Month: March 2010

Building healthy soils?

I love living in Seattle…but I’m getting increasingly impatient with the City’s “Building Healthy Soils” propaganda.  For years I’ve questioned their recommendation to perpetually amend landscape soil with organic material to no avail.  Let’s see what you all think of their “fact sheet” (which you can read here in its entirety).

“The best way to improve the soil is to add plenty of compost or other organic matter throughout the entire planting area before planting. Thoroughly mixing these materials deep into the soil helps provide water, air and nutrients to plant roots.”… Continue reading this article “Building healthy soils?”

Devious dandelions

As Austrian reader Johannes explained, the difference in dandelion flower height is due to herbivory – in this case from a lawnmower.  Dandelions are quite adaptable to variable environments (the phenotypic plasticity Johannes also mentioned) and flower heights will increase or decrease depending on these variables. This ensures that the flowers will be accessible to pollinators, yet not decapitated by lawnmowers.  It’s just one of the fascinating traits that make weeds successful!

 

A Taraxacum teaser

It’s spring and the dandelions are happy to see you!  I’ve taken photos of two groups of dandelions just footsteps away from one another. The populations are both in full sun, with similar types of soil and water availability. You’ll note that one group has very short flower stalks, while the second has longer stalks:

So what’s responsible for the difference in flower stalk length?  And for extra credit, what’s the scientific term for the phenomenon?… Continue reading this article “A Taraxacum teaser”

Age

This time of year is very exciting for the students in my plant propagation class because now is when they all get to try grafting.  In particular, they get to place buds from an apple tree onto a rootstock.  There is nothing like placing a bud from one tree onto another to make a person feel as though they’re a horticulturist (NOT HorticulturALIST — that’s not a real word).  Especially if that bud successfully grows on the plant where it was placed and produces a happy new tree — What a warm fuzzy feeling!… Continue reading this article “Age”

Pardon If You’ve Seen This Before…

But it still makes me smile.

First published in December 2005, it’s still up at Red Shirt Knitting.  Seattle yarn artist Erika’s story is posted, as is a chronological progression of photos and events since the original “fitting”. 

She actually got some pretty funny tree questions/comments about potential girdling, the possibility of damage from moisture buildup (I like her response “What are YOUR sweaters made from…neoprene?”), etc.

Tortured urban tree examples abound: poorly planted, pitifully pruned, and other horrors. … Continue reading this article “Pardon If You’ve Seen This Before…”

Organic or local?

I grew up on a small farm (30 or so acres) near Tacoma, Washington. We raised our own Herefords, I gathered eggs from my frizzle chickens, and we all enjoyed apples, plums and cherries from our fruit trees.  Neither of my parents were farmers by profession, though my grandfather owned a dairy farm in Oregon.  Eventually, my husband and I hope to move back to the family farm, if for no other reason than preserve it from the surrounding encroachment of houses.… Continue reading this article “Organic or local?”

Friday puzzle revealed

And we have a winner!  As Karen guessed, these are lichens on decomposing granite:

This photo is from the Fortynine Palms oasis area in Joshua Tree National Monument.  These lichens (symbiotic amalgams of fungi and algae) could be decades or centuries old – they are very slow spreading. 

Most creative answer goes to TT, who thought it looked like sweet potato casserole!  The quartz does look like marshmallows.

Friday mystery photo

Another close-up photo for you to analyze and identify:

A more inclusive photo on Monday will solve the mystery.  (Sorry for the brevity – I’m on the road and internet access is variable.  I’m taking what I can get!)

Enjoy your spring weekend!

Disney and Japanese Beetles

This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak at Epcot Center in Florida.  It was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of my career so far.  I spoke 6 times over the course of 3 days.  The focus of my talk was garden remedies.  I started by talking about Paris Green (a good story for next week), then made fun of some of Jerry Baker’s, Myles Bader’s and Joey Green’s recommendations, and then proceeded to talk about which homemade cures do and don’t work and why. … Continue reading this article “Disney and Japanese Beetles”

Another fine product…

I’m spending this week in Palm Desert, CA for a little R&R in the sun.  In the morning, with my pot o’ Earl Grey, I read the local paper (The Desert Sun).  Last Sunday’s paper provided me with an article about an “intelligent water incubator” (all material in quotes was taken from the article).  Pieter Hoff, a “Dutch scientist, author, and major exporter of lilies and flower bulbs” has invented the Waterboxx, which “produces and captures water from the air through condensation and rain.” … Continue reading this article “Another fine product…”