Yes, the bees love sunflowers

[Cindi]

I have many sunflower groves, these groves self-seed every year, I only have to thin the hundreds and hundreds that germinate.  I like to leave at least 2 feet between each plant, that makes for a stronger plant that produces lots of food for the bees.  Enjoy these pictures, and have that wonderful and awesome day, great health.  Cindi

[Irwin]

Thank's for all your pic's I look forward to seeing more :-D

[jimmy]

I planted alot of sunflowers this past spring .They were beautiful however only the bumble worked them. The honey bees didn't .Someone said ,it was cuz they were hybrid.???? jimmy

[Shawn]

Great garden. Our sunflowers did not come up this year. Even the wildsunflowers had a hard time blooming because it was so dry.

[danno]

is that lavender growing around the sunflowers

[asprince]

Only Canadian Bees like sunflowers! :-D

Steve

[JP]

I think I saw a caterpillar on a leaf, maybe not.


...JP

[Cindi]

Dan, the flower that you think is Lavender, is called:

Anise Hyssop, the cultivar is Blue Fortune.

I take cuttings off the mother plants in the spring and propogate them into new plants.  I have about 40 Anise Hyssop.  The bees are beyond nuts over these flowers, they bloom from the beginning of July until frost kill.  Incredible nectar and pollen gathering for the bees.  The flowers and leaves have the most beautiful aroma of licorice, it is an incredible plant.  I encourage everyone to get some Anise Hyssop and grow them for the plants.  You should look at some of my posts regarding the Hyssops, do an advanced search, in my threads, if you are interested.  Have the most wonderful and awesome day.  Cindi

My bees here are indeed Canadian, hee, hee....I think it is the type of sunflowers that I grow.  They are open pollinated, non-hybrid.  Sometimes many hybrids do not provide pollen, they are sterile flowers.

This is an example of some of the cuttings that are about 1-1/2 months old, the blooms are just beginning.  The mother plants would have already been blooming for about 3 weeks.    The second picture is some of the mother plants.





This is another view of the Anise Hyssop, with other plants in the background.

[buzzbee]

We all have our own beauty where we live.What a great bumch of pics!!

[Cindi]

We all have our own beauty where we live.What a great bumch of pics!!

Ken,this could not have been better said, yes, our world is magnificent, each place in its own unique way.  Have the most awesomely great day, Cindi

[2-Wheeler]

Cindi,
You must have some really happy bees.  It looks like they have been spoiled with all those sweet treats so close by. 

[Carriage House Farm]

Cindi

I had a 24'x24' area with a variety of sunflowers.  Most of them were oil seed types though I did have some RUssian and Californian grey types.

The started blooming right at the beginning of our normal dearth.

Bees were ALL over them.  They were a mix of organic seed source and hybrids.

Hybrids mean nothing to bees.  If they did, not one major commercial crop out there would be getting successfully pollinated, including sunflowers. :D