Posts Tagged: zinnia

Zinnias! Zinnias! Zinnias!

Honey bees foraging on zinnias?

Yes. It's not considered a "bee plant" like the salvias, lavenders and mints, but bees do forage on it occasionally.

The genus, from the aster family (Asteraceae), derives its name from the German botanist, Johann Gottfried Zinn.

At the Hoes Down Harvest Festival last weekend at the Fully Belly Farm, an organic farm in Guinda, deep in the heart of Capay Valley, life took a celebratory twist. The annual festival, so named because folks put down their hoes to celebrate the harvest, includes educational farm tours, a children’s area, hands-on workshops, live music, and the sale of organic produce (fruits, vegetables, olive oil and honey).

This year, the 23rd annual event, weavers wove, spinners spun and a blacksmith blacksmithed just as our great-grandparents did.

And those little honey bees that make it all possible, buzzed amid the basil, mints, salvias--and yes, zinnias.

Honey Bee on Zinnia

FORAGER--A honey bee forages on a zinnia, a colorful flower that's a member of the aster family. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

At Work

AT WORK--A honey bee nectaring a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-Up

CLOSE-UP--Pollen clings to the head, abdomen and thorax of a honey bee as she forages in a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Seeing Spots

If you've seen a lot of buckeye butterflies this season, you're not alone.

It's a big year for buckeyes, says noted butterfly expert Arthur Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis. He counts between "30 and 85 a day" in West Sacramento and North Sacramento.

The common buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia) is not only distinctive, but quite attractive, especially when it lands on a red zinnia.

Its large eye spots on the wings (probably meant to scare off predators) draw you to its world of color and drama.

We saw this buckeye (below) in Napa, just off the Napa-St. Helena Highway. However, buckeyes are found all over the United States, except in parts of the northwest.

Maybe the northwest, too! An image of the buckeye appeared on a 24-cent U. S. postage stamp issued in 2006.

This intriguing member of the Nymphalidae family also appears on a popular poster available in the Bohart Museum of Entomology gift shop. The insect museum, at 1124 Academic Surge, UC Davis campus, also counts this butterfly as among its seven million mounted specimens.

Buckeye Butterfly

BUCKEYE BUTTERFLY (Junonia coenia) nectars on a zinnia, a member of the aster family. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up

LIKE AN AIRPLANE in flight, a buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia) glides to a zinnia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)