Author: Holly Scoggins

Ecosystem services: Am I going to get a bill?

Spent last Friday in a departmental faculty retreat – you know, the “vision thing”  – S.W.O.T. analysis, where are we going to be in five years, etc.  But we actually got some things accomplished. One of the more interesting aspects was discussing trends in horticulture, both popular and practical, and how we could respond. One of the reoccurring themes throughout the day, especially related to urban agricultural/horticulture, was ecosystems services. I’ve heard the term mostly from environmental science and urban forestry folks.  But also seems fairly appropriate for us horticulturists, who are constantly trying to explain what, exactly, we do.

The definition offered by the American Institute of Biological Sciences (“Bringing biology to informed decision making”) is pretty good:

“Ecosystem Services are the processes by which the
environment produces resources that we often take for granted such as
clean water, timber, and habitat for fisheries, and pollination of
native and agricultural plants. Whether we find ourselves in the city or
a rural area, the ecosystems in which humans live provide goods and
services that are very familiar to us. [They include:]

  • moderate weather extremes and their impacts
  • disperse seeds
  • mitigate drought and floods
  • protect people from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays
  • cycle and move nutrients
  • protect stream and river channels and coastal shores from erosion
  • detoxify and decompose wastes
  • control agricultural pests
  • maintain biodiversity
  • generate and preserve soils and renew their fertility
  • contribute to climate stability
  • purify the air and water
  • regulate disease carrying organisms
  • pollinate crops and natural vegetation”

Horticulture, as a discipline, touches on so many of these areas.

My question to our readers: does the term ecosystem services mean much to you? Or do you consider it jargon, best kept to grant proposals and impact reports?

Fall for Ornamental Grasses


I’ve written about ornamental grasses previously – they really are one of the toughest, most useful yet under-appreciated groups of garden plants.  Most provide at least three seasons of interest, but fall is when they really shake their pom-poms.

On a recent conference trip to western Michigan with pal and plantsman Paul Westervelt, we stopped by the trials at Walter’s Gardens of Zeeland – one of the largest perennial propagators (wholesale) in the country.

It was a beautiful, breezy day in their extensive gardens, and the grasses were positively alive with light and motion (and kittens – seven or eight, I think). What a fantastic afternoon.

 Here are a few recent introductions that knocked our socks off.  All are hardy to at least USDA Zone 5, heat tolerant to Zone 8 or 9, and the non-natives have been screened for any invasive tendencies. All are patented.

Panicum virgatum ‘Dust Devil’


 There are many great cultivars of our native switchgrass out there; but few come in under 6’ or 7’ – problematic for the small garden. Dust Devil is comparatively  petite – 3 to 4 feet tall, blue-green foliage, and resists the rain beat-down that often happens to the rangy cultivars. Selected by Michigander Gary Trucks.

 

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Burgundy Bunny’


 Paul and I were especially impressed by this sport of ‘Little Bunny’.  I’ve grown tons of ‘Little Bunny’ which is eminently useful for a pouf of “grassiness” at the front of the border.  ‘Burgundy Bunny’ brings terrific color that only gets better in the fall, in the same small package.  From Walla Walla Nursery and introduced by Plant Haven.


Paul models Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Red Head’

Nothing petite about this monster Fountain Grass.  Wow. 5’ tall and as wide, with gigantic foxtail plumes. As with most Pennisetum species, the show starts mid-summer and continues through fall.  Selected by the perennially prolific Brent Horvath of Intrinsic Perennials.

 

Schizycharium scoparium Blue Heaven™ (‘MinnBlueA’)

 

Selected by grass maven Dr. Mary Meyer from her trials at the University of Minnesota.  Mary has found a nice Little Bluestem that has outstanding foliage color (gets even better as the season progresses) and a very upright habit that fights the flop.  Native across much of North America and perfect for awful sites, Little Bluestem laughs at clay, heat, and drought, once established.  


 Andropogon gerardii ‘Indian Warrior’


Little Bluestem’s big brother of the tall grass prairie.  Another upright flop-fighter, this Big Bluestem is from Brent Horvath/Intrinsic. I’ve enjoyed Andropogon in my garden (got it from Paul) – the colors are amazing- but by summer’s end, they’ve flopped all over their neighbors. Can’t wait to give ‘Indian Warrior’ a try.

Lots more info on these and other grasses and perennials at Walters Gardens’ consumer portal www.perennialresource.com

 

Kittens in the grasses.  Ahn.

 


Finally: when in Grand Rapids, stop by HopCat for a tremendous selection of Michigan craft beers and hard ciders and the suitably-name Crack Fries (yes!!!). 

Clever Things I Saw This Summer, Part 1

I’ve been wanting to share a few silly things with you from my travels and travails this summer. But I’ve been a bit hesitant, due to the gravity of recent posts, comments, and related hoo-ha (I was completely unaware there was a cornmeal controversy).

I sure appreciate and admire the guts and grace with which my GP colleagues present their cases and engage our readers.  Important topics, all.

Which makes this segue even more awkward…Look! A jellyfish made from succulents!!!

Start with a fabulous assortment of Kalanchoe, Echeveria, Sedum, Aeonium, etc.



Turn wire hanging basket upside-down. Stuff with sphagnum moss. Cut a circle of mesh and wire across the bottom (was the top).

Plant with little succulents (I’m sure that’s how they started out).  I think the tentacles are Crassula species. Hap, our man from Cactus Jungle, would know the species (segmented one might be C. muscosa, but the curved one really made them look tentacle-y).

Add a hook and chain. Slap on a $200 price tag (yow!).
Voila! A jellyfish.

If ever near Alexandria, Ohio (just east of Columbus) stop in to visit Chris Baker and the gang at Baker’s Acres.   Greenhouses are chock-full of amazing plants and ideas such as this one, plus the restroom decor is worth the trip.

So that’s why they’re called blister beetles…

I’ve had several discussions with gardening folks in the region on one of our more annoying pests, the blister beetles.  Big appetite, eats lots of things we value, and darned hard to get rid of.  Someone invariable says “yep, they bite, too” and “be careful – you’ll get blistered.” However, I’ve yet to hear any first-hand experience with the personal-injury aspect of blister beetles.

I’ve suffered from the heartbreak of blister beetles for two summers in a row.  They’ve eaten ALL the foliage from the fall-blooming Anemone (leaving flowers on a steeck), badly damaged our chard and lettuce, and have turned their attention to the sweet-autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora).


Perp: Epicauta funebris (Margined Blister Beetle) – chock full of Cantharidin, a caustic terpenoid.

With nothing left but a mountain of bare stems, skeletonized leaves, and the occasional flower, the clematis was not adding to the general aesthetics of our home garden (unlike the 7′ tall poke weeds -whoops).  I began gingerly pulling the bazillion vines off the fence, but then thought of you (yes, you).  So what if one bit me or did whatever it does to cause a blister?   I could then speak authoritatively instead of “I heard…”

I went at the vines with gusto, gray and black beetles a-flying.  Sure enough, I mushed one against my arm in gathering up the vines toss in the cart.

Ouch.  First, a burning sensation.  Success! Then I watched with fascination as a bunch of welts popped out, at which point I ran and got my camera. The discomfort persisted through a couple of hours and a glass of wine. But by bedtime, my blisters were gone. No scars remain.


Oooh, lovely!

So there you have it. Yet another example of the things Garden Professors do – so you don’t have to!

A Rose is a…Tomato?

Linda’s blue orchid (ick!) post may have led to this one subliminally.

I seem to have a thing for oddly-colored vegetables (see my orange cucumber post). When I saw this new tomato in the 2012 Johnny’s Seeds catalog, I had to have it.

‘Indigo Rose’ was bred by Dr. Jim Myers of Oregon State University. Jim wrote the book (literally) on Organic Plant Breeding – using traditional breeding methods to breed varieties of vegetables that perform well for organic farmers.  With ‘Indigo Rose’, his goal was to  increase the anthocyanin content in the skin for increased anti-oxidant properties. Hence the very cool color.  The inside is regular tomato-color, though. Darn.


Pardon my Late Blight.

Johnny’s calls it a "cocktail-sized tomato" – bigger than a cherry, but much smaller than a slicer. Not a good term or use of tomatoes, in my opinion, as it would displace too much of the actual cocktail when placed in the glass.
(insert rimshot)

It has terrific fruit set with trusses of five to eight tomatoes each. 


Please ignore the weed in the photo.

The young fruit is very, very dark purple with a green underbelly (not sure what the technical term is – I know tomato descriptions often include shoulders, so why not an underbelly?).  Red and purple when ripe.   I’m just now getting some ripe enough to eat – the flavor is fine, but nothing really different than your basic cherry tomato. Maybe they need another week or so on the vine.  Interestingly, the hens have shown zero interest thus far. This is a good thing.


Kind of looks like a bad bruise.

Anyone else out there try these this season?
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Hey Kids! Check This Out!

I recently spotted this in the window of a toy shop:

Recommended for ages 10 and up. My youth was apparently misspent with Hot Wheels and model horses (and collisions thereof).  I could have been getting a step up on grad school.

"See genetic material with your
own eyes as you isolate the DNA from a tomato in a test tube." (This is actually fun and easy and you don’t need a kit to do it.)

"Learn about dominant and recessive genes and play inheritance
games to determine how traits will be expressed."  Then you can blame the correct parent for your near-sightedness, flat feet, etc.

"Breed your own bacteria colony to experiment with survival of
the fittest."  Now, we’re talking!!!  I would have loved this.  My mother, however, would have argued that the disgusting storage space under my bed was, in fact, a giant petri dish.

New and/or interesting plants/stuff

Worst post title, ever. Sorry. 

Attended the bazillionth annual OFA "The Association For Horticulture Professionals" Short Course in Columbus, Ohio last week. It’s a huge 1500-booth trade show with educational session featuring 150+ speakers. Of which I was one.  The focus used to be strictly floriculture, but has expanded to include some woodies plus lots of garden center items and marketing options. This a "wholesale" show – attendees are mostly growers who purchase propagative materials to grow on and sell to consumers.  It’s always interesting to see what’s out there…here’s a few things that caught my attention:

Sedum ‘Maestro’ from Proven Winners. They’re expanding their perennial offerings a bit, and this looks yummy.  Dark foliage and very intriguing bud/flower color combo:


Every company has loads of petunia and calibrachoa in every shade imaginable. Some new introductions are notable for their subtle, almost vintage shades.  All of these would be fun for combination planters:

‘Glow Mocca’ from the Dutch firm Florensis, now a partner with Ball Horticulture. Closest thing to a black and white petunia (or any flower, for that matter) I’ve seen.  So new it’s not in a catalog. This little photo doesn’t do them justice.



‘Suncatcher Vintage Rose’ from Ball FloraPlant.  I’m not a pink petunia person (certainly wouldn’t admit to it, anyway) but the soft rose shades and neat, small flowers were lovely.


Weird lighting in their booth makes this Ball introduction ‘Pink Suncatcher’ much more yellow than it really is – more of a straw yellow with pinkish margins.

Enough with the subtle:

This new Ecke/Dummen poinsettia didn’t catch my eyes as much as claw them out.  ‘Luv U Pink’ is indeed screaming pink, which sounds gross but actually looked pretty cool with some of lime green decor around it (kind of preppy). The distinctive small overlapping bracts are because it’s not a straight-up poinsettia, rather a hybrid with some other Euphorbia species (secret recipe!).



This fluffy ornamental kale ‘Glamour Red’ is from American Takii – an AAS award winner, grown from seed. You  just want to grab it and floof the foliage with both hands. Or maybe that was just me.  Proof that kale can be both glamorous AND delicious…



More floofiness: Dianthus ‘Green Ball.’  From Ball, of course.  An apetalous mutant for every garden!

In the "stuff" department, saw the usual assortment of greenhouse equipment, garden center supplies, etc. with one notable exception: the infiltrations of Fairies. Fairy Garden decor was everywhere.  I must have missed this memo:



Hardscaping including pavers and fences; patio furniture, trellises, etc. At least you don’t need a truckload of gravel and an entire weekend to lay a fairy patio.



Fairy plants. Especially selected for…teensyness? There really was no rhyme or reason. Just a different (and named) fairy on each tag (collect ’em all!).  My Little Pony meets Horticulture.

Here’s a completed fairy garden. That’s a container of Fairy Dust on the table. I think it’s the same as stripper glitter, just in a much smaller jar.  Missing from this tableaux? Two tiny martini glasses.

Hope you enjoyed your brief whirl through the tradeshow!

Worth seeking out – Silphium perfoliatum

A couple of years ago (have we been blogging for that long?!) I wrote a bit on defining our terms – beyond simply native, non-native, invasive.  One of my points was that natives can be overly-vigorous, but some people take exception with the term "invasive" when used with native plants.   I chose "passive-aggressive" as a way to describe certain mild-mannered natives that end up reseeding rampantly. 

One example: Silphium perfoliatum – Cup Plant.


Climbing right out of the garden and onto our deck.

The genus Silphium is comprised of fifteen (+) (at the moment) species, often grouped under the common name "Rosinweed."  I’d not paid much attention to the genus until a trip to a bit of tall grass prairie in 2004 got me hooked on these towering lovelies.  I’ve grown S. terebinthaceum, S. trifoliatum,  and S. laciniatum.  All seem much better behaved than S. perfoliatum; but not as fun.  The coarse, square stems; perfoliate water-holding leaves, and overall grand scale makes  cup plant perfect for back of the border or scattered throughout a meadow planting.

Silphium perfoliatum ranges up through eastern N. America from Louisiana  to  Quebec and west to Nebraska and Kansas.    Big, round buds give way to golden yellow flowers – yet another “yellow daisy thingy” or YDT  The YDT designation is a totally non-scientific teaching term for the yellow-flowered Asteraceae clan that grace the mid- and late-summer garden.


Honeybees and butterflies love the ring of oversize, nectar-filled disk florets and bees collect pollen from the stamen. The ray florets are fertile and a flower head can set copious amount of seed. Once ripe, the achene floats away on a breeze (if not scarfed up by a goldfinch)…to land and germinate in some part of your garden not intended for a 9’ tall yellow daisy thingy.  Hence the aggressive part.  Weed out the unwanted early on, when those first coarse leaves appear; wait too long and the tap root will make it tough to pull. I say this from recent experience (last night) when I upended myself trying to yank some unyielding Silphium from a clump of unsuspecting Echinacea. Ended up chopping the huge stems off at the base -possibly to be used as firewood.

Upside: he won’t have to mow for a while…

This is old news by now  – I’m surprised Jeff hasn’t pounced!!

Minnesota man accidentally kills entire lawn with herbicide

Sadly, the dead lawn ruined the plans for a charitable fund-raiser, also.

Lots of eye-rolling and sassy comments out there (from "duh" to "d’oh!") berating the guy
for not reading the label. Actually, my first reaction, too (RTFM, as
my Lt. Col. father would say.)

But it’s not so easy sometimes. I was trying to make out the fine print on the
silly peel-off, accordion-fold label on some Spinosad the other day and
it was impossible.  Finally gave up and looked up the application info on the interwebs. Not sure if that was the issue, but tiny, tiny print is a huge pet peeve of mine, so I’m comfy laying a bit of blame there.  

There is, however, readable print on the front label – the words "non-selective" and "glyphosate" and "grasses"  are large enough for even a blind squirrel like me to read. And I don’t know what on earth to think about the garden center employees who "helped" the poor guy.


(Another option: don’t get so worked up over weeds, says she with the
turf-like substance consisting entirely of anything but grass. But hey,
it’s green.)