I have a little patch of Tulsi basil or Thai Holy Basil in the garden. I dehydrated a good amount of the leaves for tea and, then, let it flower to provide food for the pollinators. It’s been quite a show ever since! First came the bumblebees with baskets of red pollen
and hummingbird moths (Hemaris thysbe) with their very long probiscises for gathering nectar.
Yesterday, I saw it was time for the honeybees and native bees to have at it. The honeybees are, also, carrying red pollen on their legs. I’m not certain from which flower they are gathering this red pollen. I cannot identify it on this pollen color chart. I don’t think I can assume that it is coming from the Tulsi….hmmm. In any case, I will keep Tulsi basil on my list of plants to grow!
