A gladiolus is a type of perennial flower. Certain types of gladiolus grow as a stalk that blossoms with a column of flowers. The stalks, unfortunately, are fragile and they tend to end up lying depressedly on the ground unless you provide them with support. This depressed nature of the gladiolus is commonly on display after heavy rainstorms. Despite a potential inability to stand upright, the gladiolus, which comes in a wide variety of colors, makes a lovely addition to the background of flowerbeds, either along a fence or wall.

I purchased a bunch of gladiolus bulbs a few years ago because they are supposed to attract bees. Since the purchase and subsequent yearly growth of the flower stalks, I hadn’t seen a single bee pay a bit of attention to any of the gladiolus stalks. They’d buzz around the stalks, perhaps inspect the blossom for a moment, and then bumble right on by. This year, however, I finally found one enjoying the inside of a the flowers.

This bumble bee seemed to enjoy the flower and didn’t mind me taking photos. Sometimes the bees get annoyed and fly away. Other times they will inspect the camera. I typically don’t get a good shot of this inspection process, but it looks something like this.

This bee spent a few minutes in the various flowers on the stalk before leaving to find more nectar and pollen sources. Maybe I’ll spot more bees on gladiolus flowers in the future. Maybe this was a singular event. Only time will tell.