Bloom Where You Are Planted
[Editor’s note: May 20 is World Bee Day. June 14 is National Strawberry Shortcake Day!]
The miraculous strawberry plant.
June — time for strawberry pie! It reminds me that the first time I saw a strawberry plant, I didn’t even know what I was looking at. I was taking a walk and just happened to notice some cute little white flowers with yellow centers, planted alongside a building.
On later visits, I really wasn’t aware that they were starting to look a bit different, until after a few weeks. . .voilà! Those golden centers had transformed — into strawberries!
To be honest, before that moment, I’d never really thought about where my favorite fruit came from. I never even pictured them growing from the ground. As far as I was concerned, they just magically appear in those little green boxes, ready for us to eat.
But that’s not how life works, is it?
I’ve learned something about strawberries since then. As Spring days grow longer, the flowers begin to bloom. At the yellow center of each blossom, the plant is pollinated. Each branch will grow three or more flowers on it. Eight if you’re lucky.
Once pollination takes place, the petals fall off and the yellow centers begin to change. The small berries start out yellowish or…
