How flowers make themselves known! Finally, the time has come when we can sit outside into the twilight, enjoying mild evenings, listening to songbirds and letting the delicate fragrance of flowers wash over us. It’s not just we humans who are bewitched by the scent of fruit tree blossoms, the roses, lilacs, and other blooming plants — a variety of insects experience the same. For butterflies and bees, they’re rich sources of nectar.

The best seducers

Plants that emit the right scent for their pollinators are better or more reliably pollinated and therefore have a certain advantage over others.

Fragrance isn’t everything!

Another enticement is the color of flowers: In comparison to fragrance, which spreads more or less diffusely, the coloring of petals is a significantly more direct signal for insects. The better the color jumps out from the green of the surrounding leaves, the better the chance the flowers will be found. That’s why there are so many colors represented in flowers, but essentially no green ones.

Tip

When buying plants, ask for those that attract bees best.