Recreating a native habitat has been a dream of mine since I was about 18. It only took me 20 years, but I finally have two acres of land in the country with which to work (and play). My goal is to document the improvements I make to the property: restoring habitat & attracting birds and butterflies in addition to other wildlife.
Showing posts with label pollination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pollination. Show all posts
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Helping Nature Along
The other day I was walking--visiting the various trees and shrubs I've put in over the years. Our first spring here, I added three hazelnut seedlings. Last year, the one produced one cluster of nuts that something ate before they ripened and I could get to them. I had only noticed the catkins last year, but this year, while checking out the hazelnut closest to the house (about 50 ft away from the back door), I noticed tiny red flowers--and realized they must be the female flower and the catkin, the male. (I really hadn't thought much about it until that point.)
The shrub in our back yard has only two female flowers, so I decided to grab a catkin from the other shrub to try to see if I could help pollinate the two (this is normally done by the wind for this shrub). We'll see if I was successful or not later in the season. :)
female flower
female flower and male catkin (right)
The shrub in our back yard has only two female flowers, so I decided to grab a catkin from the other shrub to try to see if I could help pollinate the two (this is normally done by the wind for this shrub). We'll see if I was successful or not later in the season. :)
female flower
female flower and male catkin (right)
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