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| Photo by Maria de las Mercedes |
No, not those Mexican hats...
These Mexican hats (Ratibida columnifera)!
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| My apologies if these photos are a little hazy - they were all taken through a windowpane. |
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| How many goldfinches can you spy in this patch of Mexican hats? I think I see at least five (four males and one female). At various times, I spied up to 8 or 10 goldfinches feeding in this patch, but this was the most I could get in a single photo. |
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| OK, this goldfinch is not feeding on Mexican hat seeds, but he is waiting on the branch of a chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) before swooping down into the patch of Mexican hats growing below. |
Mexican hats are annual flowers, but they self-sow (somewhat vigorously) from year to year. I have many more Mexican hats in my garden this year than I did last year. And with more flowers, comes more bees. With more bees, comes more seeds. With more seeds, comes more birds.
And that's what makes the world go 'round.
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