Why Are Some Wild flowers Highly Scented with Brightly Colored Petals?

Thought You Might Enjoy this Q&A From Ask.com regarding Wildflowers

Question: Why Are Some Wild flowers Highly Scented with Brightly Colored Petals?

Top Answer: Some wild flowers are highly scented with brightly colored petals so as to attract pollinators like insects and birds. The pollinators feed on the nectar and help in distribution from pollen grains from anthers to stigma of the same plant or another plant. This enables continuation of reproduction.

To Purchase Your Native Wildflowers & Seeds Visit Our Nursery Website At Native Wildflowers & Seeds From Ion Exchange, Inc.

Sand Dunes Video Explained by Earthyman From the South Padre Island in Texas

Earthyman views the relationship of Sea Oats in the stabilization of sand dunes on the South Padre Island in Texas

To Purchase Native Wildflowers & Seeds Visit Our Nursery Website at Native Wildflowers & Seeds

The Birth of a Butterfly You Tube Video by jamesmenful

This is not intended for infringement, sound track used and copyright still belongs to the owner.
Background music by longzijun

The Birth of a Butterfly You Tube Video

To Purchase The Bird & Butterfly Attractor Station Plant Starter Kit Visit Our Website At

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The Great Sunflower Project Article On The BUZZ: Join Us for the Great Bee Count on Saturday, August 11, 2012

The BUZZ: Join Us for the Great Bee Count on Saturday, August 11!

Greetings citizen scientists! Our poll results are in, and, at last count, some 46% of you have sunflowers up and blooming. About one-third (34%) are still waiting for blooms (or encountered an gardening mishap), and another 21% didn’t plant sunflowers this year.

Those of you lucky enough to have sunflowers in bloom are diligently sending in your bee observations. Congratulations to all those who have already had the opportunity to observe, collect and report their data. Well done! Without your thoughtful observations, we would not have the wealth of information that we have to date.

To see results from the project using data reported up to 2012, have a look here: http://www.greatsunflower.org/results#map - you can zoom in on your area, see averages by type of garden and trends by year. Great stuff, and all because of your participation!

It’s important that you keep sending in data, so please join us and thousands of others across the country in The Great Bee Count on Saturday, August 11th.

Even if you do not have blooms on your sunflowers by August 11th, you can still be enjoy, learn and be part of the project by observing bees on other plants that you may have in bloom. Cosmos, tickseed, bee balm and echinacea, are all on our list, so you can collect data on these if your sunflowers are not blooming yet. And, it’s okay if your sunflower hasn’t bloomed yet. They will in time so you can make your 15 minute observation when they do open up.

And, this year, in support of the Great Bee Count, YourGardenShow.com will present a special online live broadcast "Double Feature" on August 11th, from 10am - noon EST (7am to 9am PST). First hour: a special "Ask Ian" Q&A show about pollination and pollinators followed by an hour of moderated interviews with bee experts talking about our pollinator friends. Join us for this one day event!: http://www.yourgardenshow.com/ask-ian

As you can see from our map, bees are declining in certain areas, and there are some areas where we have no data. Could that be your garden? The more we know, the more action will be able to be taken to preserve and enhance pollinator habitat.

Join us on August 11th!

Freddy B

To Purchase Pollinator Seed Mix Click on Ion Exchange, Inc. Link Below

Ion Exchange, Inc. Pollinator Mix

Ion Exchange, Inc.

Ion Exchange Inc., A Native Seed & Plant Nursery Was Quoted In The Wall Street Journal

Howard Bright co-owner with his wife Donna of Ion Exchange Inc. http://ionxchange.com/

was recently quoted in The Wall Street Journal. For anyone who is interested in wildflowers, earth friendly solutions for using native wildflowers for landscaping this article is a must read. In the article you will see and learn how to plant a meadow of wildflowers

The Wall Street Journal Article

Ion Exchange offers easy starter kits Click Link Below To Visit There Website

Ion Exchange, Inc.

  

Benefits of Planting Live Wildflower & Grass Plant Plugs

The plugs in the 84 Nova trays measure 1 1/8 inch diameter by 2 7/8 inches deep and taper like a cone with a bottom drain opening. The interior ridged design of the plug directs root growth downward & avoids the wrap around growth allowed by smooth sided plugs. As the roots develop & escape through the drain opening of the plug the atmosphere will burn off the protruding root material, in effect pruning them to encourage constant development of fresh root growth. When the plugs are placed into the ground, the roots are ready to rapidly establish themselves down into the soil. It has been our experience with planting both 3” square pots & the 84 Nova plugs that the plugs will compete with & sometimes surpass the growth of the larger potted plants in the first growing season. Some species planted as plugs will flower & set seed in the first year-we had Sawtooth sunflowers that were planted in June reach nearly 8’ & flower in the same season. The size of these 84 Nova plugs makes them easy to handle in planting & transporting. Native Plant Plug

The Dangers of Wild Parsnip

Its that time of year when all the beautiful native wildflowers are at their peak. However there are also a few nasty plants out there as well. One of them is Wild Parsnip and it can burn you like a severe sunburn with big blisters that last for quite some time. Your pets could be subject to the same burns on their noses and places that aren't as protected by hair. Go to Ion Exchange to see a short video and picture of this plant and its effects.
Have a great day!
Kay at Ion Exchange Inc.

Hummingbirds - Helpers for the Honeybees?

I recently took some pictures at Ion Exchange and of all the pictures I took I was most pleased with this picture of a hummingbird in flight. I have always been fascinated by hummingbirds and I had never experienced seeing so many together and so close as the ones on the office porch. I could set and watch them for hours.

Upon hearing of the plight of the honeybee and the possible disruption to the pollination of our foods and other plants I did a little research into pollination and found that although most pollination is done by honeybees other insects and the beautiful hummingbird also help with pollinating.

The hummingbird will soon be making its migratory trip to Mexico and Central America for the winter. The cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) provides nectar in August into September to see them on their way. Their high energy needs require that abundant supplies of nectar be available throughout the migration corridor, which can range through thousands of miles of habitat. Although Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are well recognized as nectar feeders, they also eat spiders and tiny insects such as flies, gnats and aphids as a source of fat and protein. A single migration can become a nonstop flight of up to 500 miles over a period of 18 to 22 hours.
Some hummingbird favorites include native wildflowers such as Wild Bergamont (Monarda fisulosa) and Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). There are speciality mixed wildflower seeds that are available that appeal to hummingbirds and butterflies.

The hummingbird laps up nectar by flicking its long, forked tongue deep within a flower at rates up to ten times per second. It forages while hovering airborne, inadvertently collecting pollen on its feathers and bill before darting off to its next meal. Its efficiency as a pollinator is comparable to that of a honey bee.
An extraordinary little creature! I wish them well on their long journey. Kay at Ion Exchange

Native Bees

I was just thumbing through my AARP magizine that I get every month and happened upon an article on the honeybee called "Bee-friended". There were a few facts I was not aware of for instance their are other insects and animals that help the bees do the pollinating hummingbirds, butterflys, bats, ants, and beetles. I have always held the opinion that bats, ants and beetles could just leave the planet and I for one would not miss them. Now I am going to have to give them a little respect for their place in the eco - system.

It appears that large scale farms rely on the European honeybees to do the pollination. They pollinate about one third of all the food Americans consume. A lot has been said about the problem of the dissapearance of the honeybee and the colony collapse within the beekeeping industry. However the article states that the organic farmers and scientiists feel that the honeybees wild cousins could really help out in this crisis.
So often when something happens to our planet there is little we can do but shake our head and feel sad. In this instance there is something we can all do to help. We can provide the bees with a habitat in our own yards .Most native bees are the solitary non swarming kind. They like some of the same things we like for instance big patches of closely planted flowers about a square yard of one kind will usually attract them. A lot of blooms with very little insecticide will surely attract them. The colors yellow, purple and blue are bee magnets. Surpursingly (or maybe not) they are more attracted to the native wildflowers such as Beardtongue, Bee balm, Lavendar, Snow - in - summer and Yarrow. Well I know what I will be planting in my flower beds now. Kayflowers

Kay is one of web masters that work on our web site and lends a hand with the blogs from time to time.


Have a great day! Kay