They are so important for the bees, both native and the honey bees, and even my equine herd loves them. The flowers fall to the ground sometimes and it’s a mad dash among the herd to get to them and eat them up.
When the flowers open, the main nectar flow in our region begins, and for bees, nectar flow is the source of energy that allows them to build new comb for the queen to lay eggs in, and increase population which has dwindled through the winter. For our area, this is the big one for bees. Nothing else really comes close to it.
So this afternoon I turned horses out and took a walk down the hill in front. So did they, and I noticed them darting forward and chewing. It took me a moment to realize what they were eating. The winds last night and this morning have brought some of these beauties to the ground. I had to run and grab this before the horses and donkeys got to it:
Yay, tulip poplar flowers! Yay, bees! Yay, equine princes and king of November Hill!
I’ll get back to the things I’ve planted tomorrow.
2 comments:
Really pretty trees. We had a few in our yard on Long Island. I liked them too. Glad you rescued the flower from the herd for a picture!
I also took a one-minute video of the herd going for these flowers, but it would take forever to upload here. Suffice it to say there was a bit of shoving going on. :)
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