1. Select the pollen parent--

For simple flower forms, harvesting anthers is easy. Simply pull them out of the freshly opened flower with tweezers.

2. The falls have been broken and the standards removed to show the anthers.

The anthers are nestled under the style arms.

3. Using tweezers to remove the anthers, which hold the pollen.

4. Another view of the anthers.

5. Using a toothpick to extract the pollen from the anther.

The pollen should be ripe. If should appear "fluffy".

6. Pollen on the end of the toothpick.

7. Select the pod parent.

The flower of the pod parent should be selected before the flower opens. Remove the petals before a bee has had an opportunity to visit the flower.

8. Strip the petals, standards and anthers from the pod parent, leaving only the style arms.

9. Apply the pollen to the stygmatic lip on the underside of the style arm.

With bee pollination, the stygmatic lip scrapes the pollen from the bee's back.

10. Label the cross.....and cross your fingers.

11. Seed pod formed from hand pollination.

This cross was almost too successful, since the seedpod split before it matured, increasing the potential for attack by vermin. This photo was taken about 8 weeks after pollination.

12. Seed pods should be harvested before borers such as this one attack the seed.