This month's issue of Sunset magazine got me thinking about The Great Sunflower Project again. There's an article about Gretchen LeBuhn, the Bay Area biologist, who started The Great Sunflower Project to raise awareness about the decline of honey bees.
She began the project last year by creating a Web site where people could sign-up and order sunflower seeds to plant. The project has grown to over 55,000 participants. It doesn't require any knowledge about bees in order to participate. Although they are out of seeds for 2009, there are sources listed where you can buy the Lemon Queen annual sunflower seeds and you can sign-up for 2010.
This is a wonderful project to get young children involved in so that they can begin to make the connection between pollinators and the food that they eat. I am still waiting for my Lemon Queen sunflowers to bloom, so hopefully I will have something to report in a few weeks.
These pictures were taken at a sunflower field in Winters, California this past weekend and I am happy to report that for every sunflower I saw there were at least 2 to 3 honey bees. And there were sunflowers as far as my eyes could see.
I would be glad to send some bees your way... we have plenty!
ReplyDeleteI love sunflowers. Bright yellow to deep burnt orange.. they're all so beautiful. When the sunflowers bloom you know the end of the season is near.
This is wonderful project for the bee population and the Lemon Queen sunflowers are stunning.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of this variety before they appear so vibrant and to see them growing in fields must appear to be like a sea of golden yellow.
Do you think they will be harvesting the seed for bird food?