Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) is in bloom. Look out! In addition to caveats about the plant growing like Topsy, gardening literature notes that this is a great attractant for hummingbirds. I wonder if this holds true for this yellow-flowered variation?
We’re not rich in breeding hummingbirds here in Brooklyn. But we have a few insects. And were they happy this weekend! There’s a sprawling stand of these trumpets growing on the southwestern border of Green-Wood, where a short, orphaned bit of 7th Avenue exists between the cemetery and the MTA’s train yard.
Lots of pollinators were at work here this weekend. Some were squeezing into the barely opened flowers, others bustling into the wide open ones.
The vine also has extrafloral nectaries. Essentially, this means the plant is a magnet for insects wanting a nectar-high. There were also all sorts of wasps and flies slurping up nectar from the flower buds, even the developing seed pods. I’ll have more details soon.
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This work by Matthew Wills is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Backyard and Beyond 
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