Mighty Cardoons

Wow. The cardoons are putting on an amazing show this year. Their blossom is an electrifying purple colour and the bees are going crazy for the nectar. I took some close-up shots but felt that, to get the full effect, I needed to show the context of the flower. There are four bees here, all head down in the flower in a drunken ecstasy. I stood watching for a while: they reverse tipsily, move a cm or two over and then plunge into the next pool of nectar.