples on the tree

Bee and leek flower