Spring has sprung...and so has the pollen.

Hi folks, 

After a rainy spring break week, we are back in the garden. It's amazing how much it had changed in such a short period. The main development: flowers. Flowers on the tomato plants, flowers on the dill, flowers on the weeds. It seems like everything is blooming save the lettuce and kale. No wonder I've been sneezing like crazy.

Coral Honeysuckle

This is convenient because the lesson this week in the peace patch gardens is all about pollination. 

Sam, Kaitlin, Cory and I had a group of Pre-K students out in the garden this afternoon. We taught them all about pollination, showed them examples of pollinators (bees, butterflies, etc.), and we picked flowers, of course. Unfortunately, I was too carried away picking apart flowers with the kids to remember to take pictures of all of us...but I did get some snapshots of what's blooming:

Female flowers of the papaya. Papayas are naturally dioecious, meaning there are separate male and female trees. However, they can change gender quickly depending on environmental factors. This one's a female tree...for now.

Male flowers of the papaya. This ones the male, so pollen will be taken from these flowers to the female flowers, which will then develop into papaya fruits.

 

Dill!

Green onions. This is the beginning of a classic, round allium blossom. 

Eggplant flower and young fruit, the product of successful fertilization.

Tomato flowers. A lot of nightshades (ex: tomatillos, eggplants, potatoes, peppers) have this flower shape.

Wood sorrel. You can't forget the weeds--they attract pollinators, too! Sorrel doesn't taste half bad, either.

Beach or dune sunflower.

Until next time, 

ponder over a flower or two.

Deb