As winter continues to hold its icy grip over the middle of the country, our thoughts don’t stray too far from plants and cold. Recently one of the graduate students in our department, Nick Pershey, brought to my attention a new product called FreezePruf that claims to improve plant cold hardiness by up to 9 degrees F. Since a couple of degrees of improved cold tolerance can be a big deal (just ask a Florida citrus grower after a 29 deg.… Continue reading this article “Checking up on FreezePruf”
Tag: winter
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”
Post-holiday Poinsettia Fatigue
You’ve seen them. The saddest thing ever – a poinsettia, still in its little foil sleeve, tucked into the corner of the doctor’s office/bank/etc. In June. 
Photo courtesy of Beth Bonini http://beedrunken.blogspot.com
So iconic, there’s even a rock band in St. Paul called “Dead Poinsettia.”
Every year about this time, I get asked “how do I care for my poinsettia so it will bloom next year?” by friends, students, random callers, and random newspaper writers. … Continue reading this article “Post-holiday Poinsettia Fatigue”
Let It Snow!
Here in Minnesota one of the things that we need to worry about is the cold. Over the winter we can see temperatures down into the -30s (even the -40s in the Northern part of the state) and it can damage many of the plants that we grow. The tops of the trees are usually able to handle these types of temperatures — though a good heavy snowfall can cause a limb to collapse now and again.… Continue reading this article “Let It Snow!”