Bottlebrush Flowering Plants Blowing in the Breeze at Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget
On a recent run to the Market at Pebble Beach, California for an organic Peerless latte coffee, I saw an aptly named bottlebrush red flowering plant by the side of the store.
I did not know the flower’s name at first, so I downloaded the Google app that has a camera feature that allows you to photograph and identify an object as well as tap into a small encyclopedia’s worth of description.
I saw from the Google camera app that the red flower I was admiring was a bottlebrush flowering plant with origins in Australia. The Google app further explained that bottlebrush flowers attract bees, butterflies, and humming birds – all three of these species have an oversize ecological and economic value relative to their diminutive size.
Changes to the ecosystem in California have endangered those three species, but plantings like the bottlebrush plant at Pebble Beach is one way in which a community of gardeners can attract the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds for generations to come.
The economic value of bees, monarch butterflies, and hummingbirds is extremely important in a region like Monterey County that has important investments in agriculture. Bees, monarch butterflies, and hummingbirds all pollinate field crops.
Hummingbirds also pollinate flowers, both wild flowers and ornamental flowers, that can be used in floral sales in addition to making the region look beautiful for locals and tourists alike.
Bees make honey, which can be great for generating sales. Honey is an antioxidant with darker honeys having more antioxidants. Antioxidants remove free radicals from the body, which may cause cancer. Bees can contribute to health through honey and wealth as long as you do not get stung around them or eat too much honey.
Finally, monarch butterflies contribute to the tourism industry on the Monterey Peninsula as they migrate through this region from October to March on their way to Latin America.
There is a Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Pacific Grove that has docent tour guides who explain the differences between male and female monarch butterflies and the butterfly life cycle for example. There are so many monarch butterflies in Pacific Grove that it has been called Butterfly Town.
The bottlebrush flowering plant at the Pebble Beach Market contributes to the ecosystem attracting bees, monarch butterflies, and hummingbirds to the Monterey and Salinas region. It is a plant that could be part of butterfly gardens around the region.
A photo of a bottlebrush flowering plant in an online ad follows:
Note: I have posted a link to the Google app with photo id for information below.
Happy Garden Strolling!
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
