All for the love of nectar!
It’s not all gloom and doom in the garden at the moment – luckily I do have some winter flowering plants. Even when it’s cloudy and grey this yellow Abutilon right down near the back fence can be seen from the deck.
Abutilon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abutilon
But on a sunny winter’s day like the one’s we had a couple of weeks ago it positively shines –
it is almost like it has access to its own source of sunshine lol
Around the world Abutilons seem to be known by different names
(Flowering Maple, Chinese Bell flower)
Here in Australia it is known as:
Common name: Chinese lantern
Botanical name: Abutilon x hybridum
Don’t you think the flowers look like little chinese lanterns – and look at those huge stamens filled with pollen? Guess who loves them?
The bees of course lol
I watched this one make his way inside
turn around – hang on with all his legs – then sort of slide down a bit and stay there for a while – it was almost as if he was trying to gather the pollen on his rear end!
Or maybe he was just resting awhile in the shade lol
Linked to Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods
Still Waters 
What a lovely view from your deck. It is good the bee if on the flower either sleeping or in the shade and not chasing you.
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it sort of looks like hibiscus.
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Beautiful flowers and some great shots! Your winter is so much milder than ours – nothing blooms, unless it’s in the house!
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G’day Cathy. The Abutilon are lovely bushes. Your photos are great. When we had the farm, I had planted three Chinese Lantern bushes. I bought them from a market in Ferntree Gully. ( I was working at The Angliss at the time) Two orange and one yellow. They always put on a great show, but for some reason one of the orange ones died after a few years. I never found out why. Take care. Liz…
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Great shots! That bee seems too busy to notice you.
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Great photos! I think they look like little hanging lampshades. Wonderful to have flowers in the winter.
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What amazing photos! And such pretty blossoms.
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What a difference from your winter to ours. We are just starting to warm up here, moving to summer and I’ll bet it’s still significantly warmer down your way!
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A pretty flower. Nice it blooms in your winter. I take it you get no frost. Generally, Abutilons or Flowering Maples are house flowers around here, although they may be considered invasive plants further south. Are they native to your area?
I think bees load the pollen on their back legs. Hence his positioning.
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Lovely pictures and busy bee! I used to have Chinese lanterns; they were orange, but they started taking over a bit too much so we ‘moved them on’.
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Gorgeous!!
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Lovely flowers and great captures of the bees.. I am always afraid to get too close to the bees. Thanks for sharing, have a happy day!
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Nice photos, you must have a mild winter just like we have here inCalifornia.
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wonderful captures.
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Oh great flowers for the bees and not one I had heard of, but they do look like lanterns… Lovely for Nature Notes… Michelle
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