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 foliage. Next time you’re hiking in the woods, keep your eye out for this common yet striking plant.
What am I? (There has been no alteration of this photo, other than cropping, nor was it taken under any special lighting.)
Answer on Monday!
I’ve been working with homemade garden remedies in one context or another for about 10 years now. As someone who has spent days searching for odd cures to garden problems I consider myself qualified to say that, of all of the remedies I’ve seen, vinegar seems to be the product with the most (supposed) uses. You can kill weeds with it, as well as plant diseases and insects. You can also use it as a fertilizer or even to acidify your soil. … Continue reading this article “Vinegar: A Garden Miracle!”
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 common in the trade are the cascading Asian sedges such as Carex dlichostachy ‘Kaga Nishiki’, C. oshimensis ‘Evergold’, and C. morrowii ‘Variagta’, all fabulous plants for the part-shade garden. … Continue reading this article “Grass, sedge, or weapon?”
I get a lot of questions about a lot of different products and practices. New topics send me to the scientific data bases and that’s where I went for today’s posting. One of my garden writing colleagues asked me about colored glass rooters – glass containers in different colors that can be filled with water and a plant cutting. The conventional internet wisdom, according to my colleague, is that green and blue glass rooters are the best.… Continue reading this article “Does colored glass help root cuttings?”
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 look at pre-plant storage and handling on shade tree liners.
As many GP blog readers are aware, emerald ash borer (EAB) has dominated the conversation regarding shade trees in the Midwest for the past 6-8 years. … Continue reading this article “Getting to the root of the problem”
I’d turned Friday’s picture on end to try to fool you…but to no avail. Deirdre and Gail both guessed woodpeckers, and yes, this is sapsucker damage:
Though some woodpeckers look for insects under the bark, sapsuckers drill neat lines of wells that fill with sap. The birds can then move down the line of wells, lapping up sugar water. (Kind of the avian version of lining up tequilla shots on the bar.) Healthy trees are generally not at risk of dying from drilling injury, though if the tree is completely girdled that would be a problem. … Continue reading this article “Mystery pits revealed”
What am I?
Answer on Monday!
A little more than a year ago I posted a Friday quiz based on a failing Cornus kousa.The answer explained that our landscape has, in part, a perched water table that effectively rotted most of the roots of this poor tree over several years. Last spring we moved it to a different section of our landscape where we know the drainage is better, and I’ve been monitoring its recovery since that time.
Cornus kousa leaves in 2007
Cornus kousa leaves in 2011
We were gratified to see that the leaves this year are significantly larger than those of previous years. … Continue reading this article “Update on root-rotted Cornus kousa”
Today I was reading a review of Amy Stewart’s new book Wicked Bugs and noticed the glee with which the reviewer noted that stings of various insects have been rated on a four point scale. Having read Amy’s book I can wholeheartedly recommend it, but in terms of the stings I thought, what the heck? Let’s see if I can impart some glee to our readers by taking a look at the pain that stings cause (I think it’s kind of like highbrow slap-stick). … Continue reading this article “Getting Stung Can Be Fun!”