I'd like some expert guidance on hand-pollinating various genera of geophytes. I never used to worry about it because I grew my bulb collection in a rural area in frames, open in mild weather, and bees and other pollinators such as hummingbirds found them readily. Now I live in an insect-poor suburb, where the only early pollinators are a few bumblebees, and they can't seem to get through the wire mesh sides of the bulb house (they could if they would land and crawl through, but they just fly at it and bounce off). I rarely get seed on early species now, notably crocus and fritillaria, although I have attempted to hand-pollinate them. How does one tell when the flower's reproductive parts are mature? I can tell when the pollen is dehiscing, but I don't know when the stigma is receptive. In many plants, the two processes occur at different times to avoid self-pollination. Is there some visual cue to this? Thanks, Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…