​We typically associate flowers with warm weather and sunshine, but some special plants grace us with their blooms during chillier times. If you’re out in the woods this time of year, keep your eyes open for these small, yellow, spider-like blooms on bare branches. You’re not alone if you’re wondering, “What is this tree doing, flowering this time of year?” or, “How in the world will those flowers be pollinated?” These are the blooms of witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), a shrub found throughout the eastern U.S., and yes – it’s completely normal for them to bloom in the late fall and winter, long after most of our trees have lost their leaves! For a long time nobody knew how they were pollinated, but eventually scientists discovered that witch hazel is pollinated by a group of winter moths called owlet moths. Amazingly, owlet moths use shivering to increase their body temperature, which allows them to be active on cold nights when they emerge to feed on witch hazel nectar and tree sap!

SBG Knowledge Series--November
 
Are you going…to have tasty seasoning for your turkey and stuffing? Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are just the ticket, and we enjoy their fragrant leaves and stems. Their tiny flowers are often overlooked by us—but they’re a feast for our pollinator friends!

Mashed potatoes with gravy—a classic combo for the Thanksgiving table. What role do pollinators play in this carb-a-licious dish?
The part of the potato that we eat is not a fruit, but a tuber. Pollinators aren’t directly needed for obtaining these tubers, but they ARE essential to allow the plant to breed and maintain genetic diversity.

A colorful splash of green looks (and tastes) great on your Thanksgiving table. How about some green beans?

Beans (Phaseolus) have been cultivated for over 7,000 years. Bean plants bear complete flowers (both male and female reproductive parts are present in the same flower). Thus, they are able to self-pollinate. However, many studies have shown that yields can be up to 10 times greater when pollinating insects are present, especially large-bodied bees such as bumble bees and carpenter bees.

Open the document from the PSU Center for Pollinator Research on this fascinating bee.

SBG Knowledge Series--November
What would Thanksgiving dinner be without cranberry sauce?
Without pollinators, we’d soon find out! Because the reproductive organs in a cranberry flower mature at different times, the flowers can’t self-pollinate. That’s where bees come in—they are the main pollinators of cranberries and are critical to fruit production.