Backyard Orchard News
Tower of Jewels: Aptly Named
Let's hear it for the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. Native to the island of Tenerife and...
A honey bee heads for a tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, a biennual. This image was taken in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Nectar! Honey bees love echium due to its high nectar content. This one also yields blue pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
On the move! It's off to find another nectar-rich blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Time to head home to the colony and unload the nectar and pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Butterfly Summit Features UC Davis Expert Art Shapiro
How's the butterfly population faring in north-central California? What do you plant to attract and...
A male monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomologist and author Sal Levinson speaks at the inaugural Butterfly Summit. Seated next to her is Tora Rocha, founder of the Pollinator Posse. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This was the scene at the first-ever Butterfly Summit at Anne's Annuals and Perennials, Richmond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A 'Page' in an Important Chapter on Wild and Managed Bees
Congratulations to doctoral student and pollination ecologist Maureen Page of the Neal Williams...
UC Davis doctoral student and pollination ecologist Maureen Page has received prestigious three-year fellowship, a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, funded by the Department of Defense.
Bee-Bopping with the Penstemon Margarita BOP
So we purchased a sky blue Penstemon cultivar with a tag labeled "Penstemon Margarita...
A honey bee approaches a Penstemon Margarita BOP. BOP? That means "Bottom of the Porch." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The honey bee enters the long tube of the Penstemon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A"bee-bopping" honey bee heads for a Penstemon Margarita BOP. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee foraging on the Penstemon Margarita BOP. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Fire and Fury in a Pollinator Garden
Just call it "Fire and Fury in a Pollinator Garden." That would be the firecracker red...
A male flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, perches on a bamboo stake. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Flameskimmer dragonfly, Libellula saturata, about to take flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A brisk breeze stirs the wings of a flameskimmer dragonfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)