Marvellous MONARDA
‘If you look closely at monardas, you often find a tiny hole bitten into the base of the long tubular flowers’
Nature never ceases to surprise, especially in the varied and complex ways that creatures adapt to their habitat. It is a facet of the natural world to which Peter and Carole Whittaker remain attuned at Glyn Bach Gardens, home to the National Plant Collection of Monarda. ‘If you look closely at monardas, you often find a tiny hole bitten into the base of the long tubular flowers,’ points out Carole. The holes, it transpires, are made by short-tongued bumble bees unable to reach the bottom of the flower tubes. ‘The self-same holes are later used by our honey bees to collect nectar,’
