Although we're "off" for the summer, we are continuing with nature study in a very informal fashion. We tend to our little veggie garden , we've been watching our little coneflower seedling get bigger, and we're waiting to see if any of our sunflower seeds sprout. Kathryn helps out with weeding, and loves it when I let her help prune the flowers, especially the roses. The tomato plants are almost as tall as Kathryn now!
Our challenge this week was to look for pollen in flowers, and observe some pollinators in action. Click the "Outdoor Hour" button to read about this challenge (#18) and see who else participated. Finding pollinators was no problem at all! Our big lavender plants are literally humming with bees, and there are quite a few butterflies in our garden, as well. One of the very first nature journal entries Kathryn ever did was of a tiger swallowtail butterfly on a purple lantana plant last summer.
It was easy to find pollen around here, too! Within just a few minutes in the garden, we found it in our daylillies, petunias, sundrops, and roses. Look closely at the photos and you really can see the pollen in there! Click any photo to enlarge.
We stood near the lavender and observed the bees buzzing about happily. Gardening has helped us learn to appreciate bees. Kathryn has learned that we can walk right by the flowers and the bees pay us absolutely no attention because they are too busy to notice us. We've discussed how we wouldn't have all our pretty flowers without the bees; in fact, we wouldn't have fruit, or veggies, or lots of things without our pollinating friends!
Look closely, and you can see a whole bunch of honeybees on this lavender plant!
