Monday, August 07, 2006

Bees and Wasps on Red Bird of Paradise Bushes

The Red Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima), also known as Pride of Barbados or Peacock Flower, is often mistakenly called Mexican Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia mexicana), which is a similar plant with all yellow flowers. The stem, branches and petioles are armed with sharp spines and the leaves are fernlike and twice compound, with many small, oval leaflets. Seeds and pods of the Red Bird of Paradise may be poisonous. The plants need regular but infrequent watering in the desert. They die off in the colder weather, but we cut them to the ground and they grow back every year.Friday's visitors to the Red Bird of Paradise bushes included honey bees
and a large yellow Paper Wasp.

Prior posts on Red Bird of Paradise:
Bird of Paradise (Caesalpina Pulcherrima)
After Day 2

4 comments:

Lené Gary said...

Those flowers are so pretty, Pam. And your insect photos are great too. Do you use a macro lens?

robin andrea said...

It is definitely bee and wasp season here too. They are so interesting to watch as they gather pollen. Your photographs are beautiful. Love them all.

MrsGreenThumb said...

I found your blog through dharmabums. Nice to meet a fellow desert gardener. I live in the Mojave desert, also a very tough environment. After moving here from the midwest, it was culture shock to convert to desert gardening. I grow Caesalpinia gilliesii as well as Caesalpinia pulcherrima. They are wonderful. Some years back, I went to Trinidad for a photo shoot and saw the royal poinciana tree. The red bird is very close in color. I think its a stunning plant. Very nice photos.

MrsGreenThumb said...

I found your blog through dharmabums. Nice to meet a fellow desert gardener. I live in the Mojave desert, also a very tough environment. After moving here from the midwest, it was culture shock to convert to desert gardening. I grow Caesalpinia gilliesii as well as Caesalpinia pulcherrima. They are wonderful. Some years back, I went to Trinidad for a photo shoot and saw the royal poinciana tree. The red bird is very close in color. I think its a stunning plant. Very nice photos.