Check out the dude hovering in the upper right corner! Don't know what type of pollinator it is, but I do know it's not a honeybee.
I'm off to visit my bees!
*My bad -- Jim kindly let me know that the ingredient in Earl Grey tea comes from the bergamot orange, a citrus fruit, not monarda (aka bergamot, but not the same as the plant that produces bergamot orange! Anyone got THAT growing in their no-doubt-tropical garden?)
*My bad -- Jim kindly let me know that the ingredient in Earl Grey tea comes from the bergamot orange, a citrus fruit, not monarda (aka bergamot, but not the same as the plant that produces bergamot orange! Anyone got THAT growing in their no-doubt-tropical garden?)
I love Bee Balm too, especially since it attracts hummingbirds. (And I LOVE Early Grey tea!)
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ReplyDeleteBased on poking around online, I think there must be two bergamots--bee balm and a citrus fruit. It's the citrus that's in Earl Gray (my favorite kind of tea, BTW!).
ReplyDeleteIs that possible??
Aha, it is possibe!
ReplyDeletePer Wikipedia: The bergamot orange is unrelated to the herbs of the same name, Monarda didyma and Monarda fistulosa, which are in the mint family.
Ah ha! Interesting Jim. I was just about to comment that finally i've seen bergamot... but alas no.
ReplyDeleteput me in the LOVE EARL GREY TEA camp too.
anyway BEAUTIFUL pics Knat.
how were the bees today? any warmer temps there yet?
Earl Grey! Repugnant! ;) My parents were English and also thought Earl Grey tea repugnant.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I got a lot of my bergamot plants from www.richters.com:
Panorama Red Shades - Bergamot
Monarda didyma - says you can make tisane (herbal tea) from the leaves
Blue stocking - Monarda didyma
Marshall's Delight - Monarda didyma
Croftaway Pink - Monarda didyma
Lemon bergamot - Monarda citriodora "Attractive native of the American southwest with pink-purple flowers. Young foliage is strongly lemon-scented and excellent in tea. Leaves used by Hopi Indians to flavour wild game."
So! I stand corrected. Earl Grey tea (repugnant) is made with the oil of the bergamot orange. But you can use bee balm/monardo/pseudo bergamot leaves to make a tisane (herbal tea), hence my confusion.
BUT boy, do my monardas ever smell like Earl Grey tea! Thanks for pointing out the error, Jim.
And you Americans, always spelling "Grey" wrong. Snork!
And the bees? I went out this morning and found a booted-out, DYING QUEEN in front of the hive I checked last night, in which, LAST NIGHT, I saw a perfectly happy LIVE QUEEN. It's nuts out there. And the weather SUCKS.
gray gray GRAY!!! hahahha
ReplyDeletebut i did spell Earl Grey right because it's someone's name ... i suppose. other than that, it's gray ... as in "suddenly, i'm getting a lot of GRAY hair". haha
well ok we all just have our own little identities we want to maintain.
and actually when i was in scotland... O just a few weeks ago .... sobbing ... i went into a little store in Uig and looked around and could not find tea. so i asked the woman there where it was. I came back with Earl Grey. She said, "you know that's Earl Grey, right?" ...hahhaha like they don't even call it TEA.
communists.
and your bees are some vicious mofos. are you sure they aren't those evil heartless african bees??? hahah.
sorry about the weather. :(
What beautiful fucia coloured fleurs!
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