The Buzz about Lemon Queen, the Sunflower

The Lemon Queen -"The best bar in town."

The first of the Lemon Queen Sunflowers opened August 21st despite the cold and wet summer. Another followed the next day, a another dozen or so should be open this week. Actually, they grew pretty well; seeds planted along a back garden fence June 5 , sprouted four days later. Good for a cold wet summer.

The sunflower seeds were free from the Great Sunflower Project started by a San Francisco University biology professor, Gretchen LeBuhn. The project asks participants to become a “citizen scientist”. For about five minutes a week or so, citizen scientists are asked to count the number of bees and, if possible what species, which visit the sunflowers. Then record the data and submit it. There are over 65,000 citizen scientists in North America watching and counting.

Health and Food - We need the bees.

Bees and other pollinators are critical. In the US alone, bee activity contributes $15 billion in agricultural production.
And maybe the bees should be discussed in town hall meetings focused on health care.

“Of the top 150 prescription drugs used in the US, 118 originate from natural sources. 74 percent from plants, 18 percent from fungi, 5 percent from bacteria, and 3 percent from a species of snake! And, where did the ingredients from your lunch or dinner come from? One of every three bites you took probably came from a plant pollinated by wild pollinators. This is just the beginning of the list of the services provided by healthy, natural ecosystems," according to the Great Sunflower Project.

Here is the link for the Great Sunflower Project and this is a link to further information in an front page article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Lemon Queen Sunflower was chosen for the Great Sunflower Project because, "They are the best bar in town," according to LeBuhn. If no bees are noticed on the sunflowers, it indicates a problem with the population in that neighborhood.

Trouble in Bee World

Wild pollinators and the non-native honey bees are in trouble for a number of reasons and their populations have been dwindling at an alarming rate. But there are very few and limited studies about these valuable creatures. "we have to pay attention," LeBuhn told the Chronicle.

Some research, from Penn State and other universities, indicate the problems facing the pollinators are a combination of factors, including: lack of good native plants, loss of habitat, widespread use of killer pesticides, mites and other disease organisms.

Pollinator gardens are another very important way to help. A pollinator garden, useful in the vegetable garden or anywhere, is comprised of native plants and flowers which benefit the pollinators and bloom continuously throughout the season. This is a good time of the year to start a pollinator garden in most of garden Zone 5 in the US.

Independent Book Stores : Click the ad to link up Independent book stores in your area. How about a book on pollinators?


Grange News

Nominations for the Ag Hall of Fame and the Ag Industrial for Crawford County are due by September 10. The names should be submitted to either Chester Tau or Susan Tau. Both awards recognize outstanding achievements in agriculture. The award program is organized by the Grange but involves all agricultural organizations in the county. Awards will be presented at the annual banquet in November. For more information, contact the Ag Extension Office in Meadville at 814-333-7460.

For the Heck of It:

August 26th is National Dog Day, at least get some treats for the dog.
And this is cool, while trying to figure out my latitude and longitude for the Sunflower Project I came across this Web site. Enter your address and you get it.
Get ready the next Full Moon is September 4, the Full Corn Moon.

From the Sunflower Project:...the value of pollination services from wild pollinators in the U.S. alone is estimated at four to six billion dollars per year. While these ecosystem services are currently produced for “free”, replacing the natural ecosystem would cost many trillions of dollars. Unless human activities are carefully planned and managed, valuable ecosystems will continue to be impaired or destroyed.

Good Blogs to Read:

Vincent di Fondi- Vincent just published his first novel, Blessed Abduction, available through the link above. Or check his blog to learn more about the novel and his new home in Costa Rica.

On Your Way to the Top – Kathleen always has good insights

New York's Southern Tier – A travel destination in nearby New York by Richardson

Urban Veggie Blog – Dan is located in nearby Ontario and is a good gardener.

Other articles I have written for Helium can be found by clicking the title; others can be found below in the box at HubPages.

more »
HubPages

Obedient Plants and Sphinx Show

Obedient Plant

About five years ago, I planted six obedient plants in a small wet patch of ground next to the vegetable garden. Normally, it was just a place where the cattails grew along with some jewel weed.

I have been amazed ever since. Obedient plants are members of the mint family, so they like to wander. Some would call them invasive but I had a spot where that would be perfectly alright. And spread they did.

An obedient plant, technically Physostegia virginiana, is listed as a native flower of Pennsylvania. There are several reasons why this is a good wildflower.

Deer don't bother it and it can grow on wet, almost marshy ground (rain garden possibility). It attracts bees... lots of them, and numerous butterflies. It is common to see hummingbirds feasting on the flowers which opened this week, the first week of August. That seem a little early but I have never kept records.

They are called “obedient” because you can turn or bend the the flower stock and that is the way it remains ( kids sort of like this). It is a good choice if you want some action close to the garden and something besides golden rods and cattails, as nice as they are, to look at when taking a break pulling weeds.

The Great Sunflower Project

The Great Sunflower Project seems like it is in high gear. The project is sponsored by the University of San Fransisco. They send thousands of free packages of Lemon Queen Sunflowers to participants who will count the number of bees in a ten minute period several times a month. The backyard data is them sent to the university.

Some of the early results, from an email I received the other day from the project, indicated that most people saw their first bees within 2.6 minutes and five bees in 9.6 minutes. I'd be counting but my Lemon Queen sunflowers have not opened just yet. I suspect, however, they will bloom next week; they have some nice swelling lowers buds on them.

The Lemon Queens are planted along the back fence of the veggie garden where the pole beans are desperately trying to grow despite the cold and rainy summer. I have never planted this variety before so this experiment will be interesting.

Bees, Butterflies and the Hummers

The obedient plants, according to my “scientific” observations have plenty of bumblebees. I counted eight within the space of a minute (at 5pm on a semi-cloudy day). The top photograph captures one busy at work. If you haven't tried, it is a challenge to get a picture of a hungry bee.

Shortly afterwards, I checked for the honey bees. In the middle of the garden and scattered here and there are borage plants. In less than a minute I counted six honey bees on the borage (also called the bee plant) in just one patch.

While I saw no butterflies or hummingbirds today, I did watch two Sphinx moths on the obedient flowers (okay go ahead and laugh). They are also called Hummingbird Moths because, well, they look like hummingbirds. The moths are just amazing but harder than a bee when it comes to taking a photograph. I know I have two dead batteries tying.

The vegetable garden here is alive and well. No ripe tomatoes just yet, and no blight (fingers crossed) but plenty of green and ripening tomatoes and peppers. All the little creatures flying around the native wild flowers are helping the vegetable garden out more than the weather.

For the Heck of It: Started to dig the garlic yesterday. It's hanging on the clothesline to dry out in the shade. (top photo) Fresh dug garlic can get sunburned. More on this project coming.

Blogs I like to read and recommend:

Vincent di Fondi- Vincent just published his first novel, Blessed Abduction, available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Check his blog to learn more about the novel and his new home in Costa Rica.

On Your Way to the Top – Kathleen Richardson is a fellow Helium writer, she is trying desperately to watch her weight but did enjoy a good lunch the other day. Never says what she ate though! She also has some thoughts on the economy.

New York's Southern Tier – Kathleen above also writes a travel destination blog for the Southern Tier of New York. So if your in the area or planning a trip that way, stop by her blog and see what is happening.

Urban Veggie Blog – Dan gardens in nearby Ontario and periodically write how he uses his garden produce in his kitchen. It is informative with plenty of ideas and plans for your own homestead.

Other articles I have written for Helium can be found by clicking the title; others can be found below in the box at HubPages.

more »
HubPages

Thanks

Cornplanter and the Lemon Queen Sunflower

The sunflowers, Lemon Queen, are growing by leaps and bounds, along the the fence with the pole beans. There are about two dozen, germination was good and animals didn't devour them. The plants are basically about eight inches tall. The seeds were from the Great Sunflower Project.

The seeds were free but I do have to record data on the number of bees which visit the flowers once they bloom. There are about 65,000 people across North America involved in the project. An email update (a newsletter sort of thing) from the project I received said that even though the sunflowers were blooming in San Fransisco, no bees were reported, at least in one yard. Based on some experience, I don't expect these to bloom until August.

The newsletter said the yard was just dirt and needed to be restored and planted in native flowers and a few vegetables. I would be pretty sure someone is going to mention compost.

Bees are a little hard to find but I am seeing them especially on the herb, borage. The reseeding annual is blooming all over the place. I am seeing both bumblebees and honeybees as well as some other flying insects. I also have some sage blooming which is attracting quite a few bees. All this activity is good since both peppers and tomatoes are now blooming. Pictured are buckets of compost to be used for a side dressing.

Last week's email for this blog also included some interest in Chief Cornplanter, a Native American leader from the American Revolutionary time period. (Note to Tony: You really think there is a resemblance?).

The Cornplanter story is a fascinating one and a look back story which I think I'll begin to post. The story has something of a modern day twist with the construction of the Kinzua Dam in Pennsylvania and in the nearby Southern Tier area. (Kathleen Richardson). It also background for some of the unrest on the Reservation today.

Blogs I am following:

1.Southern Tier
2.On Your Way to the Top That was a nice looking pig!
3.Urban Veggie Garden.

Sunflowers and Frogs: Apples and Peas

Back sometime in the middle of winter I signed up for the Great Sunflower Project. I forgot all about this sunflower project until my free seeds arrived in todays mail. The project is sponsored by the Department of Biology at San Fransisco State University.
They send the seeds, free, then I in turn plant and tend them, along with thousands of other volunteers across the country. Once the sunflowers bloom,taking note of how many are blooming and the time of day, one counts the number of bees which visit, stopping at five or after a half hour. The data is then sent twice a month to their Web site.
I thought this would be a responsible, educational and fun project and already have a couple of friends interested in counting. There were about thirty seeds in the package, called Lemon Queen Sunflower. I planted the first ten along the pea fence after planting a short row of Italian Pole beans. I'll keep a post going live here on the Sunflower Project. Tomorrow or Sunday I should be ready to plant the rest. Check out the project on a google search, there is a lot of other information.
The Alaska peas for the most part were a disaster this year. In a ten foot row only two sprouted and the other rows was sparse. Along another fence at the opposite side of the garden, the Little Marvels did pretty good, but not excellent. Usually, I have peas by Memorial Day but they are just now beginning to bloom.
Weather is the likely culprit. We had a cold and rainy spring. It was so cold last week it appears that the apples will be non-existent. The neighbor down the road says his thermometer dropped to 23 degrees F two mornings last week in a row. I had some scattered frost here on top of the hill but even so I am not seeing any apples though I haven't spent a lot of time looking just yet.
While planting the sunflowers, I snapped a photograph of the frogs in the small pond adjacent to the veggie garden. I am pretty certain they are called leopard frogs.
I never saw the second frog in the water until I download the picture. “Jump in, the water is fine,” the frog in the water seems to be saying to the one of the log. Someplace back there the bullfrogs were croakingthis afternoon; hope that is a good sign for the sunflowers and the bees.
For more information on how to attract the bees in the garden click on the title or here Thanks.
UPDATE: A good site I found after posting is the Xerces Society.
For some additional valuable information on the honeybees, check out Maarec. It's really worth the time and effort.