'Pollinator-friendly' solar farms can be a boon for bees. In Mass., they're not always easy

On a sunny day last June, Brendan Keegan walked down a mulch path at the Arnold Arboretum, unlocked a chain-link fence and stepped into a jungle.

The jungle was a wildflower meadow in early summer bloom, with blossoms of foxglove beardtongue, common yarrow and wild bergamot — some nearly chin-high — swaying in the breeze. The plants grew so thick in places that it was hard to walk through.