Apricot blossom in the Wachau
it is particularly beautiful in March for the apricot blossom
By bike on the Danube Cycle Path from Passau to Vienna. When we cycle from Melk into the Wachau, we see the first apricot gardens shortly after Aggsbach before Aggstein.
Apricot blossom is self-fertilizing
The apricot trees are self-pollinators, which means that they are fertilized with pollen from their own flowers. You do not need any further pollen donors.
The flower has a flower bottom. The clover leaves are remnants of the buds through which the petals have penetrated. At first, the apricot flowers were only perceptible as white tips, as the following illustration shows.
Stamen and carpel
In the open flower, a distinction is made between stamen and carpel. The stamens are the male flower organs. They consist of the white stamens and the yellow anthers. The pollen, the pollen grains, is formed in the dust bags.
female and male
The female flower organ is the pistil. It consists of stigma, style and ovary. The pistil emerges from the ovary. Inside the ovary are the ovules.
Pollination: the apricot flowers depend on the transmission of pollen by insects, otherwise too little pollen gets on the scars. The pollen penetrates the scar. The ovules are only viable to a limited extent, so pollination should take place as soon as possible after flowering.
The pollen grains form a pollen tube that grows in the style up to the ovules. In cool weather, the growth of pollen tubes is slowed down, but the aging of the ovule is also slowed down by cool temperatures.
apricot
After pollination, depending on the weather, it takes 4 to 12 days to fertilize. When fertilized, a pollen grain merges with an egg in the ovary and the ovary develops into fruit.
This early apricot blossom is a feast for the eyes, a special natural spectacle. Let us hope that there is no frost that can damage the fruit after flowering so early.