Why does a flower want visitors?

While a bee drinks, yellow dust called pollen sticks to it. When the bee visits the next flower of the same kind, it carries that pollen along. Pollen from another flower lets a flower make seeds, and seeds grow into new plants.

Do all flowers smell sweet?

Some flowers have a strong smell instead of a sweet one. That kind of smell calls different visitors, like beetles and flies. So each flower's smell helps bring the right visitors to carry its pollen.

Why do flowers smell nice?

Roo answers for ages 4–10, then goes 2 steps deeper each time a child asks why.

Roo says

Flowers make a sweet drink called nectar, and lots of insects love it. A flower's smell drifts through the air, and bees and butterflies follow it to find the drink. So a lovely smell is the flower's way of calling visitors over.

For ages 4–7

Checked against Pollination (Australian Museum)
Why does a flower want visitors?

While a bee drinks, yellow dust called pollen sticks to it. When the bee visits the next flower of the same kind, it carries that pollen along. Pollen from another flower lets a flower make seeds, and seeds grow into new plants.

For ages 6–9

Checked against Pollination (Australian Museum)
Do all flowers smell sweet?

Some flowers have a strong smell instead of a sweet one. That kind of smell calls different visitors, like beetles and flies. So each flower's smell helps bring the right visitors to carry its pollen.

For ages 7–10

Checked against Pollination (Australian Museum)