Above is a female zucchini flower. At the bottom of the flower is the beginnings of a zucchini.
Above is a male zucchini flower.
There are usually three male blooms for each female bloom. The female blooms are only open during the early morning hours. The male bloom is wide open. These two photos were taken with seconds of each other.
We took a cotton swab and took pollen from the male flower and pollenated the female flower. I am not 100% sure bees and other insects are abundant enough in the garden. I see some throughout the day. Next year I will plant more things to attract more bees.
This year seems to be the beginning of a learning curve. I do a lot of research into gardening. One thing is learning what to do and when. I also want to make it easy to begin next season, since I am busy transporting hikers during a month in the spring.
steelereed.com 