My zucchini are gay no more!

I have tried to grow zucchini for years, to no avail. Everyone says that zucchini are the easiest thing to grow, yet I've had no luck. My problem has been that the zucchini plants would only produce male flowers. Now, in order to get a zucchini, believe it or not, you need BOTH male and female flowers. The part of the plant just below the female flower is what actually turns into a zucchini if pollinated. So you need bees or other such flying insects to take the pollen from the male flowers and then land on the female flowers and pollinate them. The birds and bees (or the flowers and the bees), if you will.

So, each year, I have had plenty of male zucchini flowers, but for some reason, NO female flowers ever appeared, so I got NO zucchini. Ever. I kept complaining that I had gay (male) zucchini plants. All men, no women. (I really do mean this is a funny, loving way.)

But this year, I bought a large, healthy zucchini plant from the garden store, and planted it in the garden right in full sun, hoping for the best. The plant has grown, and has been flowering like crazy. But I couldn't see any zucchinis growing.

But today.... I saw them! Both male and female zucchini flowers, and a tiny baby zucchini starting to grow! YAY!

Here is the male zucchini flower. Note the long, thin stem:


And here...ta da!... is the female zucchini flower with the zucchini starting to grow!


Zucchini bread, here we come!