Ratibida

Nobody much likes Ratibida. Historically, a widely used common name was problematic and racist. The browsers and grazers eschew it. Snooty botanists abhor it. Want it in your lawn? Want it featured in your wildflower patch? No! Yes. Ratibida is common and vulgar.

But then Crumby read that there is a bee that exclusively relies on Ratibida for nectar and pollen. Crumby’s ears laid back once he heard that. Dern! Hold it. Anything the deer, cows, and Booblicans hate, can’t be all bad. Ratibida must be just like coyotes, (Canis latrans).

Then we had a meeting at the CB. Everybody agreed that we needed to give the Ratibida some breathing room. After all, if it is fixing to get out of hand, you can always mow it.

One interesting fact of life kissing up to Ratibida ecology is vermin visitors. Nobody, wants to stand out.

OK. We may have seen the Ratibida bee, but we have no picture of the bee yet.

OK. This is an important update. There may not actually be a Ratibida bee, per se. Although, bees certainly do visit the Ratibidas. No. Crumby, with his head crammed full of facts, sometimes gets mixed up in the noggin. What Crumby got mixed up about this time is Andrena rudbeckiae. For some reason, Crumby translated rudbeckiae as ratibidae. But everything is OK. We have plenty of rudbeckiae at the CB too. What we probably don't have, though, is a bee species that is an oligolege of Ratibida columnifera.