TreeDazzled

New giant palm species flowers itself to death

This article is so amazing that I find myself asking if it is real, or a hoax:

Botanists on Thursday announced they had identified a new species of palm that is so enormous it can be spotted from space and whose bizarre life cycle requires the plant to kill itself after it has flowered.

The gigantic, pyramid-shaped plant was discovered accidentally by a French family walking in remote north-western Madagascar, according to the publishers of their study.

The palm's trunk is more than 18m high and its leaves are an extraordinary 5m in diameter, which could make them the largest known to date among flowering plants.

A French couple, Xavier and Nathalie Metz, who run a cashew farm in Madagascar, stumbled upon the palm as they were walking with their family at a limestone outcrop in the hills of Analalava district, Blackwell said. Stunned by the sight, they took pictures of it and posted them on the web.

Very disappointing that there isn't a picture.  A Google search for the couple turns up nothing but a bunch of genealogy web sites.  Does anybody have access to the famous picture?

Link: New giant palm species flowers itself to death.

Guilt-Free Pollution. Or Is It?

This article is sceptical about carbon offsets:

The operations reflect a new consciousness about climate change, but scientists and environmental watchdogs say that the carbon trading actually may be producing little of real value to the environment. “These companies may be operating with the best will in the world, but they are doing so in settings where it’s not really clear you can monitor and enforce their projects over time,” said Steve Rayner, a senior professor at Oxford and a member of a group working on reducing greenhouse gases for the International Panel on Climate Change. “What these companies are allowing people to do is carry on with their current behavior with a clear conscience.”

I, too, am sceptical. But these articles need to offer some real alternatives to buying offsets, not just scepticism. What can a concerned commuter do to offset his use of fossil fuels that is truly effective? Buy a new Prius, perhaps? Of course, there are sceptical articles about those, too.

Link: Guilt-Free Pollution. Or Is It? - New York Times.

A Tree-Hugger Shows Her Affection With a Saw

I have to admit that I prefer my trees au natural.  I'm not sure if I can't stomach using a saw on a living thing, or whether I'm just too lazy to learn to prune correctly, but pruning isn't easy for me.  Nevertheless, Anne Raver's most recent article is a nice summary and how-to.  The article also has some nice book recommendations:

I HAD actually been waiting for a hard freeze so I could go out and prune my old pear tree. Those 60- and 70-degree days in my garden last month made me wonder if the shrubs and trees, with their bulging buds, would ever go dormant.  So when the arctic weather rolled in two weeks ago, I put on my long underwear and went looking for my trusty tools: bypass pruning shears, a folding hand saw and loppers.

Link: A Tree-Hugger Shows Her Affection With a Saw - New York Times.

Climate Panel Issues Urgent Warning to Curb Gases

It is truly sad to read the heartrending urgency of the message in this report, and to know that the world is incapable of responding to it effectively.  I've come to believe that mild climate change and dramatic environmental change will happen in my lifetime.  I think that these issues will dominate the globe's attention for the next century:

The report released here represented the fourth assessment since 1990 by the group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations, of the causes and consequences of climate change. But for the first time the group asserted with near certainty — more than 90 percent confidence — that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases from human activities were the main drivers of warming since 1950.

If carbon dioxide concentrations reach twice their pre-industrial levels, the report said, the climate will likely warm some 3.5 to 8 degrees. But there would be more than a one in 10 chance of much greater warming, a situation many earth scientists say poses an unacceptable risk.

Even an increased level of warming that falls in the middle of the group’s range of projections would likely cause significant stress to ecosystems and alter longstanding climate patterns that shape water supplies and agricultural production, according to many climate experts and biologists.

There was a report on NPR this morning that inadvertantly highlighted the incredible cluelessness of most of the US population about these issues.  The report was about a "biodiesel road trip" taken by a reporter and a biodiesel enthusiastic.  During the trip, the travelers stopped at a truck stop to get some thoughts about biodiesel from the truckers.  As expected, opinions differed, which is entirely justified in the case of biodiesel (I'm not a fan, myself).  But one of the truckers, after giving his opinion, went on to say (in paraphrase): "Anything to do with the environmentalists, I'm against it.  It's all a scam."  How can we expect people with these views--and there are a lot of them--to get behind the incredible sacrifices that would be required to have a perceptible impact on global warming?  Maybe we should tackle the US education system as well as the global environment.

Within the next week, I am planning to go carbon neutral.  I embarrassed not to have done so already.  Those of you who have already done this: please share your experiences.  Those of you who haven't: please educate yourselves.  Personally, after reading the linked report, I'm considering the Climate Trust.  I will write up a post about my experience getting this done on my blog.

Link: Climate Panel Issues Urgent Warning to Curb Gases - New York Times.

In the Rockies, Pines Die and Bears Feel It

This article about the relationship between mountain pine beetles and grizzly bears struck a chord with me. I've been worried for some time that global warming might lead to the extinction of certain tree species within my lifetime, as niche environments change and weakened trees succumb to various threats. This article makes the case that extinction of the whitebark pine, Pinus albicaulis, is a real possibility in the not-so-distant future:

Dr. Logan enters the fray on the question of what grizzly bears eat, how much of it will be available in the future, and where. All that, he says, hinges on the mountain pine beetle and the whitebark pine.

The tree (Pinus albicaulis) has no value as commercial timber. But gnarled and bushy whitebark pines anchor the timberline in much of the West. They hold the soil for other vegetation to get a foothold, and they trap snow, prolonging the spring runoff.

They are slow-growing trees and may not even bear cones until they are a half-century old. In the late 19th century, the naturalist John Muir counted rings in a weatherbeaten example high in California’s Sierra Nevada. Its trunk was just six inches across. To his astonishment it was 426 years old.

The beetle’s usual targets were once midaltitude lodgepole and ponderosa pines. But it has begun extending its range as it adapts to warming temperatures in the Rockies — two degrees since the mid-1970s. As a result, it has been killing whitebark pines at altitudes in the Rockies and the Cascades of Oregon and Washington that would have once been too cold.

Beetle attacks have added to the toll taken by a disease called white pine blister rust. In the northern Rockies, the beetle infests 143,000 acres. Entire forest vistas, like that at Avalanche Ridge near Yellowstone National Park’s east gate, are expanses of dead, gray whitebarks.

“We are very worried the whitebarks may be locally extirpated, if not driven extinct,” said Diana Tomback, professor of biology at the University of Colorado, Denver, and president of the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, a nonprofit organization. One recent Forest Service study suggested that in the next century a global warming would reduce by 90 percent the acreage that has the kind of cold and high altitude climate where the trees now grow.

If you love trees, then this article is worth a very close read. Some of the quotes from folks who have spent their careers studying the biology of this ecosystem--and who are now watching it disappear, year by year--are heartbreaking, both for the destruction described and for the obvious distress of those quoted.

Link: In the Rockies, Pines Die and Bears Feel It - New York Times.

Fund will bring 20,000 trees to Houston

I was jealous when one of the folks over at GardenWeb was getting ready to plant 600 seedlings. But that effort pales in comparison to the planting of 20,000 trees in Houston. I wish I could be there!

You can help plant 20,000 trees along Will Clayton Parkway on Saturday in what organizers say is the largest volunteer tree-planting in Houston's history. "It's going to be a big deal. Really, it's going to be a party," said Gary Woods with Trees for Houston, a nonprofit organization that promotes protection and planting of trees. Saturday's event is part of the Houston Area Freeway and Forestation Project sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble. In 2006, Poe obtained $28.5 million in funding for beautification, erosion prevention and flood-control programs in the Houston area. That funding will bear fruit, or at least put down roots, this weekend as Poe, community leaders, Trees for Houston, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department and the Texas Department of Transportation join forces for the Arbor Day 2007 tree-planting.

Of course, I can't imagine that this push will bring Houston even close to what California has accomplished on its highways. I don't know why California highways are so beautifully landscaped, but it must cost a lot of money and I'm very grateful for it.

Link: Fund will bring 20,000 trees to Houston | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle.

Study hopeful for world's forests

I found this report to be absolutely remarkable, and very hopeful:

When the technique was applied to data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) Global Forest Assessment report, the researchers found that forest stocks had actually expanded over the past 15 years in 22 of the world's 50 most forested nations. They also showed increases in biomass and carbon storage capacity in about half of the 50 countries. But the data also revealed that forest area and biomass was still in decline in Brazil and Indonesia, home to some of the world's most important rainforests.

It is hard to imagine that this could be true. The next step is to start expanding forests worldwide. I never imagined that forests could be expanded again, until humans have been removed from the planet. But if we can stabilize forest losses, then perhaps we can start to move forward someday.

It is very interesting to me that this study measured timber volumes, biomass and captured carbon - not just land areas covered by trees. Is it possible that relatively local interventions, such as tree-planting within cities, are having a significant global impact?

Link: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Study hopeful for world's forests.

Collector's Nursery quitting business 50% off sale

Sadly, this nursery in Battle Ground, WA is going out of business. They have a lot of conifers that will be going cheaply. Stop by if you are in the area:

16804 NE 102nd Ave.
Battle Ground, WA 98604

Link: Collector's Nursery.

God Can Make a Tree, But Olaf Ribeiro Can Save Its Life

This article tells the story of Olaf Ribeiro, a plant pathologist who saves old trees one at a time.  Check out the description of the "air spade":

Trees are dying in large numbers in cities all over the country. American Forests, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that fights for preserving trees in urban areas, says satellite reconnaissance shows metropolitan areas in the eastern U.S. have lost 30% of their tree cover in the past 20 years.

Dr. Ribeiro sees the loss of trees as unnecessary. In fact, he is trying to prove that trees can live forever given the right conditions. As an expert in plant diseases like the fungus that caused the 19th-century Irish Potato Famine, Dr. Ribeiro believes the key to tree longevity is in the dirt.  Trees have evolved in sync with a complex underground world that nourishes them and keeps them healthy. Farmland cultivation, construction, foot traffic and pollution have upset the balance, cutting short trees' lives, argues the energetic, 68-year-old Dr. Ribeiro, who runs a private lab near Seattle that specializes in diagnosing diseases in crops and trees. He believes that if the original microbial activity around the tree could be duplicated, "There's no reason the tree shouldn't go on living."  To be sure, saving individual old trees is criticized by some tree experts, who deride it as "geriatric forestry." Rescues are labor-intensive and expensive, at prices that can run up to $30,000 per tree. Eric Oldar, who works for the California Department of Forestry, worries that too much focus on single trees could detract from the larger problem of cities eating away at the nation's forest canopy.

The team relies heavily on the air spade, a long-handled tube with a half-moon shield connected to an air compressor. The tool, designed to help excavate trees for moving, blasts away the dirt with high-pressure air that leaves roots undamaged.

First, I could go for an air spade.  If anyone wants to send one, please don't hesitate.

Second, even being the tree lover that I am, I have to doubt the value of such intensive care for single trees.  This guy might literally be missing the forest for the trees.  I love trees, but I love forests even more.

Link: God Can Make a Tree, But Olaf Ribeiro Can Save Its Life - WSJ.com.

Forsaken Mermaids

I grew up not very far from Blue Spring.  The springs are beautiful almost beyond description--these are the real wonders of Florida and often missed by tourists who stick to the coasts.  You can find nicer beaches in lots of places, but massive, miraculous springs like Blue Spring are rare indeed.  Now this:

The famous oceanographer Jacques Cousteau first visited northeast Florida's Blue Spring to report on the plight of the manatee in 1970. The picture then was grim. Pleasure boats jammed the creek that flows out of the spring, and the eleven manatees that sought refuge in the spring's warm waters were being harassed. Some people rode them with rope harnesses; some animals had initials carved in their backs. Even the youngest calves had propeller scars from collisions with boats traveling too fast. Then Mr. Cousteau and his son, produced a television documentary called, "The Forgotten Mermaids" and everything changed.

Floridians opened their hearts to the plant-eating mammal. Blue Spring was protected as a state park. All Florida waters became a sanctuary for manatees. The manatee population rebounded. But now the slow moving manatee has run into a new challenge.

The St. Johns River Water Management District, when it next meets on Oct. 10 may allow withdrawals that will diminish blue spring by 16 percent from its current volume---and decrease the amount of warm habitat for the animals by 37 percent. To understand the significance of that, it helps to know something about how the spring used to flow and how springs are connected underground throughout the Florida peninsula.

The idea of taking water from Blue Spring strikes me as, literally, insane.  This theft would be bad for Blue Spring, bad for the manatees, and, heck, bad for Florida.  Florida should really be avoiding further development, not courting it.

Link: Living on Earth: October 6, 2006 (transcript).

Link: Living on Earth: October 6, 2006 (scroll down for links to audio).

Eye-Catching Images of Nature, Made With a Common Machine

I don't know what to say about these beautiful images...you just have to see them. They were made by Dr. Thomas Eisner, an emeritus professor at Cornell, who had to develop a new medium for expressing his love of nature after Parkinson's Disease limited his mobility.

Link: Eye-Catching Images of Nature, Made With a Common Machine - New York Times.

How to make roses from maple leaves

This is a really cool, quick project that gives wonderful results. The linked page speaks for itself!

Link: How to make roses from maple leaves | haha.nu - a lifestyle blogzine.

Bulbs can be planted once soil temps are below 60

The bulb auger sounds great! I find it very time-consuming to plant bulbs so deep in the ground by hand.

"Bulbs can be planted when the soil temperatures are below 60 degrees, which generally occurs in September and early October," according David Robson, horticulture educator for the University of Illinois Extension.

Bulb augers fitted to electric drills make planting individual bulbs easy, or a large area can be dug out for mass planting, according to the Extension. When putting the bulbs in the ground, add a handful bonemeal and 1 rounded teaspoon of 10-10-10 fertilizer per square foot to encourage strong plants and good rooting.

Link: Bulbs can be planted once soil temps are below 60.

Herbs that add spice to a garden

I've never even heard of "lemon balm," but I like the idea of an herb reaching 90 cm:

Native to southern Europe, the lemon balm (Melissa Officinalis) attains a height of around 60-90cm. Melissa comes from the Greek for 'honey bee' and the lemon balm has the same healing and tonic properties as honey and royal jelly. In the garden, it is wonderful, planted to the front of a border where you can easily brush against it to release its intoxicating lemon-scent.

Link: Gulf Daily News.

Smells like trouble

I've never even heard of the dodder...is it real? Are there any readers out there with this problem? Maybe you should start planting tomatoes as decoys!

The parasitic dodder plant doesn't have a nose, but it knows how to sniff out its prey.

The dodder attacks such plants as tomatoes, carrots, onions, citrus trees, cranberries, alfalfa and even flowers, and is a problem for farmers because chemicals that kill the pesky weed also damage the crops it feeds on. So discovering how it finds its prey might help lead to a way to block the weed, or for crops to defend themselves, say researchers at Pennsylvania State University.

The question of how dodder finds a host plant has puzzled researchers. Many thought it simply grew in a random direction, with discovery of a plant to attack being a chance encounter.

But the researchers led by Consuelo M. De Moraes found that if they placed tomato plants near a germinating dodder, the parasite headed for the tomato 80 percent of the time.

And when they put scent chemicals from a tomato on rubber, 73 percent of the dodder seedlings headed that way.

Link: Northwest Florida Daily News: Smells like trouble: Parasitic weed sniffs out its prey.

It's not too early for bulbs

This is a nice "how-to" for forcing bulbs.  I haven't tried it but it sounds quite simple.

If you are considering forced bulbs for your own home or as gifts, now is the time to get started. Preparation is key to success--the rest is easy.

Think of this process as "fooling" rather than "forcing." The bulbs have to be fooled into thinking that they have been underground for a cool few weeks, before they begin to sprout and bloom. Timing varies according to species, but even the fastest worker needs at least 10 weeks to chill out. Exceptions are Amaryllis, and the Narcissus Paper Whites that need only about six weeks and do not require a cold period.

I was intrigued by this tidbit:

Don't expect too much from this bulb. Once fooled, bulbs learn and are cautious. They might bloom again, but with less vigor, if only to provide you with a little color and a happy memory of former glory!

Is this true?  Do any readers out there know why?

Link: Exeter News-Letter Community News: It's not too early for bulbs.

Restoration of Emiquon may begin next year

It is amazing to me that these resilient seeds can lie around for decades and still germinate!

Also amazing that the lakes revive so quickly, wildlife included. Or perhaps it isn't so surprising...I can remember from my childhood in Florida that tadpoles would appear in puddles of water after just a week or two.

Restoration of The Nature Conservancy's 7,100-acre Emiquon Preserve west of the Illinois River could begin in earnest sometime in 2007 now that agreements between the conservancy and the federal government have been completed.

....

Beverlin said the conservancy conducted a trial run of sorts in 2004 by allowing about 500 acres of water to return to the preserve. Despite 80 years of tillage and intensive agriculture, the lakebeds remained pretty much intact, and waterfowl returned almost as quickly as the water.

As the work progresses, the NRCS will monitor progress at the site and provide an additional $500,000 to support technical work. Planners expect wetland plant seeds - lying dormant in the soil for decades - to revive when proper conditions return.

Link: SJ-R.COM - Restoration of Emiquon may begin next year.

Wollemi Pine Release in the US

I am trying to decide whether I can bear to spend $100 for a Wollemi Pine that will almost certainly perish in zone 5/6. I'm thinking that...yes, yes, yes, I can bear it!

From the e-mail Newsletter:

The Wollemi Pine will be released in the US this October as part of a special offer by National Geographic with proceeds from sales to fund National Geographic mission programs, including support for botanical research and studies.

The eagerly anticipated release is scheduled to be announced on September 19 at National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington, DC and celebrated with a planting of a Wollemi Pine on the company grounds on September 22.

Prior to this exciting public announcement, Wollemi Pine Conservation Club Members will be given the chance to order in advance of the official release date. Only a limited supply of the coveted “dinosaur pine” will be available in this initial release, and it is expected to generate widespread demand.

The Pines will retail at $99.95 for an approximately 10” tall plant and will be available via the National Geographic Holiday Catalog (888-225-5647) and at the National Geographic online shop from November 15, 2006.

Link: Wollemi Pine Preorder.

Aspen Trees Die Mysteriously in Rockies

This chilling story is a must-listen:

A symbol of the American West, the aspen tree, is dying quickly and mysteriously. Scientists are scrambling to get to the causes of the epidemic, which is threatening mountain communities that depend on the famed trees natural beauty to draw tourists.

Aspen trees were the ones that got me hooked on trees and the first I ever planted. I haven't noticed a lot of aspens dying in the Lake Tahoe region, though. I wonder how far this problem has spread. I will try to do some digging on this story to see if I can get details.

Link: NPR : Aspen Trees Die Mysteriously in Rockies.

Even in winter, Arctic ice melting

I noticed this article yesterday morning on the way to work:

The vast expanses of ice floating in the Arctic Sea are melting in winter as well as in the summer, likely because of global warming, NASA scientists said Wednesday.

And if the ice continued to melt at the current rate, Comiso said, it could have profound effects on all life in the Arctic and other consequences around the world. Particularly hard hit would be the polar bears, which live on the ice, he said. Sea ice also provides oxygen-rich cold water needed for the growth of phytoplankton. A decline in the number of the tiny plants could have a cascading effect on the food supply of fish and crustaceans, seals and the other marine mammals.

The size of this summer's Arctic ice won't be known for a few weeks because it usually reaches its smallest size the third week of September. Last year, scientists found that polar ice twice the size of Texas had melted since NASA started compiling satellite data 27 years ago. Scientists said there could be no ice left in the Arctic in the summer by the end of the century.

I figured that this story would be really big news, featured prominently on Google News and various blogs. Nope. Looks like folks don't care much about Artic ice. I bet they will, though, when it's gone.

Link: EVEN IN WINTER, ARCTIC ICE MELTING / Alarmed scientists warn that polar thawing threatens wildlife and is 'strongest evidence yet of global warming' in region.

Eureka! New tallest living thing discovered

OK, yes, this is cheap tree porn--but I find it irresistible:

The Stratosphere Giant, the world's reigning tallest living tree, seems to have lost its title -- to not one but three contenders.

Like the 370-foot Giant, the three trees are coast redwoods. They were discovered this summer in Redwood National Park near Eureka by a team of California researchers who spend most of their free time bushwhacking through North Coast forests in search of taller and taller trees. So far, the group has found about 135 redwoods that reach higher than 350 feet, said team member Chris Atkins, the man credited with finding the Stratosphere Giant in August 2000 in nearby Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

The tallest of the three new finds, a redwood named Hyperion, measures 378.1 feet. Next in line, Helios, stands at 376.3 feet; Icarus, the third, reaches 371.2 feet.

Redwood experts say the discovery is a bit surprising considering that so much of the state's redwood forests have been logged. Although officials decline to pinpoint the exact locations of the tall trees, the stand found by Atkins and fellow amateur naturalist Michael Taylor were protected less than 30 years ago by an expansion of the national park's boundary.

My favorite part might be the description of "a team of California researchers who spend most of their free time bushwhacking through North Coast forests in search of taller and taller trees." Does this count as research? Sounds like too much fun to be called research.

378 feet. Wow.

Link: Eureka! New tallest living thing discovered / THE CHAMPION: At 378.1 feet, Hyperion in Redwood National Park on North Coast towers 8 feet above Stratosphere Giant.

550-year-old Long Island oak tree falls

I wish I'd known about this tree--I would have gone to see it. Too late now, I guess.

An oak tree that stood in a Long Island village for about 550 years has fallen.

Lloyd Harbor's Big Oak was believed to be the oldest black oak tree in North America. Lloyd Harbor's mayor says the tree split in half and fell early Sunday. The cause was Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Incredibly:

Earlier this year some of its limbs were cut off and used to make a table that sits in the Lloyd Harbor village hall boardroom.

Link: 13WHAM-TV || Rochester - 550-year-old Long Island oak tree falls.

Children arrested, DNA tested, interrogated and locked up... for playing in a tree

OK, go ahead, flame me for saying so but...I think it is admirable that the police took their duty to protect the public land seriously.

To the 12-year-old friends planning to build themselves a den, the cherry tree seemed an inviting source of material.

But the afternoon adventure turned into a frightening ordeal for Sam Cannon, Amy Higgins and Katy Smith after they climbed into the 20ft tree - then found themselves hauled into a police station and locked in cells for up to two hours.

Their shoes were removed and mugshots, DNA samples and mouth swabs were taken.

Officers told the children they had been seen damaging the tree which is in a wooded area of public land near their homes.

I guess I have to admit that a warning seems sufficient. But, speaking from experience, it isn't easy to keep kids from destroying trees on public land. You can chase them off and they come back the next day. Parents need to teach their children that trees take decades to grow and minutes to destroy. I've been astounded to watch parents actually pull up seedlings from public land in order to clear a track for bike racing by their children.

Link: Children arrested, DNA tested, interrogated and locked up... for playing in a tree | the Daily Mail.

The Bulb Hunter

This article is a truly inspiring story about a young guy who has followed his heart and done something cool.  The obvious bits are interesting enough:

Mr. Wiesinger makes a living finding pretty things in ravaged places. In 2004 he started the Southern Bulb Company with the aim of reintroducing flowers long out of vogue, committing himself exclusively to those that have ably asserted themselves against the particular cruelties of exceedingly hot weather for decades, even centuries.

Drawing on a business plan he devised three years ago as a senior in Texas A&M's horticulture program, he collects the bulbs and propagates them on his small farm in Mineola, about two hours east of Dallas. Afterward, he distributes them to nurseries and over the Internet through his Web site, southernbulbs.com.

But there are many other interesting tidbits, including the unusual lifestyle of the friends who run the company together.  Also interesting--and disheartening--was the news that this young nursery isn't profitable yet.  I find it discouraging to think that this guy is providing such valuable material and getting so little in return.  In fact, I'm continually amazed by the relatively low prices fetched by plants and plant materials.  Maybe gardeners are instinctively cheap people.

Link: The Bulb Hunter - New York Times.

Dry Seasons -- Not Brush -- Spur Wildfires

I'm not surprised.

A new study finds that heat waves are the most significant driving force in western wildfires. Since 1980, when fire activity increased sharply, the weather has mattered far more than the amount of built-up brush and other factors that are often blamed for destructive fires.

I've become convinced that the wild trees I love so much will be largely wiped out within my lifetime.  I haven't been convinced by any one story similar to the above...I've been convinced by the endless parade of similar stories.  It seems that climate change is real, and that the process will cause a multitude of predictable and unpredictable changes.

Link: NPR : Study: Dry Seasons -- Not Brush -- Spur Wildfires.

Tower of sunflowers becomes a shady haven

I've recently run across this idea someplace else, I can't recall where at the moment:

It won't take long to cultivate a love of gardening in your kids with this planting project: a shady playhouse of towering sunflowers. The cheery getaway is the brainchild of Hans Leo, the educational assistant at Bramble Hill Farm in Amherst, Mass., where local schoolkids get to pitch in with the planting, weeding and watering.

Leo came up with the idea after reading about how Indians in Canada created temporary lodges out of live saplings by tying together the upper branches to form a roof.

That sounds like an awful lot of fun to me. Getting young kids to stay away from the tender sunflowers when they are young might be challenging, though.

Also, the thought of trying this project in the fog-drenched, snail-infested Sunset district of San Francisco sounds like an exercise in frustration. Time to move to Marin, I guess.

Link: Tower of sunflowers becomes a shady haven.

Small Bug Is Big Threat to Trees in Illinois

It is hard for me to imagine anything more demoralizing than watching your trees get slowly killed off by some bug. Could an individual homeowner protect individual trees by persistent spraying?

After watching her stately ash trees lose leaves and sprout mysterious green shoots, ReBecca Mathewson discovered a tiny metallic green bug snared in a spider web hanging off one of the sorry trees.

She promptly trapped the culprit in a jar and sent it to the proper authorities (the United States Department of Agriculture), setting off an investigation by agriculture officials here. They deemed Ms. Mathewson's the first emerald ash borer beetle ever found in Illinois. The insect, deadly to trees, has threatened millions of ash in the Midwest in recent years.

As surveyors searched neighborhoods around this township about 40 miles west of Chicago for telltale signs of the beetles — thinning leaves, tiny holes in the trunks of ash trees and leafy shoots growing from their bases — officials began trying to identify the size and scope of an infestation they fear could destroy many of the roughly 131 million ash trees in this state, and perhaps more elsewhere.

Link: Small Bug Is Big Threat to Trees in Illinois - New York Times.

The City’s urban forest fading

This is a shame:

The Urban Forest Plan, presented to a Board of Supervisors committee Wednesday, warns that The City’s 668,000 trees are dying at a quicker rate than The City is planting new ones. “The shrinking of San Francisco’s urban forest must be halted and the trend reversed. Now is the critical time to reinvest in the urban forest,” the report said.

The report comes as Mayor Gavin Newsom has pledged to plant 5,000 new trees next year.

Truthfully, I'm a bit surprised. San Francisco has a huge number of lovely street trees. I find this information shocking:

When seen from above, 12 percent of The City is covered in greenery, whereas 28 percent of New York City and 34 percent of Seattle is covered in greenery.

I can believe that Seattle has more greenery than San Francisco--but New York? This has to be due to the large size of central park rather than to street trees.

In any case, the street trees in our cities are jewels worth preserving. Please support the funding necessary to maintain them.

Link: Report: The City’s urban forest fading - Examiner.com.

Summer challenges

I'd been forgetting that rain will leach the nitrogen out of your soil:

Nitrogen is quite water soluble so the endless days of rain have probably leached most of the available nitrogen out of your garden soil.

But this strikes me as a crazy way to test for nitrogen availability:

The easiest way to see if your plants need nitrogen is to pay attention to their leaf color. Get used to what is normal for your plants and when they start to turn a more yellowish or pale green chances are good they could use a boost of nitrogen.

When your plants are yellow, they are on the way out!

Link: The Press Republican - Summer challenges.

Abruptly, an End Comes for a Garden Shangri-La

This is just tragic. Heronswood nursery probably never made a whole lot of money, and Burpee shouldn't have bothered buying it. My guess is that this outcome was predictable long ago. The quote from Hinkley is telling.

ON May 30, the Heronswood Nursery gardens in Kingston, Wash., the horticultural paradise that Daniel J. Hinkley and Robert Jones started 19 years ago with a single truckload of rare plants — which eventually grew into a collection that would change the face of American gardening — were closed by W. Atlee Burpee & Company, the nursery's corporate owner. Mr. Hinkley said in a telephone interview that George Ball, Burpee's C.E.O., and three of his staff members came that day from Burpee's Pennsylvania properties to dismiss Mr. Hinkley and most of the nursery's 24 employees.

Mr. Hinkley said that there had been early signs of trouble after Burpee bought Heronswood six years ago, but that the nursery had continued to operate pretty much as it had. Still, he said, he and Mr. Jones spent "six years waiting for the crash you know is coming."

It is an increasingly familiar story, in this industry and others: a small specialty nursery known for unique plants is bought by a larger company hoping to take advantage of its cutting-edge appeal and to get new plants for mass marketing. What ensues is invariably a loss of diversity — as the new owner narrows the selection of plants, choosing mainly those it thinks will have mass appeal — and, often, a loss of the vision that made the nursery attractive to begin with.

Link: Abruptly, an End Comes for a Garden Shangri-La - New York Times.

Scientist fined for smuggling plant seeds

You just might be a criminal if...

Susan Davies, 56, also known as Susan Gardiner, a senior scientist at a horticultural research agency, pleaded guilty in Palmerston North District Court on Tuesday to two counts of breaching the Biosecurity Act.

1.  You are known by more than one name.

Last March, a parcel from Britain addressed to Davies was intercepted at Auckland International Airport.

It contained 26 packets of seeds and an order form listing 52 rhododendron species, six of which are illegal to import into New Zealand.

Davies had written on the order form: "Please post my seeds in a plain, unmarked envelope with no indication of contents to ensure smooth arrival in New Zealand." Another parcel of seeds addressed to Davies was also intercepted.

2.  You frequently use the phrase "plain, unmarked" in your communications with others.

Link: New Zealand news on Stuff.co.nz: Scientist fined for smuggling plant seeds.

Ice caps melting faster than forecast

This is a sad, sad story that is going to get sadder every year:

Global warming of only a couple of degrees Celsius projected by the end of this century is enough to trigger widespread melting of the massive Greenland ice cap and the partial collapse of Antarctica's ice sheets, prominent climate researchers warn in two studies published yesterday.

Do you think that our governments are ready to handle these changes?  A better question might be: does anybody think that our governments are ready to handle these changes?

Link: TheStar.com - Ice caps melting faster than forecast.

Using certified potatoes will increase yields

This explains why potatoes don't seem to "grow" like they did when I was a boy:

Since potatoes are susceptible to several serious diseases, buy certified, disease-free potatoes at garden centers and mail-order nurseries. Potatoes that remain from last year’s crop may carry undetectable diseases. Potatoes purchased at supermarkets (for table use) have usually been treated to prevent sprouting.

This is a shame for a lazy gardener like me. I might plant a few potatoes from my kitchen, but can't picture myself ordering certified potatoes online.

Link: QCTimes.com - The Quad-City Times Newspaper Features.

Doubts over 'extinct' woodpecker

Come on, people!

Scientists in the US are arguing over the identity of a bird filmed in 2004 which was heralded as the long-extinct ivory-billed woodpecker.

Researchers in Massachusetts said the interpretation of several of the bird's features was "mistaken".

However, experts at Cornell University, who identified the bird two years ago, have dismissed the new claims.

I'm tempted to head down to Arkansas and settle this thing personally.

Link: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Doubts over 'extinct' woodpecker.

Fuzzy melons, curly beans

These sound wonderful, though veggies aren't really my thing:

Black Cherry' tomatoes — dark juicy morsels with a tart-sweet essence and glistening maroon color that stands out in a salad or frittata. 'Anellino' beans — curled like green and gold pigs' tails with buttery Romano-like flavor and texture. 'Papaya Pear' zucchini — sunshine-yellow summer squash that glow like tiny papayas.

Link: Fuzzy melons, curly beans - Los Angeles Times.

Are your earthworms hungry?

This author makes the controversial assertion that peat moss is nearly a sustainable resource:

The Canadian peat industry is committed to making peat moss a sustainable resource.

Only one acre in every 6,000 is harvested, and when harvesting stops, the bogs are restored to functioning peatlands. For more information on peat and the environment, visit the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association's Web site at www.peatmoss. com.

I don't think that the situation is as clear as she makes out. Leaves are free and widely available...why use peat?

Link: Are your earthworms hungry?.

Get serious about planting your vegetable garden

I want in-floor heating in my bathroom! Not for my tomato seeds, but for my feet. Carol Bray has it all wrong!

Some of you might be lucky enough to have in-floor heating in your bathrooms. This is the best place to start your tomato plants from seeds. Tomato plants like to have warm bottoms.

Link: Get serious about planting your vegetable garden.

The Bayou State’s floral ambassador

I'd agree with Dan's assessment:

The Louisiana iris is a floral ambassador that has carried our state’s name all over the world.

Gardeners in many countries grow these, and Louisiana iris is the name used worldwide.

Their extraordinary beauty and reliability in the garden have made them increasingly popular, but they still deserve more recognition and use here in their home territory.

I should try some myself. Check it out:

Link: 2theadvocate.com | Features | The Bayou State’s floral ambassador: Louisiana iris.

Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis

Miraculously, Francis managed to get a picture of this flower, despite its blooming for only one day each year:

Pretty? Yes. Worth working a year to view for only one day? No.

The article also contains this interesting tidbit:

Bloodroot was also used for a variety of medicinal purposes by American Indians and early pioneers. Today, the plant has an even wider — and much less known — use. Because several alkaloids found in the plant (notably sanguinarine) are highly effective at inhibiting the growth of oral bacteria and the buildup of plaque, the plant is a key ingredient of many brands of toothpaste and mouthwash.

Link: News-Leader.com | Outdoors.

Garden birdfeeders give a new lease of life to goldfinches

My sister and I have a friendly running joke about her fondness for birdbaths and birdfeeders.  I like to pretend that these items don't attract birds, while she likes to pretend that they can have an real impact on the bird population in California (not just in our backyard!).  Looks like she may be right after all:

Goldfinches, the elegant songbirds till now a rarity in Britain, are making a come back, according to ornithologists. The British Trust for Ornithology, which has compiled data from some 17,000 birdwatchers find that the bird has benefitted from bird lovers hanging seed feeders filled with high energy sunflower or nyger seeds.

Link: Garden birdfeeders give a new lease of life to goldfinches.

Art of Darkness

San Francisco gardeners will be glad to hear that some veggies can be grown without eight hours of sunlight daily:

Plants that produce root crops, such as carrots and beets, need from six to eight hours of sunlight every day.  But leafy vegetables, such as lettuce and spinach, need only six hours of sunlight a day.

Nut trees such as filbert, hazelnut and yellowhorn produce well with only sun in the morning.

Some fruits also do well without a lot of sunlight.  In the United States, blueberries, raspberries, and several kinds of pears need only a little sun each day.  In Asia, the hardy kiwi grows well in the shade.

Many herbs grow well without much sun.  Mint plants, for example, grow well in the shade.  So do sage, dill, oregano, borage, chamomile and several kinds of thyme.

Link: VOA News - Art of Darkness: Growing Vegetables in Shade.

A blooming fortune

I guess it makes sense that people want to be outside gardening in the spring. But the intensity of concentration on springtime surprises me. In the winter, GardenWeb is dead. TreeDazzled is nearly dead. But I still sit at home pouring over catalogues, reading articles, and germinating seeds.

While autumn is no slouch time for gardeners, many area lawn and garden businesses count on the spring season to bring in mounds of green.

“March, April and May is the bulk of our business,” said Michael Stanley, who runs S&H Feed and Garden Supply in Hubert with his father, Donnie. “The fall is strong too, but the spring is the big one. It’s where we make enough to keep our doors open.”

Gardening is a big business. According to the National Gardening Association, sales for lawn and garden products — including both plants and equipment — totaled $36.8 billion last year. The average annual per household lawn and garden expenditures totaled about $449.

Stanley said spring customers — the kind eager to climb out of their television caves and into the light of a warm spring sun — add up to as much as 50 or 60 percent of his store’s annual business. And he’s not alone.

Link: The Daily News, Jacksonville NC.

Before you till the land, work the soil

You would have to be an earthworm fanatic to find this passage inspiring:

Good dirt is full of nutrients and organic matter and life - microbes and also earthworms, which can wriggle down as much as six feet and aerate the soil in the process. I'll always remember visiting Battery Park City a few weeks after 9/11 and watching workers wearing rubber overalls and respirator masks cleaning the gray and ominous dust off of every bit of greenery. I saw fat, healthy earthworms coming up to breathe and I knew that the earth was alive. And hope was, too.

Nevertheless, the article has its moments, including a nice summary of the rules of composting.

Link: Before you till the land, work the soil -- Newsday.com.

Winning seeds

Ornamental Pepper "Black Pearl" sounds irresistible to me!

All America Selections, "tested nationally and proven locally," is an NGB program whose purpose is to test new, unsold cultivars and to educate the public about the results, thereby gaining the trust of the gardening public as well as the many professionals in the field. The idea was hatched in 1932 by the then-president of the Southern Seedsmen's Association of Atlanta, Ga., W. Ray Hastings. He proposed to the many seed companies in the country that they conduct trials in various locations in order to compare new varieties with existing ones. When they had significantly improved varieties, they were to develop marketing strategies for them and educate home gardeners about them.

The first trials were conducted that year, and they have been held every year since. Because of their fine qualities, many of the AAS winners have become the favorite choices of home gardeners and are still available.

And so, tah-dah!! Here are the AAS Award winners for 2006, flowers and vegetables. Information is taken from "Today's Garden," a publication of the NGB for journalists, but much more is available on the NGB Web site.

Flowers

Ornamental Pepper "Black Pearl." Leaves stay black when grown in the sun, with black, shiny peppers (very hot!) that turn red later in the season. Heat-tolerant, retains good form without pinching. Combines effectively with other flower and foliage plants.

Link: Exeter News-Letter Currents: Winning seeds.

A Lot of Topsoil and a Few Keystrokes

I learned two things from this article. First, the Online Shopper is from Northern California, not New York as I'd assumed. Second, there is a nursery with a huge collection of geraniaceae just up the road from me. Time for a trip to Kentfield!

Many online plant sellers, like Plantsafari.com, Gpdesert.com and Newleafnurseries.com, offer a selection of a few types. But I found only one — Geraniaceae.com — devoted exclusively to that family, with 400 species and hybrids of geraniums, 90 erodiums, 150 scented-leaf pelargoniums and 140 kinds of angel pansy and small-flowered hybrid pelargoniums.

This is an enormous collection of five-petaled annuals and perennials, of pinnate and palmate leaves, of woody and hairy stems, including G. Frances Grate, a scrambler discovered in a garden in Monterey, Calif., with "narrowly lobed leaves that are gray-green above, silvery beneath; pale mauve flowers," and P. Attar of Roses. ("The best of the rose scents: strong and very sweet. Small pale lavender flowers in umbels.")

I noted one other thing about Geraniaceae.com. It's in Kentfield in Northern California, a 15-minute drive from my house.

I phoned the owner, Robin Parer, right away.

"I like to shop online," I said. "But in this case the selection is a little overwhelming."

Link: A Lot of Topsoil and a Few Keystrokes - New York Times.

From the Scars of Katrina, Green Shoots and Blossoms

Destruction of these Botanical Gardens must have been devastating, more so than I can imagine:

FIVE months after Hurricane Katrina blew through this city, a fragrant pale pink climber named Clotilde Soupert bloomed in the rose garden of the New Orleans Botanical Garden.

The brave little rose is less than a foot tall, and will take years to develop the character of the old climber it replaces, which died, along with more than 1,000 other roses, when their roots sat for more than a week in brackish water.

This resurrection hasn't been easy, and it has a long way to go. But thousands of volunteers from all over the country, and contributions, from $15 checks to $1.2 million from the Azby Fund, a local foundation, are dragging this garden out of what seemed, months ago, like total devastation.

Nevertheless, it must be a pleasure to watch the rebirth of the gardens. I wish I had been able to partcipate in their rebuilding. Imagine starting from scratch in an area the size of Central Park, or Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. What an opportunity. I hope that somebody is out there taking thousands of pictures every day.

Link: From the Scars of Katrina, Green Shoots and Blossoms - New York Times.

A new way to find old seeds

Regular readers already know that I'm not much of a vegetable gardener.  But some of you might be shocked to know that I just learned the definition of "heirloom":

If you've gardened since childhood, you'll recognize the varieties as new and improved in their day but now old and reliable. That's because "heirloom," though loosely defined, means varieties introduced at least 50 years ago that are open-pollinated, not the result of hybrids whose seeds revert to the varieties from which they were sprung.

I grow my conifers from seed, so I guess I am growing "heirloom" conifers.

Link: The Seattle Times: Home & Garden: A new way to find old seeds.

School's Arbor Day project helps plant seed of understanding, forest officials say

I love the commment from ten-year-old Jeffrey Gallucci, which is right on the money. Any Dad who teaches his kid how to plant trees is a good Dad in my book.

Arbor Day is a nationally celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care, according to the National Arbor Day Foundation. The holiday was founded by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska in 1872. National Arbor Day is celebrated each year on the last Friday in April, but each state has its own Arbor Day. Friday was Florida's celebration.

Vaught and forest ranger Larry Klein talked to the students about Arbor Day and showed them how to plant the trees before turning the students loose with their own trees and shovels.

Jeffrey Gallucci, 10, already was a pro at planting trees, having planted four before his class put their trees in the ground Friday. He said there was a basic rule to follow.

"My dad taught me if you plant it low, it won't grow and if you plant it high, it will die," he said.

Link: School's Arbor Day project helps plant seed of understanding, forest officials say | naplesnews.com | Naples Daily News.

Bills aim to boost state's biofuel industry

I've always been sceptical about ethanol because of the amount of oil required to produce it. But a nice article in the New York Times has a figure showing that 35,000 BTU of natural gas are required to produce 85,000 BTU worth of ethanol. This is disappointing but nothing like I'd expected. I'd actually wondered whether you might have to use almost the same amount of natural gas as you get ethanol. Shows what I know.

This reading has me more excited about biofuels than I've been in a long time. Some folks in Washington want to jump on the bandwagon:

As legislators in Olympia devise new laws to encourage the state's fledgling biodiesel industry, Eastern Washington farmer Fred Fleming can't wait to get going.

Bills that would give loans and tax breaks to the alternative fuels industry and require oil companies to add Washington-produced vegetable fuels to their product are making their way through the Legislature.

"Our whole goal is to be crushing (seeds) by November-December of this year," said Fleming, who is crossing his fingers for a $2.7 million low-interest loan for a seed crusher if legislation goes through by end of the month.

The crusher would yield 4 million gallons of biodiesel a year, most of which would come from canola grown out of state. But Fleming is betting that Washington farmers will start planting seed crops once they see the industry pick up.

Link: Bills aim to boost state's biofuel industry.

Association honors top new cultivars

On one hand, the "Mailorder Gardening Association" sounds pretty cheesy. On the other, I admit I'm drawn to the red and blue bulb display in a biodegradable tray. I like watching things grow, but I'm not big on garden design. Nice to have it done for me. Of course I'm probably too cheap to pay $25 for seven tulip bulbs and assorted grape hyacinths.

Five new plant cultivars and five new garden accessories have garnered top honors from the Mailorder Gardening Association.

The 2006 Green Thumb Awards are presented each year by the association in recognition of the niftiest plants and gadgets available by mail or online.

Selected by an independent panel of garden writers and editors, the winners are chosen because they offer a unique quality or technological innovation; demonstrate an ability to solve a gardening problem; or simply show potential for wide consumer appeal.

This year's winners include a cold-hardy agapanthus, an exceptionally prolific (and fragrant) brugmansia, an easy-to-use and efficient water timer and a four-in-one electric yard tool.

....

`Red & Blue Spring Duet Bulb Bed': The collection of 45 bulbs (seven bright red `Cassini' tulips and 38 blue grape hyacinths) comes already prespaced in a 14-inch biodegradeable planting tray. Simply dig a hole, place the tray and cover with soil. (Dutch Gardens; $24.95 per tray; 800--944-2250 or www.dutchgardens.com.)

Link: The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA.

Create your own vibrant garden

This article gives a refreshing peek into the life of a gardener in Bahrain.  It is fun to think about starting over with a new soil type and climate, then conquering a different set of gardening problems.  Also nice to think about living amongst the date palms!

Our home is in Janabiyah, on the northwestern part of Bahrain. For those readers new to the country, this area is fringed by date palms and vegetable gardens that surround the more arid parts of the island.The garden groundwater is saline due to the degradation of the Damman aquifer, the source of our artesian well that has watered, in all probability, our date palm grove for centuries.

The garden soil texture is sandy and naturally deficient in major nutrients. Therefore, our soil has a low water retention and high infiltration rate. A calcareous, impermeable layer causes water logging of the soil and the shallow groundwater table encourages increased salinity of the topsoil.

Link: Gulf Daily News.

A Miami Emblem Is Sacrificed for Shade

I grew up in central Florida, where the queen palms are always in danger of perishing due to frost.  We lost two huge queen palms, maybe sixty feet tall, when I was a child.

Nevertheless, in those new developments that are filling up central Florida, what do folks plant?  Queen palms.  I'm not sure if they don't know that the trees are doomed, or if they don't care.  I think that for some people, you have to have palm trees or you aren't in Florida.  For me, though...it's the live oaks.  A 300-year-old live oak, marvelously twisted and twenty feet in diameter, outshines any palm tree I've ever seen.

So I'm in favor of Miami's plan!  Let's cut down some palm trees (I love the insult in this article: they "look like telephone poles") and plant live oaks for shade:

A renaissance is under way on Biscayne Boulevard, the central artery of downtown Miami, where derelict motels and strip malls are being tenderly restored and scruffy neighborhoods are striving for cachet. But a defining element is about to vanish: the royal palm trees that have lined the street for decades, making clear that this is not Hartford or Detroit, but the otherworldly subtropics.

Along several miles of the street, the tall, trim royals are being replaced with bushier live oaks, which planners say will provide much-needed shade and beautify the heavily traveled street. Some residents say the palm trees are not only ugly but also dangerous, threatening passing cars when they shed their cumbersome fronds.

Planners say that the region's tree canopy is woefully deficient, and that planting more shade-providing species will make Miami prettier, cleaner and more pedestrian-friendly. A study in 1996 found that only about 10 percent of Miami-Dade County was covered by tree canopy - and that was before a disease known as citrus canker and last year's hurricanes wiped out hundreds of thousands of shade trees.

This argument, though:

No matter that the palms' coconuts become missiles during hurricanes and their fronds plummet to the ground when passers-by least expect it.

Strikes me as absurd.  How many people do you know who have been injured by a coconut?  This is the same argument used against planting bunya-bunya trees, with their pineapple-sized cones.  I think that falling coconuts and cones must rank low on the list of public health threats.

Link: A Miami Emblem Is Sacrificed for Shade - New York Times.

Cutting Down the Oldest Living Tree in the World

Steve McIntyre recounts the colossal blunder that destroyed the oldest tree on the planet:

Many Americans of a certain age will recall an American radio commentator, called Paul Harvey, who ran ironic commentaries entitled "The End of the Story". They were short segments leading you to expect one answer and Harvey’s closing comment explaining what happened would reverse the field altogether. I once heard a commentary on dendrochronology, in which Harvey reported how a dendrochronologist had cut down and killed the oldest living tree in the world. In my pre-blog days, when I was researching bristlecones, I came across the academic account of this event - which I summarize here.

An interesting discussion follows the post.

Link: Climate Audit � Cutting Down the Oldest Living Tree in the World.

Extension of human lifespan to 969 years following vector insertion of bristlecone pine antioxidant gene complex

The implications of this finding are astounding, though my excitement is tempered by Dr. Lysenko's comment that "My policy with regard to conclusions is to make the maximum plausible claim."

The human lifespan is currently finite and rarely exceeds 100 years. Trees such as the bristlecone pine, on the other hand, live for more than 5,000 years. Since both species are eukaryotes, there is no reason in principle why they should not enjoy equal lifetimes.

Link: Science News - New York Times.

Truce near in parrot war

Amazing that it has taken so long. The solution (plant some more trees!) seems simple enough.

In a finale fit for a sequel to their big-screen debut, the birds' beloved Monterey cypresses appear close to being spared from the ax.

As early as next week, an agreement could be reached in a highly publicized, long-running feud between a property owner who wants to chop down the cluster of trees he sees as a liability and parrot lovers so intent on saving them that they have thrown themselves in front of buzzing chain saws.

A representative from Mayor Gavin Newsom's office was sent in to negotiate the feud, which has received national media attention, and now the two sides are close to an agreement for a San Francisco nonprofit group to cover the costs of planting new trees.

Link: Truce near in parrot war / Bird lovers, landlord close to agreement to spare aging roost trees on Telegraph Hill.

Information about hardy orchids

I'm really not into houseplants, so I've never thought about trying to grow orchids. This article made me think again.

Yes, there are orchids you can grow outside in the garden. These are called hardy or terrestrial (meaning in the ground) orchids. Growing this group of plants can be easier than you think, provided you choose the right species and pay attention to a few cultural needs.

Link: The County Courier Information about hardy orchids.

Growing herbs indoors cures winter blahs

I can imagine that growing herbs might garner grudging respect from my wife...as opposed to the eye-rolling I usually get for my efforts with trees.

Winter can become long and tiresome. But growing herbs indoors counters winter blahs. Rosemary, basil, chives, mint, parsley, thyme and catnip are herbs that thrive indoors. We can't grow them in abundance, but we can raise enough to liven winter dining.

The article is a quick how-to for various species.

Link: Norwich Bulletin - www.norwichbulletin.com - Norwich, Conn..

Scrub preserve in Florida struggles against developers

This is a sad story made worse by the truly unglamorous name of the endangered ecosystem: "scrub." Florida still retains a few shreds of its ancient tropical beauty--but these are quickly being lost to developers. Imagine the difficulty of trying to fight millionaire developers building thousands of homes with the argument that you want to preserve the "scrub."

Scrub is the unglamorous name for the Florida ecosystem that's similar to a desert. Sparsely populated by shrubs instead of trees with dry, sugary sand, it has one of the highest concentrations of endangered plant species in the United States. The Ridge is the only home to 16 plants listed as endangered by the federal government, according to researchers at the Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Fla.

Link: KRT Wire | 01/06/2006 | Scrub preserve in Florida struggles against developers.

Both hot beds, cold frames aid gardeners

I can remember when I didn't know what a cold-frame was. It is surprising how many gardening books talk about cold frames without explaining exactly what they are and how they work. For a beginner, the omission can be confusing. This article does the job:

Cold frames, hot beds or sun boxes are essentially greenhouses that are too small to walk inside. The gardener puts the plants in shelter under glass or a similar light permeable covering then tends them from the outside. The effect is much like a greenhouse, but they are relatively inexpensive.

Link: Tooele Transcript Bulletin On-line.

The amazing amaryllis

Amaryllis aren't my favorite, but this article is a nice how-to if you're looking to get hooked:

The garden centres and grocery stores are well stocked with my favourite indoor bulb, Hippeastrum.

The name may not immediately bring a picture to your mind because we know this beauty by its common name... amaryllis. It is one of the most beautiful and striking of all flowers.

Magnificent trumpet-shaped blooms 20 to 25 cm (8 - 10 inches) across (although there are some miniature varieties), are perched on tall 50-cm (20-inch) stems. You'll find them in a variety of colours... oranges, reds, pinks, white and bi-colours in combinations of these hues.

Link: durham region news: ajax, pickering, whitby, oshawa, scugog, uxbridge and clarington newspapers.

Plugged in

Simple to figure this one out:

Don’t tell MagCap Engineering’s president he’s barking up the wrong business model.

His Canton company claims to be developing a process of generating electricity from living trees and is working with an unidentified business in The Netherlands as a possible investor.

But local energy experts have questions about the concept behind the proposal. MagCap Engineering LLC wants to patent a process that converts the natural energy of a tree to usable direct-current electricity, company President Chris Lagadinos said.

He expects to find investors to help pay for the research needed to figure a way to increase the tree power from less than 2 volts to 12 volts sometime this year, creating an alternative to fossil fuels.

It's too good to be true. Period.

Also, power is measured in watts, not volts. I find it odd that a power company didn't insist on getting this major detail right.

Link: Mass High Tech.

Raindrops help balance soil

This is the reason that I like to set my houseplants out in the rain:

When it rains, local gardeners delight in the knowledge that the soil will be soaked evenly to a significant depth, leaching out salts that interfere with root uptake of essential micronutrients.

Plant health depends on balanced mineral nutrition. This balance is undermined by salts that are found in the water sources and flow through the pipes of people who inhabit dry regions such as our own. These salts slowly build up in the soil, and then find their way into roots, foliage, flowers and fruit. It takes a good rain to drain these salts far down into the ground where they will cease, at least for the immediate future, to make trouble for our plants.

In a jarring non-sequitur, Joshua then asks: "Have you ever grown potatoes?" He suggests buying seed potatoes rather than growing from the store-bought variety. I have to say that the latter option is just too tempting for me. The potatoes are just sitting there in my kitchen, asking to be planted. Maybe if I were more serious about potatoes I'd resist their pleas.

Link: LA Daily News - Entertainment.

Planning your next garden

I hadn't thought about this, so I have to admit...

As you are planning your garden layout, remember to rotate crops in the vegetable garden. It's a good idea not to plant related crops in the same location in consecutive seasons to minimize the chance that pathogens will become established. Don't follow melons with squash or cucumbers, for example, as these related crops are subject to the same diseases. Similarly, tomatoes and eggplants are both subject to Verticillium wilt, a soil pathogen.

...that I'm guilty. I wonder if this works. I guess it would depend on how commonly pests have a "short migration range."

Link: Napa Valley Register Online | Home And GardenFeatures.

Coping with clay

This article is about how to deal with clay.  Didja catach that?  Deal with it, not change it.

The article is full of interesting tidbits.  I suppose I should have known this, but I didn't:

Sand is the coarsest type of soil particle, very permeable. It is visible to the eye and gives soil its gritty feel. Silt particles are much smaller, about the size and texture of flour. It’s that brown matter our rivers are full of this time of year — being washed down from surrounding hills and grasslands. Clay is the smallest soil particle — about the size of bacteria and viruses — and can only be seen with the help of a microscope. But, don’t let clay fool you: its extremely small particles lead to a huge surface area.

“One gram of clay has the surface area of an entire football field,” Brewer says. Conversely, she adds, one gram of some kinds of sand has the surface area of only 7 square feet.

I'm a microbiologist and very impressed to hear that clay particles are about the same size as "bacteria and viruses"--although, of course, bacteria and viruses are completely different from each other in terms of size!  Even within bacteria, the size range is enormous, from Mycoplasma that are 100 nm in diameter to Epulopiscium fishelsoni, which can reach 0.6 mm in length.  Viruses range from 20 to 400 nm.

So how big are clay particles?  Janet Hope says they are two micrometers in size--nearly the same size as E. coli.

Link: Coping with clay.

Fungus threatens wild Wollemi pines

I hope that they are making this out to be more serious than it really is:

A dangerous rot has been detected in 65-million-year-old Wollemi pines in the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales.

Dr Tony Fleming, head of the National Parks and Wildlife Service in New South Wales, says rangers have discovered a fungal infection within the pine forest.

"We identified what looked like a potential fungal infection of one of the trees," Dr Fleming said.

"We took a series of samples of soil and vegetation material, and from one of those samples we've identified the root rot fungus - phytophthora cinnamomi."

Dr Fleming says the fungus can be very serious.

"Phytophthora is the micro-organism that's implicated in eucalypt die back in Western Australia and other die backs that occur around the place," he said.

Link: Fungus threatens wild Wollemi pines. 04/11/2005. ABC News Online.

Christmas Tree Farmers On Needles During Harvest

Amazing that one third of Christmas trees sold in the U.S. are grown in Oregon.

It's not yet Thanksgiving, but the commercial Christmas tree harvest is about to peak. Fully a third of Christmas trees sold in the U.S. are grown in our region.

For you, the holidays might bring warm thoughts of twinkling boughs and fragrant smells. But at the evergreen's source it's more like a battle zone.

A helicopter is lifting Christmas trees off of hills in southwest Washington that trucks can't get to. A lot of large Northwest growers use choppers to move trees fast.

That includes Mark Steelhammer, a tree farmer with a tough name to suit a tough business.

Mark Steelhammer: "Yeah, helicopters are around $600/hr-plus, but they move a lot of trees, a thousand trees an hour, at least."

Local growers have another challenge -- a swelling inventory of Christmas trees.

Steelhammer says a surplus developed because many tree farmers responded to the recent decade of good prices by planting more seedlings.

Now wholesale prices are sinking, anywhere from 5 to 30 percent.

Apparently, they have the opposite problem--too few Christmas trees--in Europe.  The Europeans seem to be short by four million trees!

Link: Public NewsRoom.

 

State offering seedlings for conservation purposes

I had no idea that so many states provide seedlings for their residents! Here are two more, in New Mexico:

SANTA FE The state Forestry Division is offering seedlings and shrubs to New Mexico landowners who want them for such things as habitat for wildlife or preventing soil erosion.

Link: KVIA.com – The El Paso News Leader - State offering seedlings for conservation purposes.

and Colorado:

The Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) will be providing Rocky Mountain Junipers and Eastern Red Cedar trees to be offered through the Prowers County Extension Office for the 2006 Seedling Conservation Tree program.

Link: Lamar Daily News - Today's Headlines.

Toss a tasty compost

I believe that this is the simplest, clearest explanation of composting I've ever seen. The article actually makes composting seem do-able.

Compost happens. In theory. Lots of gardeners say their compost doesn't "happen." And even non-gardeners who want to compost to reduce what they send to the landfill have problems. My theory is that sometimes the instructions for composting are more complicated than they need to be.

In this case, you don't have to be Julia Child to toss a salad nor Mr. Greenjeans to make compost happen.

Like a sal