As trite as it sounds, I try to slow down and enjoy the simple things around the holidays. We are starting to get some more seasonal weather, which means cold temperatures and occasional snow flurries. Once we get our first real snow cover I pull out my birdfeeder from beneath the shop-bench in the garage, fill it up and set it in a beech tree outside our kitchen window. No one in our family is a birder but it’s interesting to see how nearly everyone takes time to linger over their morning coffee or tea to watch the steady parade of chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, and jays at the feeder. … Continue reading this article “Happy New Year”
Month: December 2012
Final Exam of 2012?
Actually, just a pop quiz.
Continuing the "flowers that look like Christmas ornaments" bit as started on our Facebook page…here’s another, as seen a couple of days ago in our visit to the conservatory at the Biltmore Estate, Ashevegas, N.C.
You can probably guess the family by the leaf shape.
Nice dangly peduncle, no?
Let’s have some guesses, temperate-zone readers! This had me stumped, and I’m not unfamiliar with tropicals. And yes, I want one.… Continue reading this article “Final Exam of 2012?”
An Interesting Video
Every once in a while someone sends us a news story or a video to look at critically. A couple of days ago Michael got in contact with us through Facebook and asked us to take a look at a video he saw recently and let him know what we thought of it. This video was posted on Russ Bianchi’s website (he goes by the name Uncle Russ). He includes a short note with the video which says “ALL Genetically Modified Organisms, Ingredients, Crops, Livestock, Food, Drugs, Cosmetics, Beverages, Packaging, Flavors, Fragrances, Colors!… Continue reading this article “An Interesting Video”
Buried alive – the roots version
Bert’s post yesterday inspired me to share one of my own timelines that I followed for 7 years. As many of you know, I am a proponent of bare-rooting container and B&B shrubs and trees. One of the benefits is that you can prune away malformed roots, but another is that you can ensure the roots come into contact with the native soil as soon as possible. It’s interesting to see what happens over time with the more typical “pop and drop” method.… Continue reading this article “Buried alive – the roots version”
Why oh why? (Buried alive version)
Sometimes when I’m stumped for ideas for blog posts, I get in my car and drive around my neighborhood. Usually within 10 or 15 minutes I’ll see something stupid enough to write about. Today was no exception. We live in a mostly rural area north of East Lansing but development is slowly but surely encroaching around us. Part of that development includes a couple of golf courses. One of the golf courses recently announced they were going to develop a high-end RV park adjacent to their course. … Continue reading this article “Why oh why? (Buried alive version)”
Planting Edibles in Cities
The snow has just started falling and I’m already thinking about what I’m going to be planting next spring. Most of my plantings won’t be at my own house, they’ll be out in the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. We’ll be looking at all kinds of fun stuff like growing trees in various new types of containers, adding compost to planting holes in different circumstances, and even pruning methods. But one of the big things that we’re starting to look at are new trees for the urban environment. … Continue reading this article “Planting Edibles in Cities”
Closing the loop
Just a short post today as I am participating in an Extension planning meeting for most of the day. One up-side to the meeting is we are meeting and having lunch at Brody Dining hall here at MSU. If you’re around my age and attended college in the 80’s, the thought of eating at a dormitory dining hall might elicit memories of a hair-netted cafeteria lady glopping amorphous slop on your tray next to the mystery meat of the day. … Continue reading this article “Closing the loop”
The eternal [gardening] optimist
I’ve gotten better, actually. After slaying hundreds of dollars worth of mail-order and/or inappropriate plants, I’ve learned to curb my urges a bit.
But not this time.
I was overcome by a sale at “Annies Annuals and Perennials” – the most decadent, irresistible, West Coast, Zone 9 catalog ever.
Behold! The impossible-to-grow and majestic Puya*
Mine! Mine! Mine!
It will reside in my greenhouse over the winter.
Packing peanut left in pot for scale.
Now taking bets as to how many years ’till bloom.… Continue reading this article “The eternal [gardening] optimist”
The secret of immortality
Last Sunday’s New York Times had a story about immortal jellyfish. It was interesting, and given my previous life as a marine biologist, it was also a topic that was comfortably familiar. But really, I wasn’t that impressed. Because plants do the same thing, yet no one bats an eye.
Gardeners and other plant aficionados have exploited the plant kingdom’s ability to remain forever young. How many of us have taken cuttings of mature plants, rooted them, and started new ones? … Continue reading this article “The secret of immortality”
Does fertilization increase insect herbivores?
Always fun when you find a research paper that confirms what you’ve suspected all along. I ran across a paper last week in the Annals of Applied Biology entitled ‘Fertilisers and insect herbivores: a meta-analysis’ (Butler et al. 2012. Ann Appl Biol 161: 223–233). I’m interested in the topic because in recent years a dogma has emerged that if you fertilize a landscape tree it will be immediately devoured by insects. In this study the authors conducted a meta-analysis (basically a compilation of studies on a given topic and then combining and analyzing the aggregated results) and looked at dozens of studies of the response of insect herbivores to fertilization to answer the question, does fertilization increase insect damage? … Continue reading this article “Does fertilization increase insect herbivores?”