As one of nature’s most beautiful gifts, flowers grow in different types of climates and regions. The type of flower that flourishes in a specific region will depend on the climate and soil. There are different types of flowers with different lifecycles. Annual flowers are plants that complete their lifecycle in one season and biennial flowers take two years to complete there lifecycle. Flowers grow from seed germination to a mature plant that produces seeds. Monocots and Dicots are the two main classes of flowering plants.
For flower enthusiasts, how the seed becomes a mature plant is a helpful and informative story. The dicot class of plant seeds has two leaves in the plant embryo while the monocot seeds have one seed leaf. The plant embryo is very small and it is usually tricky to see where the stem ends and the root begins. There is an egg-shaped ovule within the ovary. The ovule is the part that develops into a seed. The embryonic root is called the radicle. The seed leaves contain food storage organs called cotyledons. The embryonic shoot is called the plumule. Depending on the environment where the particular plant lives, the outer layer will stop growing when the embryonic shoot (plumule) and embryonic root (radicle) over take the seed’s protective parts. Note that it doesn’t matter where the flower comes from – whether it be Newmarket flowers, or even Richmond hill flowers, the flower plant embryos do have these parts.
Germination is the period when the plant embryo begins to grow. There can be either external or internal influences that will cause a plant embryo to begin to develop. For instance, some seeds can be prompted to grow by manually cracking the seed coat. In the environment, freezing and thawing can cause a seed to crack open. As well, giving the seed water will cause it to absorb the water which decreases oxygen and thereby decreases anaerobic respiration. This decrease will cause the seed coat to crack which allows oxygen to enter the embryo. A fresh supply of oxygen with the water helps to fuel enzyme activity and this causes the seed to start developing. As well, in some plants, the warming temperatures and sunlight are needed to stimulate the process of germination.
Some flowers are produced as single plants while other flowers are produced in clusters. The clusters are referred to as inflorescences, which are one peduncle with a number of small stalks called pedicels, supporting individual flowers. There are a number of different ways that plant seeds spread to different growing spots. The wind can pick up and transport lightweight seeds for many miles. Birds are known for getting seeds stuck in their feet and carrying and releasing them in another area. As well, ants pick up and carry seeds to different areas, and bees are well known pollinators.
When one produces flowers at home by mechanical means, it is important to try to match the natural environment as much as possible. Every flower garden enthusiast knows the pleasure of growing flowers and how pleasing they are to the eye. Knowledge of the plant’s development will help when growing beautiful and stunning flowers in a garden or in the home.
