A ritual of mine on sunny spring days is a walk around my garden. I proceed slowly down the front path, across the mowed meadow, stepping on bluestone pavers to the back by the pond. I look closely for emerging shoots piercing the duff and swelling buds on twigs. Birdsong in the background, I listen intently for the buzz of a bee.
Honeybees are busy foraging amongst Siberian squill (Scilla siberica). Beside a carpet of blue I make a surprising discovery. The bees’ pollen baskets are blue, not yellow, as I would expect. Sure enough I brush off steel-blue pollen from the anthers of a flower. Scilla is one of only a few plants that produce anthocyanin-rich, blue pollen. It is a nutritious food source for bees in early spring.
Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Spring azure butterflies flutter about, small flashes of intense blue that instantly disappear when wings are folded upon landing. Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) sport pendulous, pale blue trumpets that sway in the breeze to announce the beginning of a sequence of bloom for native plants in my garden. I look to the banks of the pond to find marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris). The shiny yellow sepals that we see are perceived as purple to bees. This early bloomer provides nectar and pollen for many a native bee. Syrphid flies also like to feed at these golden food bowls. These flies are considered beneficial because their larvae are predators of aphids.
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) with native bee visitor
Calm water in the pond reflects a quality of light you only see in springtime when clarity and depth of a sky so blue is offset by brilliant reds of maple flowers. As I look heavenward my spirit is uplifted. A stroll around a spring garden is an antidote to anxiety and stress I have so often felt during these troubling times. Spring blues wash winter moods away.