Samorost 3 help needed: pollination "puzzle"

IN the pollination area of the game, I have these "plants(?)":
Three long ,greenish "elongated lemon" looking things, a spotted pink/red fruit, and a spiky green thing.
There is one white flower poking out of the third hole to the left of the spaceship.
Now: no matter WHAT I do, I cannot...EVER...combine any of these to get an "apple" from any of the flowers that the bee "pollinates."
I have no close-to-this-part-of-the-game save I can revert to,either....didn't happen to save much after first getting to this part of the game...I just continued playing. I can't get an apple from any combo, which according to the wierd help guide, is what I eventually need to do.
To confirm: I CAN get a red flower if I drop the pinkish spotted thing into one of the holes...but every time the bee pollinates the flower where I drop ANY of my fruits...the green things, the spotted thing or the spiky green thing...I get another long green thing. No combination of dropping any of the fruits produces a red flower and then an apple following pollination.
I've watched the online video walkthrough in this area, and it seems that it is hopeless. Basically, I got an apple quite a while back in my game, and without knowing what to do, stuck it in the ground, combined it with other things, and never got an apple...or a red flower which is what is needed to progress...since.
It's the most maddening puzzle I've EVER encountered in a game. The game has reached the point of being a nuisance now :-)
Any suggestions, other than replaying this whole portion of the game over(and having to endure those other maddening puzzles to GET to the pollination point of the game?).
I sincerely wish I could attach a picture here. Didn't realize i couldnt...
Thanks for any help. A game shouldn't be this much WORK!

Is there anything in this thread that might help you?

Otherwise, let's wait for another player to advise you.

Thanks for responding...yes, I read through this thread completely earlier this morning,actually...as it is apparently the ONLY post on the entire Internet that addresses this vexing part of the game.
Appears as if my big mistake was immediately picking up the apple from the red flower and NOT holding onto it. According to this thread, if this is what the gamer did ,you're pretty much out of luck, short of replaying to that point. I find it odd that the programmers of such a painstakingly detailed (and beautiful) game would make a portion of a game so impossible to get past (following such a random action taken by the player).
I hope there is a specific combination of plants to get me back to "apple" territory...we'll see if I'm fortunate enough to get a response here. Hard to believe that so few others have had the same issue. Or perhaps they simply haven't posted about it.
I simply don't want to have to replay a large portion of the game to get back to the point of having a red flower, despite truly enjoying this game.

I hope the game isn't that punitive for doing one thing "wrong." I remember much older games having problems such as that and it was always a trial.

Let's wait and see if there is possibly a workaround.

FINALLY figured it out, and seemingly it's SOMEWHAT simpler to get the onion than I originally thought.
If anyone gets stuck with this, here's something that;s not exactly a spoiler:
In the "hint book" that you unlock for each scene in the game, for this area's double hint-page, pay attention to the upper right diagram on the page to the right. Get the 3 flowers to appear as they do in this diagram (I did things randomly to achieve this): red flower in "A", white in "C" and the other color in "B".
Remember that the bee has to usually get tapped to suck a white flower first (in which case you wont get a fruit)...it is the 2nd flower the bee sucks that gives you a fruit. You wont ever get a fruit from the first flower he sucks. SO keep dropping things in and having the bee pollinate until you get the flower-color arrangement on the UPPER RIGHT diagram in this hint book section.
Then hit on the "B" flower (to the left) and you'll get the darn onion (which you have to yank out of the ground yourself). I simply kept plugging away until I got the right combo. It's VERY difficult overall, but once you get close, then it's not too difficult to ensure the 3 flower colors are setup.

I'm so glad you figured it out. And thanks for the info, which could prove to be helpful for other players.

The first time I did this puzzle I didn't have any problems. But the 2nd time I had so many apples I didn't know what to do with them all! Like you it was sort of trial and error, but I finally got it!