Posts Tagged: Mexican sunflowers

So Bee It...

The honey bees love it. So do the long-horned bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, European paper wasps, syrphid flies, butterflies, blister beetles, spotted cucumber beetles, crab spiders, praying mantids, and assorted other insects. The Mexican...

A honey bee heads toward a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee heads toward a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifolia, in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ah, this Mexican sunflower is all mine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Ah, this Mexican sunflower is all mine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It pays to keep a lookout while you're foraging on the ever-popular Mexican sunflower, genus Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

It pays to keep a lookout while you're foraging on the ever-popular Mexican sunflower, genus Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Joy of Rearing Monarchs Is Releasing Them

Oh, the joy of rearing monarchs...from an egg to a caterpillar to a chrysalis to an adult... However, the ultimate joy is not in rearing them, but releasing them--from their confined and well-protected indoor habitat to that Spectacular Spacious World...

This newly eclosed female monarch just wants to linger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This newly eclosed female monarch just wants to linger. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A newly released monarch nectaring on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) next to a bird house, a replica of a barn. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A newly released monarch nectaring on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) next to a bird house, a replica of a barn. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch butterfly has its choice of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A monarch butterfly has its choice of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a newly released monarch nectaring on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a newly released monarch nectaring on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Fisheye View of the Garden

When I was teaching photography, I encouraged my students to go for the angles--from a bug's eye view to a bird's eye view. Holding a camera chest-high or at eye level renders the "same-o, same o" photos.  Yet another creative way to see the...

Fisheye of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia) in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Fisheye of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia) in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee foraging on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee foraging on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

'Tiger' in the Tithonia

Sometimes you can't get within 20 feet of a Western tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papillo rutulus). Sometimes it's a matter of inches.That was the case this morning at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the University of California,...

Western tiger swallowtail nectaring Mexican sunflowers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Western tiger swallowtail nectaring Mexican sunflowers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Western tiger swallowtail atop a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Western tiger swallowtail atop a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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