pollinators - summer 2020

It makes sense, the Atlanta neighborhood is covered with this wiki list of host plants for the eastern tiger swallowtail.
    Wild black cherry Prunus serotina
    Ash - Fraxinus species
    Cottonwood - Populus species
    Wafer ash or hoptree - Ptelea trifoliata
    Common lilac - Syringa vulgaris
    Sweet bay magnolia - Magnolia virginiana
    Tulip poplar or tulip tree - Liriodendron tulipifera
    Willow - Salix species

Typically hydrangea do not attract pollinators, but here's a showy hydrangea bloom with honey bees.

Native bumbles and honey bees are consistently seen on this lovely lavender scrub.

Native Crabapple Tree Mar '18

Thanks to Trees Atlanta, a small native crabapple tree attracts the honey bee.  This species and eastern redbud were planted along the street over a year ago.  I took a few iPhone photos and the first photo turned out best.

At the MABA meeting, Geoffrey Williams of the Auburn Bee Lab was asking the question which wild flower species attract which species of native pollinators.    I have my own questions, which tree species are better at attracting honey bees, and the ultimate question of what location and tree species attract the honey bee best.    Trees Atlanta plants multiple trees of the same species side-by-side.  Turns out that the native crabapple tree with the best mid-day sun attracts the honey bee.

Hawthorn tree and native pollinators

The Druid Hills Tour of Homes & Gardens featured a home with a huge number of pollinators visiting a hawthorn tree in bloom.   Most of the pollinators are not the familiar apis mellifera.   I'm not completely sure, but these pollinators appear to be Small Carpenter Bees.  I used two resources, the XERCES guide -Attracting Native Pollinators and Bees of Georgia website by Mark Schlueter.   Notice the pollen baskets. These natives are similar in size to apis mellifera, not shown.