A blowfly on lavender flowers. Flies are the unsung heroes of pollination. They visit flowers to stoke up on energy-rich nectar and protein-rich pollen and transport pollen from flower to flower in ...

In nature, the quest to survive and spread is essential — and that’s certainly true for flowers. We might see them as vibrant harbingers of spring or precursors to juicy tomatoes, but from the ...

The UC Master Gardeners of Butte County are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4-H, farm advisers, and ...

Without the diversity of plant life that pollinators help support, our air, soil and water quality can all suffer.

At a recent used book sale I purchased a copy of a lovely book called "One Hundred Flowers," by Harold Feinstein (Bullfinch Press, 2000). This large-format book includes not only 100 amazing, huge ...

A new paper in Annals of Botany, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that pollination can have a dramatic effect on how plants grow and change. The study shows that when plants and ...

Even at levels safe for humans, air pollution can disrupt the way some insects communicate with plants, and with each other.

When blooms appear on our fruit trees or vegetable gardens, we happily anticipate a bountiful harvest. If the bees help by doing their pollinating job, the fruits and vegetables should begin to ...