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Why are so many spring flowers yellow, with other colours (such as blues and reds) appearing later?
Mike Follows
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, UK
The first flowers of spring are often white or yellow due to what pollinates them: a broad range of insects, including flies. Flies don’t have colour perception, so they are attracted to contrast, and light colours stand out better against green foliage.
Though perhaps apocryphal, it is said that John Hertz, famous for starting the Yellow Cab Company in 1915 (and his subsequent eponymous car-hire business), decided on the iconic yellow colour for his cabs as…
