Things are a buzz in my backyard.
Literally!
We have a large patch of native thimbleberry plants along the back of our property. They provide a nice green, noise-cancelling, beautiful backdrop as we look out from our back porch.
For a few weeks each spring, the plants are loaded with white blossoms. And, those silver dollar-sized blooms attract all sorts of pollinating insects, especially bees.
Did you know that there are at least 31 species of bumble bees in the Pacific Northwest?? Neither did I. You can check out more information on our bumble bees here. There are over 20,000 species of bees (bumbles, mason, honey, etc.) worldwide.
According to an article in the Arboretum Foundation bulletin:
Native bees are still the most important
pollinators of wild plants, helping to maintain ecosystem diversity. In
addition, bees help feed the world: One out of every three bites of food we eat
needs a pollinator to reproduce. Native bees play a large role in crop
pollination, and they are often better pollinators than honey bees, spending
more time on each flower and therefore helping to transfer more pollen.
Here is a short video of all the activity in my yard this afternoon. Follow the link below for a higher resolution version of the video.
view full screen video here
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| Thimbleberry in bloom |