[Warning: pointless post/ramblings] Actually it was a "staycation." We usually scoot to the Caribbean for a week. I’d like to say this was better.* Though home from our regular jobs for a week, we worked like fiends. Our primary target was the multitude of Autumn Olive (exotic invasive) and Sycamore (native yet ridiculously prolific) taking … Continue reading What I did for my summer vacation
Okay, so it’s actually Thursday morning. We’re doing a "staycation" this week and my farm work to-do list dwarfs my usual work week. Not exactly relaxing. One of the daily duties is dragging the hose around trying to keep some favorite plants alive. We’re in a drought, though not near of the awful and epic … Continue reading Weird Plant Wednesday – II
Friday’s “evil frog eye” was actually part of a voodoo lily (Dracunculus vulgaris), found growing in a drainage ditch in California (I’ve seen one in a drainage ditch in Seattle as well): Obviously this introduced garden ornamental has escaped cultivation and is now “going rogue.” Will it become a nuisance weed? Will it displace native species? Should … Continue reading Voodoo and the evil eye
Blog reader Shawn sent this link to me yesterday. It’s a pretty short take on a complex topic, but even so I was troubled by the perception that all nuisance weed species are our own fault. Sure, it’s true that humans have moved plants or plant parts around with them for centuries. Sometimes it’s been … Continue reading In defense of weeds?
Today my family took our annual 4th of July weekend hike. We ended up on a fairly new trail through the Robe Canyon Historic Park. It was a gorgeous day and we saw all manner of plants and animals. The highlight of this trail is an old lime kiln; bricks and other remnants of early … Continue reading Interveinal chlorosis mystery
Orchid fanciers Derek and Joseph correctly identified Friday’s mystery plant as a jewel orchid, specifically Macodes petola: Friday’s sparkly leaf photo shows why “jewel orchid” is the common name used for several genera of orchids with showstopping foliage. And Ray noted that Goodyera spp. (rattlesnake plantain) is a native US jewel orchid with beautiful variegated … Continue reading A jewel of an orchid
What is it? Why, that’s a “Mace Sedge” – thus a medieval weapon AND a sedge. Actually…not very menacing. But very cute. Carex grayi is a wonderful clumping sedge, native to Eastern North America. Mine is situated at the edge of a home-made bog, and is at least 2.5′ tall with an upright habit. More … Continue reading Grass, sedge, or weapon?
After getting off to a cool and soggy start, summer has come with a vengeance to Michigan, with heat indices expected to push 100 degrees by Wednesday. Along with warmer temperatures, summer also means our research season is getting into full swing as well. One of our biggest efforts these days involves our project to … Continue reading Getting to the root of the problem
I just got back from a 9 hour overseas flight, just in time to post the answer to last week’s quiz. So now you know…I wasn’t in the states. More on that later. As many of you guessed, this is a fig tree (Ficus spp.) of some sort. I have horrendous taxonomic abilities anyway, but … Continue reading Quiz answers – more or less
I’m out of town this week, and taking lots of plant pictures. Here’s an interesting tree, quite common in the city where I’m staying: Question 1: What kind of tree is this? (Genus is good enough – species might be hard to tell.) Question 2: In what geographical region might I be staying? (The tree … Continue reading Three part plant quiz