The Buzz- Happy 4th of July - Using other Sunflowers
Happy 4th of July!
Using other sunflowers. We have been thinking about how to incorporate other sunflowers into our study for those of you who have struggled with germination. While the data from other sunflowers can't be compared to the main study, we can use the information about which bees are coming in and, if we have enough people who planted the same variety, we can compare those to one another. So, while the most important data you can collect will be from the sunflowers that we sent you, if you have another sunflower in your garden in bloom, you can use it for your samples. We have created a category called "other sunflower" on the data page for this purpose. Data from these flowers will be most useful if you can also tell us the name of the variety of sunflower (what was on the seed packet). You can write this down in the comment section on the data sheet. This is important for us to know because some sunflowers don't even produce pollen.
If you have extra time and have both our sunflowers and another sunflower in your garden, you could help us calibrate these other sunflowers by taking a sample from our sunflower and another sunflower in the garden. By comparing what you get at the different sunflowers, we can start to come up with something like an exchange rate.
I do want to reinforce that the data from our sunflowers is more useful. Even if you are getting many more bees on a different sunflower, what happens on the sunflower that we sent can be compared to all the others in the study. You only need one plant to collect data!
Sampling We'd prefer people sample during the first and third weeks of July. If that doesn't work for you, please try to do one count in the first half of the month and one in the second half. For the native species, adult bees are only above ground for 3-6 weeks. This means that you have different bee species in your garden every couple weeks.
Pollen Nation I was invited to give a talk in the Napa Valley last night and shared the billing with the filmmakers of Pollen Nation. This is a fabulous short film about the commercial honey bee business. It's brilliant. I came away really thinking about how important small mixed use agriculture is to maintaining healthy bee populations. Bees do much better when they are able to have a varied diet rather than a monoculture. In my garden, I try to have flowers blooming from early spring to late fall. Those early and late flowers really help because that is when food resources are low for bees.
Enjoy the Fourth!
Comments
sunflower
i love to plant sunflower in my garden because i love the relaxing color of it. well it's not hard to grow sunflower for me. actually it was so easy to manage sunflower plants.
and one thing more why i love to grow this in my garden is because of my bees. as stated in the article it really helps the bees for their food resources.
I used to plant sunflower at
I used to plant sunflower at my backyard... beautiful flower but hard to manage
custom bobbleheads | designer replica handbags
Sunflower As Constipation Remedy
Constipation often occurs to communicate with us that something is not right in our system. The issue could be in the digestive system, in the diet or simply we may be too stressed and we need to slow down and relax.
Eat sunflower seeds in large quantities. You have many options how you can incorporate these great seeds in your diet. You can simply eat them as a snack on their own or you can mix them with your favorite nuts. You can also grind them to make a mash and simply eat them before going to bed.
One thing I like about sunflower seeds is that they are available all year round in a local health store. They come in different forms some are roasted and salted, and some are raw and unsalted. Find your favorite and start enjoying them.
Stacy from yahoo domain
All About Sunflower
I couldn't help myself but to share some wonderful uses of sunflowers.
Sunflower was a common crop among American Indian tribes throughout North America. Evidence suggests that the plant was cultivated by Indians in present-day Arizona and New Mexico about 3000 BC. Some archaeologists suggest that sunflower may have been domesticated before corn.
Sunflower was used in many ways throughout the various Indian tribes. Seed was ground or pounded into flour for cakes, mush or bread. Some tribes mixed the meal with other vegetables such as beans, squash, and corn. The seed was also cracked and eaten for a snack. There are references of squeezing the oil from the seed and using the oil in making bread.
Non-food uses include purple dye for textiles, body painting and other decorations. Parts of the plant were used medicinally ranging from snakebite to other body ointments. The oil of the seed was used on the skin and hair. The dried stalk was used as a building material. The plant and the seeds were widely used in ceremonies.
Darek from classifieds posting service
How to grow sunflower
i just like to add this informations about sunflower..
according to gardenersnet.com:
"Sunflower plants grow well in average to rich soils. They need to grow their roots deep and wide, to enable them to withstand strong winds. If you have a choice, sandy soils are not recommended, as they are easily uprooted in loose soil. Rich soil is important, when growing giant varieties.
Contrary to it's name, we found they will tolerate some shade as we put them against an east wall of our house every year. However, they will grow their best in full sun.
Deep roots help sunflowers to withstand most droughts. They will benefit from a dose of fertilizer when you apply it to the rest of your garden. Apply extra phosphorus and potassium when the flower bud begins to develop, to promote bigger blooms.
Tip: If you are crowded for space, plant one or two sunflowers amidst your vine crops. One or two will not seriously shade the vines. Make sure not to plant them near their tap roots for the vines."
Amazing Sunflower
When I read about the sunflower plants, I was really amazed with its multipurpose.
The sunflower is a native domesticated crop. During the last 3,000 years, Indians increased the seed size approximately 1,000 percent. They gradually changed the genetic composition of the plant by repeatedly selecting the largest seeds (Yarnell 1978).
Originally cultivated by North American Indians, it has a long and interesting history as a food plant (Kindscher 1987). Sunflower seeds were and still are eaten raw, roasted, cooked, dried, and ground, and used as a source of oil. Flower buds were boiled. The roasted seeds have been used as a coffee substitute.
Mark
On Behalf Of
Rental Homes in Florida
designer handbags
designer handbags
reply
Sunflower seed for growing is easily found almost anywhere garden seed is sold. You can start them indoors in areas where the growing season is too short (less than 90 days for most). If you do, plant them outside after the last frost date and keep well watered until they are established.
epilare definitiva
Anyone else not get sunflower seeds?
I'm pretty sure I got Morning Glories - they are twining up the fence where I planted what was sent. I do have one sunflower that my son planted in his preschool class and we transplanted in June. It's coming up nicely, but it doesn't have a flower yet (we are in Michigan). I can record data from that. We have a significant number of bees in our yard buzzing around our perennials.
Rachel Potter
Other sunflower data
We got no flowers from 2 plantings and bought 2 plants. Those are labeledHelianthus Annus.
One plant has 3 small blooms no more than 24" from the ground. The other currently has no blooms, but 2 buds appear to be forming.
Shall we attempt to observe? Which ones?
Found no way to email direct so that it didn't appear as a comment - sorry
Late summer!
I live in Seattle where the summer took its own sweet time showing up! I have planted your sunflower seeds twice, and only have one plant that germinated, and it is only about 4 inches tall. :-( I do have some Autumn Beauty sunflowers that are just now starting to bloom so as soon as they open fully I will collect data on them. I have already seen honeybees on a partially open flower! Hopefully in the next few days I can do a count and will also try to take a few photos outside of the half hour I am collecting data. Finally, summer has arrived!!!
No luck
The same week I received my seeds I planted them. Unfortunately not one sprouted and I've given up hope that they will sprout in the future as it's been over a month. :( I really wanted to participate in this, sorry I'm unable to help.
Germination
We planted the sunflower seeds that we received in the mail in our usual sunflower garden. We saw two push up through the earth, but they didn't live long enough to actually produce real leaves. We replanted the plot a few weeks later with different seeds (3 varieties we had saved from last year in plastic bags but unfortunately we don't know what they are!) We have a bustling sunflower garden now, and we could send in data after we get blooms (some are in bud), but we will not be able to list the exact variety.
We are excited to try again next year and hope that we will be able to be more help then.
We'd love the data for this year
While it helps us to calibrate sunflowers to know the variety, the data on what bees are coming would be really useful. Please do use your sunflowers.
Nothing to report
I live on the west side of Puget Sound in Washington, where we had a cold spring followed abruptly by summer in late June. I planted the sunflower seeds on June 15. None germinated. We have had a problem with hungry slugs and rabbits in our garden, but I don't think that was the issue here. I never saw anything poke out of the soil enough to be eaten. My 7-year-old daughter and I are disappointed not to be able to participate. We have seen bees in our yard (1 acre surrounded by forest and fields) on the apple trees and flowers, so I am confident we would have had good information to contribute. Is it too late to try further this year? If not, we may try again next year.
too late?
Whether it's too late probably depends on whether you can get some sunflowers to sprout. We're happy to have data collected right through October.
Need Help
Hi, I'm Gochi. I've planted couple of sunflower plants which I've bought from some local nursery. At first they were growing very sharply, then I don't know what happened they have started to bend and shrink a bit. The leaves have also becoming darker. How can I protect them from dying?
Protecting Sunflower Plants
Hello Gochi, my name is Rachael, here's what you should do: