Author: Linda Chalker-Scott

Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott has a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Oregon State University and is an ISA certified arborist and an ASCA consulting arborist. She is WSU’s Extension Urban Horticulturist and an Emerita Professor in the Department of Horticulture. She conducts research in applied plant and soil sciences, publishing the results in scientific articles and university Extension fact sheets. Linda also is the award-winning author of five books: the horticultural myth-busting The Informed Gardener (2008) and The Informed Gardener Blooms Again (2010) from the University of Washington Press and Sustainable Landscapes and Gardens: Good Science – Practical Application (2009) from GFG Publishing, Inc., and How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do from Timber Press (2015). Her latest effort is an update of Art Kruckeberg’s Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest from UW Press (2019). In 2018 Linda was featured in a video series – The Science of Gardening – produced by The Great Courses. She also is one of the Garden Professors – a group of academic colleagues who educate and entertain through their blog and Facebook pages. Linda’s contribution to gardeners was recognized in 2017 by the Association for Garden Communicators as the first recipient of their Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award. "The Garden Professors" Facebook group - www.facebook.com/groups/GardenProfessors Books: http://www.sustainablelandscapesandgardens.com

Friday Physiology Fun Followup

Astute readers pointed out several morphological adaptations found in drought-tolerant turf weeds:  fleshy taproots, reflective leaf surfaces, etc.  What we can’t see is what many of these plants do physiologically – and that’s photosynthesize using a biochemical pathway that temperate turfgrasses don’t possess. 

This pathway, called C4 photosynthesis, contains some extra preliminary steps not found in plants using traditional (C3) photosynthesis.  The downside:  it takes more solar energy for the plant to photosynthesize.  The upside:  these extra steps allow the plant to "fix" carbon (transforming it from gas to solid) faster, especially when it’s sunny, warm, and droughty. … Continue reading this article “Friday Physiology Fun Followup”

Friday physiology fun

It’s still cold and wintery, so let’s imagine ourselves in a happy place…warm, sunny, dry…with dead lawns.

As the photo shows, the turfgrass is dead; this happens every summer during the Pacific Northwest’s droughty summers.  Yet many of the weedy species are obviously thriving.  Why?

Remember, this is a physiology quiz.  You can discount herbicides, fertilizers, etc.  This is a cool (no pun intended) adaptation that many species native to dry, subtropical to temperate environments possess.  … Continue reading this article “Friday physiology fun”

Making a difference?

I promise I’ll post a Friday puzzle later.  But I just had to let you know that if you Google “water droplets burn leaves” (without quotes) you’ll get 436,000 hits as of this morning.  Number 3 on the list?  Our blog!

I think I’ll discuss this paper one more time on Wednesday – there are several other serious issues that I think are worth mentioning.

Have a good weekend!

Science rant coming up later today…

I’ve got a good post for today…but have a seminar to give this morning and the blog has to wait.  If you have time, go onto the web and look for “water drops burn leaves” or something like that.  You’ll find reference to an article in New Phytologist that has the gardening world all a-twitter.  I’ll be dissecting the paper – and the surrounding hype – later today.

Help! Help! The Sky is Falling!!!

You all remember the story of Chicken Little, right? Chicken Little thought she’d been hit on the head by a piece of the sky and ran around alarming the rest of the barnyard animals, who assumed Chicken Little knew what she was talking about. Had they not all been eaten by Foxy Loxy, I’m sure they would have felt foolish discovering that an acorn, not a piece of the sky, had bopped Chicken Little on the noggin.… Continue reading this article “Help! Help! The Sky is Falling!!!”

Friday’s puzzle solved

Here’s Friday’s photo without my edits:

As you can see, there are tell-tale globs of hot glue around the base of the bud on the right.  Hap was correct – it’s yet another “cactus strawflower” whose cactus portion had disintegrated, leaving only the strawflower graft behind.  But out of context it could easily be mistaken for a bulb of some sort.  Let the buyer beware!

Friday fun, part 2

OK, enough tormenting of my fellow GP.  On to today’s photo challenge.

Is it a miracle?  Is it a resurrection plant?  How do you explain these large buds emerging from the soil?

A disclaimer: a portion of this photo has been Photoshopped.  I promise the altered area was not of plant material.  Monday’s answer will include the untouched photo in bigger context

Friday fun, part 1

This posting is for Holly, who I am sure is desperately trying to finish her annual review.  I feel your pain!  And I’m going to add to it today.

 

The poinsettia in these photos is not from this Christmas, but from 2008.  You can see it thriving happily in its office environment.  I’m told by its caretaker Nick (a nongardener) that it has no bugs or other problems, and seems very happy.  And it’s blooming, without the benefit of the extended night period. … Continue reading this article “Friday fun, part 1”

Why I dislike rootgrafted plants

I’m pretty much a live-and-let-live person in terms of plant choices (as long as they’re not invasive).  But I’m becoming convinced that oddities grafted onto hardy rootstocks are poor choices, because the rootstock always seems to win.  I posted one of these several months ago (see October 28, 2009 ), but just today have just found the poster tree for my anti-rootgraft movement.

A little backstory.  I’m currently out at the Washington coast, trying to get some writing and seminars done without disruption. … Continue reading this article “Why I dislike rootgrafted plants”

Friday’s puzzle solution

We have a winner!  Brian correctly identified the windowed hood of a cobra plant (Darlingtonia) and its function in tormenting hapless insects.  Here’s the entire picture:

Thanks to everyone who gave the puzzle a shot.  Very imaginative guesses!