I live in the south. And one thing that’s prolific in the south (besides biscuits and gravy, ripe peaches, country music, and pickup trucks) is pollen with a capital POLLEN. It’s quite literally everywhere in springtime — on your car, on your lawn furniture, on your mailbox, etc. And although I know it causes havoc for my friends with spring allergies, this same bothersome yellow powder enables future peaches to grow and beautiful flowers to bloom next year.
Perhaps it’s because my front yard is bursting with color both on the ground in my purple phlox and in the trees on my pink eastern redbud that I’m thinking more about pollen — particularly the idea of cross pollination.
Did you know there are some apple trees which won’t produce quality fruit unless they’re cross pollinated with a different type of apple tree? There’s a whole science dedicated to this, and a couple years ago we purchased two different types of apple trees so they could help our lone Gala tree out. (Unfortunately, a varmint got to the apples before we did, but this year I’m crossing my fingers I’ll get something from my Honeycrisp, Pink lady, and Gala trees.)
Cross pollination helps diversify a plant’s genetics and helps protect it against disease. But cross pollination isn’t just for plants; it’s also for ideas.
My husband once shared an article he’d read encouraging people to draw connections between seemingly disparate disciplines to create new, innovative approaches. And it’s surprising how many of these new ideas relate to processes found in nature.
For example, you might not think real estate development and hermit crabs would have much to do with one another. But after watching an ocean documentary with my kiddos, I couldn’t wait to show my husband (who works in commercial real estate development) a clip about these ingenious little crabs. In order to best maximize time and the real estate available, these little crustaceans voluntarily form a queue and swap homes. This is not unlike assembling a parcel for development. How nice it is when someone wants to sell a large piece of property they no longer need so a smaller business can have room to grow.
Similarly, you might not think social demographics and aging would have much to do with wildflowers. But here in Tennessee, we have a class of early spring bloomers called, “ephemerals.” (For those of you reading my novel, does this term ring any bells?) These are the plants which unfurl their leaves, open their petals, and go to seed before the overhead trees sprout their leaves and block sunlight from reaching the forest floor — and they have incredibly-accelerated life cycles.
It was discovering these interesting little plants on a nature hike (again, with my kiddos) which gave me the idea of a short story about a young woman who travels to a distant planet and ages rapidly. I later expanded that concept into a full-length novel which — should you care to subscribe to Cup & Quill — you can receive in your inbox chapter by chapter every Tuesday morning.
As I continue to grow as a writer and as a person, I’m interested in cross-pollinating with ideas which may seem different or even unrelated to my works at present. But who knows what unanticipated connections and innovations may spring forth in the future?
(I once came up with a great murder mystery plot point while taking communion at church … but that’s a story for another time. I'll be sharing my mystery come fall.)
And as a reward for making it all the way to the end of this post, here’s the afore-mentioned BBC Kids clip regarding hermit crabs:
Other Sources:
“Cross Pollination vs. Self Pollination.” Diffen.com. Accessed April 12, 2022. https://www.diffen.com/difference/Cross_Pollination_vs_Self_Pollination#:~:text=Cross%20pollination%20is%20advantageous%20because,travel%20from%20plant%20to%20plant.
Hedgepath, Randy. “The Ephemeral Season.” TNstateparks.com. March 19, 2015. Accessed on April 12, 2022. https://tnstateparks.com/blog/the-ephemeral-season.
Here's a quote from James Clerk Maxwell applying cross-pollination to scientists: “We are too apt to suppose that we are congregated here merely to be within reach of certain appliances of study, such as museums and laboratories, libraries and lectures, so that each of us may study what he prefers. I suppose that when the bees crowd round the flowers it is for the sake of the honey that they do so, never thinking that it is the dust which they are carrying from flower to flower which is to render possible a more splendid array of flowers and a busier crowd of bees in the years to come. We cannot therefore do better than improve the shining hour in helping forward the cross-fertilization of the Sciences.”
Awesome - great thoughts!