Tuesday, August 12, 2008

hand pollinating

Have I mentioned I'm not a science person? Or even really a gardening person?

I'm more of a learn-as-I-go type person. And today, I learned about boy flowers and girl flowers.

Yes, most of you covered this in middle school science classes, but I have blocked anything relating to chemistry, physics, or biology completely out of my mind.


I needed that memory space for things far more important than the difference between boy and girl flowers.... things like who Jennifer Aniston is dating now. And what Angelina and Brad named their twins. You know, the important stuff.


But when it comes to that Handyman, I make room for all kinds of random information. Mostly because he insists on talking to me as though I understand what he's actually saying.

Radioactive ions and knapweed. Hubbel and neutral theory. The effective application of latin squares when devising an experimental plot layout. Alleopathy... Endophytes...Augh! I can feel my brain on the brink of explosion. Wait, was it Jessica Simpson that had a nose job or her sister?

Oh no! The important stuff is getting blurry and fading...


And now in my brain I have two images that did not come out of People or US magazines. Above: boy flower. Below: girl flower.


That's it for Hand-Pollinating 101.

8 comments:

Daisy said...

Daisy . . . I was confused when I received a message that I had commented on my own post. Then I read what you said. How funny. I rarely meet another Daisy. So, it's nice to "meet you" and see your blog. I'll have to read more, it looks like you're into gardening. I'm hoping next year to have one! Take care.

Daniel Wachenheim said...

Glad you have flowers of both sexes. For some reason all of mine are male. I keep hoping for at least one female before fall comes.

After growing zukes for years, that's the first time this has happened.

JGH said...

Yes, why do the ladies take so long to arrive? And while we're waiting my men seem to be dying off.

PS I heard that Katie Holmes kicked Tom out of the house.

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the larsons said...

When I get stressed out being a CEO I sometimes look for other professions. Lately I heard that there is a shortage of taxonomists. Would I have to take a biology class for that?

Roses and Lilacs said...

Daisy, you and I are on the same waive length (I don't know what a wave length is, but I'm repeating a phrase I heard.)

Your photos help. Girl photo, boy photo. Just like People Magazine:)

I've only personally known one person who did any hand pollinating. He was working on creating new daylilies. He was a poet, not a scientist.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I have really gotten a kick out of your tutorial on pollinating. I am looking forward to more;)
Marnie

Anonymous said...

Holy cow...I just took pics of boy and girl flowers this morning to show the difference to a friend! But for me, I look at the other end of the flower. If there's a tiny proto-squash between the flower and the stem, it's a girl. It's much easier for *me* to tell the difference that way.

Anonymous said...

Ha! I never thought about flowers like this. Interesting, thanks for the great post.