This series of photographs is of a Honeybee working on this Ozark Sundrop Flower!
There was more photographs to this series then I showed here. This Ozark Sundrop (Ozark Sundrop is not the scientific name by the way), is one of several plants of this species we had growing in 2014. This Ozark Sundrop was growing in our driveway! This was not even part of the flower bed, though several species of flowers wanted to grow in this rocky, dry nasty soil so I let them! Who am I to argue with something that wants to live so badly.....
The Ozark Sundrop is in the Primrose family and has a striking yellow bloom that really stand out! Guy and I were speaking of this flower this morning and think we got this four or five years ago from perhaps bird droppings?? We are just not sure how we got this Ozark Sundrop growing here?
In the front in this nasty, rocky soil the Ozark Sundrop grows short like a bush. Somehow (birds?), we got this in the back flower bed in which this Ozark Sundrop grew taller then our six foot dog fence and wide!! Fighting for the sun in the flower bed which the soil is better taken care of. That larger Ozark Sundrop spread rapidly!! I cut the lower branches off, and pulled out the plants that grew from the roots. I also dead headed the blooms that rapidly produced seed pods to control the spread of the Ozark Sundrop in this location.
As you can see from my photographs the honeybee is heavy with yellow, sticky pollen! So much of this yellow sticky pollen that the honeybee at times was under stress when trying to fly. The photograph above shows how much pollen was on this honeybee.
You can see in the photographs how well this Ozark Sundrop flowers! Many pollinators are attracted to this bright yellow flower blooms! Unlike other flower blooms that pollen is light and can be carried by wind, us who have allergies know of this all to well! The Ozark Sundrops pollen just seams to heavy to be carried by the wind...... I dont seam to sneeze like crazy around the Ozark Sundrop blooms anyways....
The Honeybee sure did not feel it had to much pollen on it.... the honeybee kept coming back!
You can in the photographs while the Honeybee is in flight the Honeybee has a bit of this pollen on it.
Then back to the bloom the honeybee goes!
The Honeybee I did watch for a time as well as photographing the Honeybee's behavior. The Honeybee to me appeared to be to heavy to fly..... though I am not a Honeybee so....
The Honeybee kept going back to the Ozark Sundrop flower !
The Honeybee in the above shot flew to another bloom so I figured I had enough photograph of this happening and went on to another happening here in our garden. Our garden can keep me busy for hours just all the activity going on here!
Thank you for coming by and checking out my photographs I take in my part of the High Desert of Oregon, and / or reading my observations I write along with my photography.
