Seeing Red--On Buckwheat

Butterflies, honey bees and hover flies can't get enough of red buckwheat.

Tight clusters of pink blossoms, coupled with gray-green foliage, grace red buckwheat (Eriogonum grande rubescens), a California native.

It's good for the insects and good for the gardener. It's drought-tolerant.

We planted red buckwheat in our bee friendly yard several weeks ago, and among the first to find it were hover flies, aka flower flies.

Hover flies (family Syrphidae) hover over flowers like a sightseeing helicopter. Then they dip down and sip the nectar.

They're often mistaken for honey bees. Many an editor has published a photo of a "honey bee" that was in reality, a hover fly.

California buckwheat is one of the attractions in the newly planted Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. It is serving as a year-around food source for bees and an educational opportunity for humans. A public celebration will take place next June.

Look for the buckwheat!