There's not much blooming this time of year but if and when blossoms burst open, the honey bees are going to find them.
Take the Anisodontea capensis, the cape mallow or African mallow. It's a species in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It blooms year around in our Vacaville pollinator garden where it gets full sun. It boasts a lovely pink blossom with red or magenta centers.
This species was the recipient of a Royal Horticulture Award of Garden Merit, given by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) of London. Horticulture enthusiasts know that RHS, founded in 1804, promotes horticulture through its five gardens: Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (North Yorkshire), Rosemoor (Devon) and Bridgewater (Greater Manchester). And they host major floral shows, including the Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, Tatton Park Flower Show and Cardiff Flower Show.
Honors, of course, mean nothing to honey bees. They just know that this mallow provides the nectar and pollen they need for their colony.
When the sun's out, it's a Mallow-Kind-of-Day.
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