While it still feels like summer (101F on Sunday!), autumn is here. The garden is lush with blooms, marking the second spring that Central Texas enjoys, the welcome blooming bonanza which is the payoff for our long, hot summers. It’s also very dry here; there’s been little rain since sometime in July. I don’t water the garden all that often, but I’m doing so this week.
The pollinators don’t mind either the heat or the drought as long as pollen and nectar are in good supply. I’m witnessing a huge variety of pollinators, all zipping (some crawling!) from bloom to bloom, filling the garden air with whiffs of wings and buzzes galore.
Plenty of American Bumblebees are gathering up pollen for overwintering nests. This one works the rich blue flowers of Henry Duelberg Sage, Salvia farinacea, ‘Henry Duelberg’.
Take a look at her pollen pantaloons! (Correctly known as corbiculae.)
The big showy butterflies are also active. This Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes nectars on luscious flowers of a Mexican Orchid tree, Bauhinia mexicana, the expansive, graceful wings carrying the insect from flower to flower.
Clusters of diminutive white blooms on Evergreen Sumac, Rhus virens, hosts scads of beetles, native bees, skippers, bigger butterflies, and honeybees.
This sumac is now two years old, just over 5 feet tall, and producing its first set of blooms. I’m loving it, as are the pollinators.
I’m not absolutely sure what this handsome critter is, but my best guess is that it’s a Blue-winged Wasp, Scolia dubia. Autumn flowering Frostweed, Verbesina virginica, lures the most interesting and varied pollinators; everyone seems to love these snowy blooms. Many of the pollinators who make their pilgrimage to frostweed in fall are nowhere in the garden at other times of the year. There’s always something that I’ve never seen before.
It’s nice when pollinators share mealtime!
Few Monarch butterflies have come through my garden as they make their way to Mexico and those that have visited were unwilling to participate in photo sessions, wings swooshing away from me in annoyance. Their cousins, Queen butterflies, Danaus gilippus, are common and active and don’t mind a photo–as long as their sipping of the sweet stuff isn’t interrupted. This two-fer spent time on the Plateau goldeneye, Viguiera dentata.
Texas Craglily, Echeandia texensis, attracts bees to its yellow-orange lilies. In particular, bumblebees excel at the hanging-upside-down trick.
Honeybees also grab onto the the stamens of craglilies for their share of pollen and nectar.
A significant cool front is headed our way, tomorrow and the rest of the week thankfully cooler. No rain is in the foreseeable future. I’m glad my garden is drought-tolerant, packed with native and well-adapted plants, and I’m pleased that it is a respite for wildlife. All wildlife–pollinators included–and this gardener, appreciate the bounty and beauty that these plants offer, especially in stressful times.
My Gardener Says... 
Thank you for a new word, Tina: Corbiculae! But pollen pantaloons also sounds fun!
I can’t imagine 101 degrees in October and hope the predicted cold front will, indeed, arrive. And maybe some rain at some point too. I’m glad your plants are coping and continue to provide food and shelter for your pollinators.
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Corbicula is a diminutive of Latin corbis, which meant ‘basket.’ German Korb has traditionally been taken as a borrowing of that Latin noun, though some online sources throw doubt on that and suggest that the borrowing might even have gone the other way.
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Steve, our resident blogging etymologist!
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In short, the pollen sacks remind me of pantaloons, so there it is! I just love to watch bees, all kinds, and notice what color the pollen sacks are. Creamy white, a wide range or oranges and yellows, and even some sage greens. I’ve seen pics of blue, but never seen it in my own gardens.
The front is here and glorious! Cool and breezy; I’m wearing pants, not shorts. Woo-hoo!
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Welcome, cold front!
And I will try to pay closer attention to pollen pantaloons from now on! 😊🐝
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“Pollen pantaloons” is a catchy alliteration. I see you’re not the first to use it (as well as “pollen pants”) but I don’t recall running across it before. We could even extend the string, as in “pendulous pollen pantaloons” that are heavily laden.
Those frostweed flowers are a reminder that in as little as six weeks from now we might see the plant perform its ice trick.
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And ‘pendulous’ would certainly fit. Sometimes I see bees with so much pollen in their pants, I wonder how they can take off and fly!
You’re not wrong, as warm as it’s been, we’ve gotten killing frosts as early as late October, early November. I’m hoping the first freeze happens in early January. I’ll put the order in. 🙂
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101F! Oh my goodness! Beautiful photos. The one of the Queen butterflies is exceptional.
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It was a scorcher and I think a record. The front came in overnight and today was glorious!
Thanks! Those two were very cooperative. 🙂
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I absolutely love the pollen “saddlebags” on bees 😀 We’ve got honeybees, and when they get busy on pollen duty, it’s a thing of beauty to watch them tote it into the hives ❤
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Yeah, they’re so cute and it’s so interesting to observe the many colors that pollen seems to come in. It really is fascinating to watch the honeybees go in and out of their hives.
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The best part of Texas is the second spring. The cool front has made it here and dropping lower tonight. Hurray!
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Yes it is!! This summer wasn’t all that hard, until August and September–the heat just wouldn’t let up. I imagine we’re done with it for now, but Texas is supposed to have a warmer and drier than normal winter. Boo.
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I think they said that last year and we had a freeze.
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Native plants just make so much sense, esp. in challenging climates (or ALL climates really!) Glad you’re finally getting a taste of fall. Enjoy!
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Just this week I’ve noticed the Monarchs on the move. Every year I see them while I’m at work as they cross the Clear Lake area: sometimes more, sometimes fewer, but always some. This week I averaged about six a day, and it’s fun to see them.
I’ve seen a blue-winged wasp just one time, at the Lady Bird Johnson garden in Nacogdoches, at the Pineywoods native plant center. It’s a dramatic insect, for sure! This has been a banner year for frostweed around here: either that, or I’m more aware of it. I’ve found a stand of it fairly near my home, so if we do get cold enough to freeze it this year, I’ll have a chance of seeing ice.
The other thing I’ve noticed this year is an abundance of swallowtails. It’s great fun to see them, although getting a photo of one is tougher than it might be in a garden; they do flit around a lot! (ps: check your email).
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Oh, that’s nice to hear. I saw a couple today, but it’s been slow-go so far. There are lots of other butterflies though, so that’s nice.
I didn’t realize that frostweed grew that far east. I really like that plant. It’s stately, tough, I love the big leaves, and the blooms are lovely and what they attract, even more so.
Lol, swallowtails can be tough to catch–those big wings really take them places!
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Happy Autumn! These are such amazing photos of pollinators! Sounds like you’re getting a nice respite from the heat. We’re having a lovely mild autumn up here in S. Wisconsin. Lots of 60s and 70s, when usually October would bring some 50s and even a few 40s for highs. But like you, we’re having a drought, so stuff is drying out. I hope, for both of us, the temps will stay nice for a bit, but I hope we’ll both get some rain.
Beth @ PlantPostings.com
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