Looking to attract more pollinators to your garden?
Consider blanket flower - in this case, the hybrid
Gaillardia x
grandiflora,
a cross between
G. aristata (
native to the Western U.S.) and
G. pulchella (
native across the Southern U.S. all the way from Arizona to North Carolina).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD-O9J9vSmi_SnjZcb9ezH5gHG8P-xILHTm9USA40s_GvANBYxqqsS3iR5TFy_BlL8G12-1h5IvQMZWUNslIX4hdeMGeHQGrEwkOqaRAZTwtd_KmjC05EUQufda-2Qup-Bk20NnfcMeg/s640/P1090665.JPG) |
I believe this is a green metallic sweat bee (Agapostemon genus) |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdxR6kqocWmNZ0-YxgDQdNm6PYp99skfN89_sqJ5bfRb2uAuEwkMIc8TTpnN8FAWIZX9EQ7crTeOzq6i84ShDm0GWa60ELqNTMvfFxLN0FIWU5TcfD3z2-8jORhiCWftmka8LfGbPFKg/s640/P1090678.JPG) |
A bumblebee visits a blanket flower. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhGeumpbYbbysj7_HIagKbf-sI7Ehhz7Xu5-rvFTirRz62WndPbWlbwOM73lfrCauyo0Lw-MtSHjrj25z4yik-8Q2uAXl-mFQg8ZytKzqT6oPspcaRZzwXQf_fXjyKHRpPqU33eJzc6Q/s640/P1090680.JPG) |
A small bee and an even smaller bee share the same blanket flower. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-k4rmhZhjo7uUUKMfyhe4S9D5atsqe23QK6qhmxQKarwafy8PDZDBlnt6_ieMPRs8-_jnZ86e45vzZCLbS6xkZYDwq7FhPEhaF5zDqL39cdh-QmwHUOG6kHrYvsYYDjJD_Y6QhMfaow/s640/P1090716.JPG) |
This big guy (or gal) is a carpenter bee - like a bumblebee, only bigger, shinier and buzzier. See those fuzzy balls in the background? Those are the spent flowers! They're so adorable that there's no need to deadhead. And besides, I believe the seeds are attractive to little birds (e.g., goldfinches). Blanket flower has a reputation of being a little short-lived, but in my garden, I've found that it reseeds gently , which helps it persist and even expand over time. |