Miniature Australian Pollinator on Aulicum- stingless bee!
In some of the warmer parts of Australia, we have this delightful little native bee, and here, she helps me pollinate many of my hippeastrums in the garden. So tiny, that most of the time she goes completely unnoticed by the average gardener, often being mistaken for a small fly. These dear little bees are sting-less, and around 4mm in length and build their hives in hollow logs. The honey they produce is called sugarbag honey.
Below is a close-up....
......she is so diminutive that she is about half the size of a single anther on my Aulicum! But she does a wonderful job.
So if you are in an Aussie garden, and ever wondered who is working so hard to pollinate your blooms for you, it just might be this wonderful little inconspicuous worker!
And of course, below, the eventual fruits of her labour!!
Comments (29)
dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
5 years agoJulie Wignell
5 years agoRelated Discussions
haves and wants
Comments (7)Hi phantom_white, I have: Purple Aster (New England Aster) Celadine Boneset Gayfeather All Heal (prunella vulgaris) All Heal (prunella grandiflora, pink) Leopard Flower (if you mean Blackberry Lilly?) Balsam (if you mean Balsam Impatiens?; have pink and deep pink) Poison Hemlock May even have some burdock to harvest....trying to eradicate it though! ....several heirloom tomatoes to choose from... For your: Cut Leaf Self Heal Chocolate Habanero Carbon Tomato Box Car Willie Tomato Pearly Pink Tomato (and if you find enough of mine....) Korean Melon Danvers Half Long Chantenay Chantenay Red Cored Let me know if you are interested, Tina Here is a link that might be useful: My trade page...See Moreseedlings-answer for Yvonne-a thought
Comments (26)Unique is good, especially if grown for Aus conditions. With larger land areas there should be the opportunity to grow in larger numbers, and have far more to select from. Sandie, if you are talking "garden names only" then fine apart from the problems Lozza points out. I have bought some 100 roses over the last year, but would put greater value on the 2 BB's from you (growing well and not excessively) and the 3 pinkies from Robyn (all grown from cuttings) and my babies from rugosa scabrosa which are very tiny still. The personal touch is important to a lot of gardeners. It wouldn't be good though, if for instance, a Mrs Austin acquired one of your seedlings to name after her new baby Jayne - LOL. It might interest people that Fred Danks was one of the people who contributed greatly towards the development of the Pacific Coast Hybrid irises, having crossed various PC species from the US. He was so harsh in his selection that he never introduced one of his seedlings, but did share with other hybridisers, including sending seed back to the US, from whence many of the new varieties sprung. OK - that's irises again, but we have a great history of Australians who have contributed to the production of quality plants for our gardens, and who have probably not benefited to any great extent financially, if at all....See MoreYa'll so quiet in here...
Comments (189)Exciting times right Fred? Please take pics and share. Our own seedlings will be the most beautiful ever no matter what flowers they give us. Just like our children...and grandkids! LOL Talking about grandkids, my grandson (first boy in the family) will be born in just 2 months time. Now this excitement and anticipation is surreal! While I'm here in my pc, here's another new clivia that bloomed for me recently. I imported this from Japan last year....See MoreWell, that's disappointing!
Comments (47)Roger, you got it. If I ever have seeds for this one, you are first on my list. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing in terms of hand pollinating. I'm afraid I have not gotten the hang of it, no matter how many pictures, tutorials, or explanations I receive. I never see any pollen but I go through the motions nonetheless. I will keep trying. This one is thick and has more petals than my roses, so maybe I'll just leave it up to the bees, flies and gnats. Rachel, "Sugar Rush" is a Rinoa seed. You can get some from her directly. She has others that are similar. I really cannot take credit for anything. Alma planted it and very generously sent me the seedling. I only hope she got such a beauty within her own batch of seedlings....See More
catsandhippies
5 years agoJulie Wignell
5 years ago
Yes, Anja. I have many self-seedlings growing from this plant. It always produces lovely big fat seedpods with a high germination rate. Seedlings are tough. To date, I haven't lost a single one, once sprouted. Was sold to me as 'Quiririm'. Flowers are large- 17cm x 16cm. A particularly lovely example. Although, frustratingly, no sign of any off-sets as yet!I know they are supposed to be slow in coming, but does anyone have any idea when I could expect off-sets? The bulb is 4 to 5 years old and healthy.
Seedlings from 2017, and the little ones in front are from a few weeks ago.
catsandhippies
5 years agodondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
5 years agoJulie Wignell thanked dondeldux z6b South Shore MassachusettsJulie Wignell
5 years agoJulie Wignell
5 years agoJulie Wignell
4 years agoThis year's blooming is a bit of a surprise, with four flowers on the first stalk to emerge.....and then six on the following stalk! The third stalk to come up was back to two flowers, which is what I have had over previous years.
Is this number of blooms usual for Aulicums? For some reason I had the idea that two to four flowers was the norm for this species.
Julie Wignell
4 years agoAnd for the first time, I have some other Aulicums blooming for me. All three bulbs have flower spikes, but this is the first to bloom....
I'm hoping that the other two bulbs will turn out to be a bit different, so that I have a few varying styles in my collection, but as the other two are only just emerging now, it will still be awhile before I can find this out!
catsandhippies
4 years ago
Fred Biasella
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agodondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
4 years agoJulie Wignell
4 years agoAnja, yes, this is the same plant that produced the seeds. So far it is the only Aulicum I have that has flowered and produced seedpods for me, and it does so readily. I have fed it with slow release Osmacote, and once in a while some Seasol liquid fertilizer, and occasionally some PowerFeed liquid fertilizer ( also from the makers of Seasol ), but otherwise it receives no other feeding. I'm not regular with feeding- just whenever I think they could so with some I water a little in.
The other flowering bulbs are not seedlings from this plant. The were bought from another grower as very small seedlings. This grower had two varieties, and that is why I am hoping that I may have some different looking ones in there.
My own self-seedlings of the darker flowering plant are as yet too young to flower themselves. But I'm hoping by next year I will have some of the more advanced ones bloom for me- if I'm lucky.
.....here is Powerfeed. I don't know if it is available to you. On the back it is labeled as 'Seasol International'.
Although the six flowers look great, I still prefer two uncrowded flowers per stem. But that's just me :)
Fred- I hope yours are just as nice. They are such a rewarding flower, and blooming at a different time of year is a wonderful treat!
Donna- thank you for the info. That was what I was after. I thought is was a bit unusual as I had only noticed two flowers on all the photos I have seen so far.I must say, six flowers is a bit crowded! I wonder what will happen next year?
I'll post the last two bulb's flowers when they arrive. The scapes are only a few inches/centimeters high as yet.Julie Wignell
4 years ago
....and I meant to add - at long, long last, after all these years, a little off-set has appeared!catsandhippies
4 years agoJulie Wignell
4 years agoJulie Wignell
4 years ago
At last the second aulicum bulb in this pot has flowered, and it turned out to be a very nice ruby-red ( digital camera can not capture the true colour ). It also has a darker throat, but not as dramatic as my original aulicum. There is no orange over-tone in this bloom. Petals are thinner as well.
Unfortunately, the last bulb's flower spike didn't make it, so colour is unknown for another year. Bulb started rotting at the crown, although it is kept out of the rain. It's cleaned up now and drying out and should be okay. The rest of the bulb is firm and healthy.
Below are my three styles so far.....
JulieJulie Wignell
4 years agoJulie Wignell
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
berkeleysgr8