Busy Bee Garden Center

WTF is back! I happened to catch a little bee action on this lovely flower 🤩
Can you guess what pollinator’s favorite flower this is?

The sweet corn has arrived!
The Iowa famous Penicks’s Sweet Corn is back for another year with his fantastic sweet corn stand in front of Busy Bee.

It’s a bee-utiful day for seeing all of the bee-utiful plants 🐝 We keep growing all season long so we still have a great selection of annuals and perennials.

The answer for the WTF challenge has arrived.
If you guessed Purslane or Portulaca technically you’re both correct! Purslane is in the Portulaca family and its cousin is rose moss or moss rose as shown in the last photo. (Can you find the big toad in the Portulaca?) The main difference between the two is the shape of the leaves. Purslane has a much flatter and wider shaped leaf.
If your skill set of plant care includes neglect and drought tolerance testing, this may be the perfect plant for you.
Lots of sunshine and room to spread, this annual will keep blooming all season. If you’ve ever had this flower before you may have noticed its little quirk. The flowers close up each evening and reappear with the morning sunlight.
I love to grow these in hanging baskets because they are so forgiving with their watering needs. Hanging baskets tend to dry out quickly once plants grow and fill out but Purslane/Portulaca is a survivor.
Bonus fact- This plant is also edible!

Better late than never… can you guess this Wednesday’s WTF moment?

The WTF answer has arrived!
This unusual plant that looks like it belongs in Doctor Seuss book 📚 is called Eupatorium capillifolium ‘Elegant Feathers’.
It loves full sun to part sun and makes a nice backdrop in a large container or an eye catching focal point in a flower bed.
This plant can get a little thirsty but it definitely waves its arms to grab your attention when it needs a drink 😅
Hardy to only zone 6, we grow it as an annual here at Busy Bee. Unfortunately, I have yet to see it flower ever in person. I’m curious to see if anyone has had one bloom? Typically we get a frost before that would ever happen!
As a truly unique conversation piece for your garden, it will reach between 3 to 6 feet tall depending on how much space you give it to spread its feathers.

Another week flew by and we are already at our weekly WTF moment!
Can you guess What The Flower this is?

If you guessed Mina lobata, you’re an expert in all things hummingbirds love 😍! This plant has way too many common names to mention but it should really be called the hummingbird love vine just kidding totally made that up! This rather ferocious vine will quickly cover any trellis you put it on. My preference is planted in the ground because they can be a pain to water in a pot. They need full sun but I’ve also grown it in part sun and still had blooms! The blooms look like little flames from a candle and are quite exotic looking. It can take awhile for it to bloom but be patient and you will be blown away by how spectacular the blooms are!

WTF Wednesdays have arrived yet again🐝
Can you guess “What The Flower” this is?

Betty would like to remind you of our hanging basket special we are starting today!
Buy two and get the third for 50% off. Equal or lesser value.

Our weekly specials will begin this Saturday!
Hanging baskets are buy two get the third for 50% off. Equal or lesser value.

Let’s all take a ride on the Magic Carpet for this WTF Wednesday’s answer.
For those who guessed Mecardonia, you were correct!
For those who guessed Bidens, I included a photo of a Bidens so you can compare the difference.
Great guesses!
Mecardonia is an annual that enjoys the sunshine but will tolerate a little shade. It’s basically like a ground cover, hint the variety’s name of Magic Carpet, which blooms nonstop til the end of the growing season. Tiny, bright yellow blooms make it the perfect addition to both containers and the spot in your annual bed that you just need that one perfect little plant to fill in the front.
It’s very low growing but will spread up to 12-15” and sometimes more. Typically not munched on by those outdoor pesky critters who like to come at night or sometimes in broad daylight to “rearrange or trim” your flowers for you.
It prefers full sun to a little bit of shade. It doesn’t compete well with the big monsters of a plant. Place it somewhere it won’t get run over by a more vigorous plant buddy if you’re using it in a pot. It’s also cute enough to bee 🐝 in a pot by itself so it can show off.

This WTF moment is brought to you by it’s Wednesday again. Can you guess what this flower is!?

The answer for WTF Wednesdays has arrived. I wanted to get a nighttime photo of this plant because it completely folds up each night. It tucks itself into bed😊
Lotus vine, Amazon Sunset, Parrots Beak and probably about 25 other common names to go along with those few. An excellent trailing plant for containers. It trails to about 15-20 inches and loves the sunshine. It will also take part sun. Because of our cooler nighttime temperatures, we’re even seeing a few blooms. Usually it doesn’t bloom in temperatures above 60 degrees at night. It most commonly blooms in the spring and fall. Easy to grow for its foliage so consider the blooms as an extra bonus.

What the Flower Wednesday has arrived yet again🐝
I’m making this WTF moment a little harder to guess. Let’s see how good you guys are at knowing the name of this plant and no cheating with those flower apps!

Open today from 12-5.
Memorial Day, we will be open 10-4.

Today’s Harry Hair Weather report is brought to you by what’s behind door number one!?
A soaking wet Harry. He has officially turned into a swamp monster who enjoys rubbing his wet Harry body all over your legs. Turns out we got even more rain and hail! If your plants blew away, got hailed on or drown by the I’ve lost count of how many inches of rain, Harry can show you our great selection!
We keep growing all season long because we live in Iowa and from time to time things get a little Harry around here 😂🐝

WTF answer has arrived! For all of you who guessed Torenia, you are correct.
We love Torenia not only as a wonderful trailing plant for a shady location but for its entertainment value. Hummingbirds love this plant but the best part is trying to watch a bumblebee fit inside the bloom. Let’s just say it’s like fitting into those jeans after you’ve gone to a few too many Thanksgiving meals.
It comes in many different colors as well as semi-upright, mounding and trailing. Its common name wishbone flower comes from the center of the flower that is shaped like a wishbone and it breaks apart as the flower ages. It will grow happily in shade or part sun.

WTF Wednesdays are back! Had a slight delay today due to the pick up everything we own this morning thanks to storm.
Can you guess what this What The Flower moment is!?
The answer will magically appear tomorrow 😁🐝

What a wild afternoon yesterday! Iowa’s weather never seems to disappoint. We had some minimal damage yesterday and after we play the pick up everything we own outside game, we will be open at our usual time!

This Harry’s Hair Weather Report is brought to you by the morning dew. Judging by the tongue length, it is going to be sunshiny and warm today.
He’s already been hard at work all morning and finished up his work for the day.
Harry plans to spend the rest of his day supervising the Busy Bees from the shade and of course frequent napping. It’s hard being Harry!
Flowers are loving this weather and Harry, well, he’s making the best of it😅😂

WTF Wednesday’s answer!
For everyone who guessed Lisianthus, you are correct!
This year, we grew the Florida Blue variety which is great for containers. It loves full sun and is a bit of a Goldilocks. It doesn’t like it too wet or too dry so a good high quality potting soil is needed to keep this little bee-uty happy and blooming all season. Florida Blue is a shorter variety that doesn’t require staking also known as a case of the plant flops.
It grows about 10-12” tall and only about 8-10” wide. Excellent heat tolerance for a Lisianthus.
Other more common varieties are grown for cut flowers and are better suited for being planting in the ground with a little support so they don’t get a case of the flops. All Lisianthus appreciate full sun for the best blooming.

What the Flower (WTF) Wednesdays will officially start today!
We want to have a little fun while also bringing a learning moment each Thursday.
We grow a lot of different flowers and if you’ve ever been to Busy Bee, you’re probably thinking it would take about 17 years to get through every flower. This is true and by then I would have added about 50-75 new ones each season. What can I say, I love my flowers 🐝
Each WTF post will have a picture of a flower and it is your job to guess what it is. You have one day to figure it out before the post on Thursday brings the answer. It will also give a little information about the plant along with the answer. You’re welcome to post your answer or keep it to yourself.
We just want to have a little fun and see how good your guesses are!

Here’s our first WTF Wednesday

Happy Mother’s Day!
We’re open today from Noon to 5pm.

We’ve been such Busy Bees the last few weeks that even the animals are helping us get our work done.
As you can see, it’s all hands on deck. Some are more helpful than others as you can see!
Open Friday and Saturday from 10-6 and Mothers Day noon-5.

A little bee-hind 🐝 the scenes action shot this morning. Every morning brings more beautiful flowers as they continue to grow. It’s a tough job but when you get to see this each morning, it’s worth every second of our hard work!

Harry’s Hair Weather Report states that there are chances of rain throughout the day. He didn’t stay for the full report but left us a brief outline of today’s weather!
Can you see the Harry 😂

So many bee-utiful flowers! It’s a glorious sight to see in the greenhouse this morning.
We’re very thankful we did not have any storm damage. We did spend the morning picking up trees and moving perennials out from under the benches so they didn’t get hailed on or blown off the benches. What a workout! You’d never guess all of the fun we had this morning before we even opened😂😊
Open today 10-5!