flowers are beautiful and fragrant but, what is a flower?

What is a flower? Flowers delight our senses and transcend all ages and cultures.

Some countries are known for their flowers like the tulips of Holland, the cherry blossoms of Japan Roses are the national flower of England and the United States.

They are beautiful and smell good. But, they have a more important function besides being pretty.

Flowers are a wonderful God gift we can't live without!

Flowers are a wonderful gift from God!

what is a flower good for?

The most important thing about flowers is they give us food.

Flowers produce the seeds, fruit and vegetables we eat. We also, eat the leaves and roots of some of their plants. Meat eaters consume animals that live off of plants.

The beautiful blossoms are there to make seeds for us to eat and to produce more plants. Without them we would not have any more food.

We can't live without flowers.

parts of a flower

How do flowers work? What are the parts of a flower?

Flowers contain the reproductive parts of plants.

There are four main flower parts; the pistil, stamens, sepals and petals.

Parts of a Flower

Petals have the beautiful color found in flowers.

Sepals are the green leaf-like structures that cover the bud before it opens.

Some flowers have very showy sepals, like the Poinsettia. What we think are pretty red petals, are actually the sepals. Their flowers are the small yellow parts found in the center.

Stamens are the male parts of the flower. Flowers have multiple stamens. The anthers are on the top end of the stamens. They make the pollen. A filament attaches it down in the center of the flower.

Pistil is the female part of the flower. It is in the center of the stamens. It normally is a bit taller than the stamens. The opening on the top of the pistil is the stigma.

This is the opening where hummingbirds and insects get their nectar.

The style goes down to the ovary in the bottom of the flower.

After pollination the seeds are formed in the ovary.

what causes pollination?

Bees, butterflies or hummingbirds are attracted to a flower by their color or fragrance. Even the wind can pollinate some plants.

Pollination takes place when some of the pollen get knocked down into the pistil. Then seeds are formed to make more plants.

More flower information

what is a flower in our gardens?

There are three main reasons people have flowers in their garden.

Grow food
Attract wildlife
Enjoy the flowers

Grow Some Veggies

#1 a flower is food for our table

We may have just a small kitchen garden. Or we could grow a big garden to provide food for a large family. Many vegetables are easy to grow.

Vegetables all start with a flower. That's what a flower is - food.

We may grow some fresh tomatoes for the summer barbecue. Or maybe we stock our refrigerator with lots of fresh vegetables

It doesn't matter how old we are. There are many benefits of gardening. It's is great for children to seniors.

#2 what is a flower? - food for wildlife

The beautiful blossoms make food for animals and birds, as well as people.

Cows and sheep live off the leaves of plants. That's leaves not flowers, but flowers make seeds for more plants.

Flowers provide food for many birds and animals.

Many animals are especially fond of berries, including everything from Grizzly Bears to Mockingbirds. Deer love apples and many birds live on a diet of mostly seeds.

Most insects and butterflies can’t get down into long trumpet shapes. God made hummingbirds to pollinate this type of blossom.

Hummingbirds do not smell. They go where they can find large nectar reservoirs. Their long bill and tongue allow them to get the nectar out of the deep tubes.

More ways to Attract Hummingbirds

Butterflies are unable to hover and eat like hummingbirds do. They need a landing pad, so they can sit down and feed.

They especially like daisies. They provide a good landing pad and they have multiple pistils. So when the butterfly lands, it has many nectar receptacles to feed from.

Butterflies Like Flowers, too

#3 what is a flower? - a delight to our senses

Orchids are a wonderful gift.

Flowers are one of the reasons I studied horticulture in college. My favorite three flowers are -

Daisies, they are so pure and carefree. It makes me smile just to see a daisy.

Roses are gorgeous. They are a favorite flower in the United States, as well as Europe. Roses are not hard to grow. Just a few easy things will give you beautiful roses all summer long.

Orchids, some are very challenging to grow. There were orchids growing in the school greenhouse when I started teaching. I quickly became infected with the orchid bug.

My favorite orchid is the Phaleanopsis, the Moth Orchid in the photo. They make a great house plant. They have lovely flowers for several months during the year.

These are all my favorite flowers and I will be writing pages about all three of them.