Pollinators = Pollination = Seeds

Joe Benton of Oklahoma State University Extension wrote a column about saving seeds that had some fascinating tidbits in it. Benton is an extension educator for Pottawatomie County.
Benton said that we should collect seeds from non-hybrids because hybrids do not come true from their seed.
The best candidates for seed collecting include: beans, broccoli, dill, corn, chives, leeks, muskmelon and garlic. They are bee pollinated except for beans which are self-pollinated and corn, which is wind pollinated.

Maybe you knew all that, though I did not.



Here are a other few facts that were new to me.
"Most flowers are pollinated by bees, butterflies and moths.
Bees can't see red, so the flowers they pollinate tend to be yellow, or sometimes blue. Some of these have ultraviolet landing patterns which they see also.
Butterflies see well, and red, but have a weak sense of smell. So most of the flowers they pollinate have little or no fragrance.
Moths are nocturnal, so the flowers they pollinate are often whites or colors seen more easily at night. Moths also smell well, so they pollinate strongly fragrant flowers easily found at night."
Who knew?

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