Tuesday, December 29, 2015

December 29, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

December 29, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter    © Kim Willis

Hi Gardeners

Meet Gizmo, my new fur baby.
Well we dodged the bullet here it seems.  We got about 2 inches of icy snow and some high winds but we kept our power over night. There was freezing rain at one point.  I had a dickens of a time getting the back door open this morning because the wind from the east had piled the snow up against the door where it froze.  Hot water poured under the door from inside finally did the trick.  It was icy and one had to walk carefully but I didn’t notice any major tree damage.  I know some of you may have had worse conditions.

It seems we are finally going to get winter weather.  But the rest of the week doesn’t look too bad.  No big snow storms on the horizon and the cold isn’t too bad.  I really appreciate my plants which continue to bloom inside.  All the garden catalogs are arriving and it’s fun to see what’s new and start making lists and orders in my mind for next seasons gardens.

I got a new fur baby for Christmas.  Gizmo is a Shih Tzu- Pom mix puppy who is very smart and who has a ton of energy.  I haven’t had a puppy here in a while and I have been going around “puppy proofing” the house.  He is a hoarder who drags anything he finds to his bed.  That includes taking the cloths off the swifter mop as I try to mop and pulling pieces off the tree skirt and pages out of a Readers Digest.  I have had to examine my plants with an eagle eye and move some of the poisonous ones well out of his reach, which fortunately isn’t too great since he’s a bit of a thing.

I hope all of you had a great Christmas- holiday time and are ready for a new year of gardening.  Remember the best garden is always the one you’ll have next year.

Why eating more vegetables may be bad for the planet

The current USDA diet recommendations want us to eat more fruits and vegetables, whole grains and dairy and less meat, sugar and fat. There is some debate whether all of those dietary recommendations are actually better for you but one thing that recent research has discovered is that following those recommendations would actually be more harmful to the environment. 

Carnegie Mellon University has just published the results of research they did on the American diet.  This research focused on the environmental consequences of producing various common foods.  They factored in water use, land use, pollution and damage to the soil and greenhouse emissions caused by growing, harvesting, transporting and processing foods and the percentage wasted of various food products to determine the environmental damage consuming that food caused.

The big surprise was that most of the healthy foods we are urged to eat more of cause more environmental damage than foods like bacon.  In fact while beef was at the top of the list as far as environmental damage was concerned most other meats, such as pork, poultry, lamb, and eggs were much farther down the list than vegetables, fruits and grain products.   In fact the environmental cost of producing lettuce is 3 times greater than producing bacon.

Shellfish and regular fish, another recommendation that we eat more of – are also worse for the environment than most other protein sources.  Dairy products were not so great either. But some of the foods with the highest cost to the environment include lettuce, all other greens, eggplant, celery, peppers, tomatoes, grains, apples, oranges, strawberries, and many other vegetables and fruits.  Growing and consuming these foods caused more damage to the environment than consuming pork, chicken or eggs.

Different diet change scenarios were examined and the researchers concluded that if we just reduced the calories of the most typical American, high meat diet we would be far better off than if everyone adopted a vegetarian diet. The amount of calories we consume is much more than we need for a healthy diet.  Just eating less of what we now eat would help. But if everyone adopted a vegetarian diet greenhouse emissions would soar and climate damage would accelerate.

One of the reasons beef and dairy products cause environmental harm is the way the animals are housed and fed.  If all cattle went on pasture and grain in their diets was cut the environmental cost of eating beef and consuming dairy products would be much less.  In fact converting land now devoted to growing vegetables and grains to grazing land would reduce greenhouse emissions and help the environment. Using land for managed grazing is probably the least harmful way to produce food.

Sugar and fats and oils produced from vegetable sources are extremely damaging to the environment.  That’s because the human diet doesn’t really need non-animal sources of fat nor sugar.  And these foods are grown and produced in ways that very damaging to the environment.  We need to use less of them and devote less land to growing them.

And if we really want to have more fruits and vegetables in our diets we need to examine how we produce them.  If they were grown locally and organically their impact on the environment would be greatly lessened. If you are a vegetarian eating bananas and oatmeal, big salads of greens, bread, roasted eggplant and peanut butter on celery you are doing more harm to the environment than the person who had bacon and eggs for breakfast and chicken nuggets for dinner.


Another way to eat fruits and vegetables without guilt is to waste less of them.  Food produced in environmentally destructive ways and then wasted is a double whammy.  And fruits and vegetables are wasted in far greater quantities than meat products.  Americans are used to going into a grocery store with great quantities of out of season, non-local produce, (of which a lot has already been discarded on its trip from field to you), and purchasing big quantities of such produce.  They then let most of it sit until it spoils and then discard it. Think about how many times you threw out slimy lettuce or rotting apples.

Examine your shopping habits. Buy only what you know you will eat before it spoils. Choose local, in season produce over produce that has been shipped from far away.  Better yet grow your own and share your excess. If we grow fewer fruits and vegetables then the environment will be healthier.

The answer to feeding the world and reducing the effects of climate change is not by forcing everyone to adopt a vegetarian diet.  Meat provides more calories and nutritional value per gram than vegetables and grain.  It is better to continue to enjoy meat in the diet and actually reduce the production of vegetables, fruit and grain. 

Reference: Michelle S. Tom, Paul S. Fischbeck, Chris T. Hendrickson. Energy use, blue water footprint, and greenhouse gas emissions for current food consumption patterns and dietary recommendations in the US. Environment Systems and Decisions, 2015; DOI: 10.1007/s10669-015-9577-y

Amaryllis

Did you get an amaryllis bulb for Christmas?  They are popular gifts for people who like gardening or houseplants.  The bulbs you get are primed and ready to sprout and bloom with just a little care. You can discard them after blooming is finished. But if you give them some attention after they bloom you can successfully get them to bloom again for many years. Well cared for bulbs will get larger every year and produce even more flowers. And if no one gave you an amaryllis this winter you may want to buy your own.

Amaryllis (Hippeastrum hybrida) sold as flowering houseplants are actually hybrids of several species of the Hippeastrum family and come in a variety of bloom colors, petal shapes and plant sizes.  The big trumpet shaped red or red and white blooms of the most commonly sold gift amaryllis are just the tip of the iceberg.  There are flower colors from white to dark crimson,orange, yellows and lavenders.  There are so many varieties that many people collect amaryllis. 

Amaryllis flowers are produced on a green, hollow flower stalk with clusters of 2 or more buds.  The stalks range from about 12 inches high in miniature varieties to 2 feet tall in large varieties.  Large mature bulbs may put out several stalks at once.  The flowers generally consist of a layer of 3 overlapping petals and then a second layer of 3 petals. There are some varieties that have narrow, separated petals, (Cybister amaryllis) with star-like blooms. There are also double flowered varieties.

Amaryllis flowers can be solid colored or streaked or with contrasting centers.  Size of flowers ranges from about 2 inches across in miniature varieties to about 8 inches across in large ones.  The flowers usually face outwards.

Amaryllis leaves are long and strap like.  They may appear with the flower stalk or after.  There are usually 4 leaves per bloom stalk.  When the bulb goes dormant, (more about that later), the leaves will turn yellow and fall off.
Amaryllis bulbs are oval with an elongated top, called the neck. Bulb size ranges 6 to 13 inches or so in circumference.  The bigger the bulb the more flower stalks it produces, although miniature and star flowered varieties have naturally smaller bulbs.  The bulbs are covered with a papery covering like many other bulbs. Over years of good care the bulbs get larger and produce more bulbs, which can be separated for new plants.

Some common varieties

These are just a few of the hundreds of amaryllis varieties.  There are many nurseries on line and in catalogs offering bulbs for sale.  These will be dormant bulbs primed to bloom for you in a short time and are most often available in fall and winter.

Large single flowered varieties include ‘Ice Queen’, purest white, ‘Royal Velvet’ which is deep crimson, ‘Carmen’, rich red with an iridescent glow, ‘Hercules’, which is rosy pink, ‘Orange Sovereign’, a deep orange, ‘Rilona’, a peachy orange, ‘Minerva’, red and white, ‘Rebecca’, a rosy pink with white stripes that is said to be fragrant, ‘Estella’, a lavender pink with white stripe and light fragrance, ‘Lemon Star’, a pale yellow, ‘Daphne’, a cranberry red dappled with white, ‘Apricot Parfait’, a pale apricot with white edges

Double flowered varieties include white or red Peacock, ‘Lady Jane’, which is a orangey streaked color, ‘Dancing Queen’ which is red and white,Arctic Nymph’, which is a stocky short plant with beautiful white flowers,Sweet Nymph’, which is rose pink with dark pink streaks and a pale pink edge and ‘Aphrodite’ which is white with pink highlights.

While dwarf varieties have smaller flowers the flowers are generally more numerous, appearing in clusters on the plant.  Miniature amaryllis are about 18 inches high.  Varieties include ‘Rapido’, a crimson red, ‘Santiago’, red with a white streak through each petal, ‘Picotee’, white with a fine red line outlining each petal, and ‘Pretty Nymph’ which has ruffled pink petals striped with white.

Star flowered varieties include ‘Cybister Emerald’, which is greenish white with red streaks, ‘Cybister Lapaz’ which has 3 maroon petals and 3 white, ‘Sumatra’ which is crimson red, ‘Chico’ which has an extreme spidery form of burgundy red and green, and ‘Rosado’, which is rosy pink with white markings.

Planting the bulb

If you were given a gift Amaryllis bulb or bulbs they probably came with instructions but if not, here’s how to plant them.  Choose a good houseplant planting medium (soil) for potting.  The pot for the bulb should be just an inch or so bigger than the bulb in diameter as amaryllis likes to be pot bound.  It doesn’t have to be very deep- just a couple inches longer than the bulbs- but it must drain well.  Several bulbs can be planted in one pot with just an inch between them.

Put a little planting medium on the bottom of the pot and then set the bulbs in it.  The top of the bulb neck should be about at the level of the pot rim.  Now fill in with potting soil leaving the neck of the bulb and about a third of the bulb itself exposed.  If planted too deeply amaryllis won’t bloom.   Do not completely cover the bulb. 

Now water the bulb and set it in a brightly lit, warm place.  It should begin to show a green bud at the bud neck, sometimes more than one, in one to two weeks.  In fact some gift bulbs you receive may already be sprouting.  Sometimes the flower stalk develops first and the leaves later, other times leaves may begin emerging with the flower stalk.  Every few days rotate the pot so the flower stalk doesn’t lean toward the light source.

Just a note on those bulbs that come pre-planted in a decorative pot.  If your amaryllis bulb came with its own pot make sure the pot has drainage or that the drainage holes aren’t covered by decorative foil.  If the “pot” is a cardboard one you’ll probably want to put your bulb in a nicer, longer lasting pot.  When these plants finish blooming it’s probably best to repot the plant in fresh, quality potting medium.

Amaryllis will bloom in a container with rocks and an inch or so of water like narcissus bulbs. However when they bloom like this they are very hard to get to re-bloom in the future, even if they are potted after blooming. These bulbs are generally discarded after blooming.  If you want to keep your amaryllis bulb for future blooming pot it in a good potting medium when you receive it.

Care during bloom

The flower stalks grow rapidly and bloom may begin in just 5 weeks from bud emergence.  Keep the pot moist but not too wet as the flower stalks develop.  Don’t fertilize at this time.  Amaryllis likes temperatures of 65-75 degrees F for blooming.  If the plant gets too cold it may drop the buds.  Bright light but not direct sunlight is needed at this time. If the plant gets too warm – such as by a heat vent- it may also drop its buds. Don’t touch the buds and be careful not to bruise them or knock them off when moving the plant. Buds will open in succession and each flower may last several days.   A pot with several bloom stalks may be in bloom for weeks.

Care after bloom

Cut off the flower stalks when blooming has finished.  The leaves must remain in strong light and the pot kept watered for a few months so the plant can store nutrients to make new flower buds. Generally a plant blooming at Christmas or shortly after needs to be in a sunny window or under grow lights until you can put it outside. You should fertilize at this time with a blooming plant, water soluble fertilizer every other week to encourage the plant to produce more flowers. Several new leaves may be produced.  

After the last frost in your area you can move the plant outside.  This is one of the best ways to get the plant to re-bloom.  Put the plant in a shady location, letting it acclimate and move it gradually into full sun over two weeks.  Most people sink the pot into the ground but some plant the bulb directly into the ground.  Keep it watered through the summer. Make sure you mark the pot or location so that you’ll know where the bulb is when the plant goes dormant.

Amaryllis needs temperatures of about 55 degrees or slightly less for about 8 weeks to induce bud formation.  If the plant summered outside it will probably begin natural dormancy in the fall. Let the bulbs stay outside through early cool weather, even light frost.  When temperatures fall below 45 regularly bring it inside. It may have lost its leaves or most of them at this point.  If the plant hasn’t been outside you may want to move it to a cool dimly lit place such as a basement and stop watering it to induce dormancy.

When all the leaves have fallen the amaryllis has gone dormant.  Stop watering the plant. The plants need a dormant period to rest before blooming again.   It    doesn’t need light at this time. 

After a few months (10-12 weeks minimum) of storage the amaryllis bulb can be brought into bloom again by watering the pot lightly and putting it into bright light and warm conditions. Be careful and don’t overwater the amaryllis when it’s just coming out of dormancy. If you want to re-pot the bulb at this time you can do so.  Remember that for best bloom the pot shouldn’t be much bigger than the bulbs.  

If you discover small bulblets when repotting you can move them to separate pots.  It takes a couple years before they will bloom but they need the same period of growth and rest that blooming size bulbs get.  Many people leave the small bulbs to form large clumps in a pot with many flowering stalks.

The bulbs should begin showing green buds within a couple of weeks after their rest. It will take 5-8 weeks from coming out of dormancy to bloom. Many people try to re-bloom the amaryllis near the Christmas holidays although they will bloom at other times. You’ll need to get the bulbs in a dormant stage by early September for a chance at Christmas bloom.  The blooms will still be welcome later in the winter and it’s easier to aim for a January- February bloom time.

Amaryllis seldom have disease or insect problems in homes.  The biggest problem is overwatering, letting the bulbs rot.  Failure to bloom again is generally caused by improper management of the dormant period and not enough light during the spring and summer months.  Caution- amaryllis bulbs and all plant parts are poisonous.  Keep them away from pets and children.

Amaryllis can brighten the winter and could become a plant collectors dream with the many varieties to explore.  Why not plant one this winter?

Don’t use sunflower or olive oil on an infant’s skin

One of the “natural” recommendations for several years now has been to rub sunflower or olive oil on a newborns skin rather than protecting it with commercial products.  But a research study done by The University of Manchester, UK found that using the oils on a baby’s skin may be harmful.

Doctors at hospitals in the UK had noticed a large increase in eczema and other skin diseases in infants over the last few decades.  They also noticed an increase in midwives and other “experts” recommending that mothers use sunflower or olive oil on their babies skin to prevent the skin from drying out and it was thought to keep the babies skin soft and hydrated too.

However researchers found that using the oils on a babies skin kept the skin from producing its own protective cuticle layer.  Newborns need to produce this as they grow to protect the skin from viruses, bacteria and certain allergens.  It would seem that the oil would also protect the skin but researchers found that babies who were regularly rubbed with sunflower or olive oil had many more skin problems and allergic reactions than those who weren’t “anointed”. 

Further research is needed to determine if other oils also have this effect.  But for now the researchers recommend that healthy babies should not be “oiled” with any products, even natural ones.

The emergence of “invasive biology”

For the next few weeks I will be examining the invasive species are always bad myth and invasive species in general.  I have done a lot of research and talked to a number of people to come up with my take on the issue.

For the last fifty years or so there has been a great fear among people that changing an environment is always bad.  The worry is that removing species or bringing new species into an area will upset some delicate balance in nature and result in a cascading chain of events that will lead to utter destruction and chaos.  This fear of change has led to a whole sub set of biological research called “invasive biology.” 

People who believe that losing a “native” species or adding new “alien” species to any environment is harmful are often very zealous in protecting and promoting those beliefs, even though the science behind many of the harmful claims is thin and mostly anecdotal.  Recently careful, scientifically based new research and re- examination of older  “evidence“ that is often used to support  the harmful invasive species argument, has caused many responsible biologists and environmentalists to change their minds about invasive species.

There is no doubt that man, the most invasive species, has caused change in many environments and has contributed to the decline or advancement of many other species.  We have even caused changes that may harm us. But nature is very resilient. Nature doesn’t recognize invasive species, only successful ones.  Left to its own devices nature can repair most damages to the planet, including the loss of a species, and re-build dynamic ecosystems- even though those systems may not be the same as the system that existed before the damage.  These systems, although they may contain new species, are every bit as beautiful and wonderful as those that existed in some previous time.

Dames Rocket-  good or bad?
The fact that man can recognize damage we have done that may affect our future as a species and make changes in his behavior is indicative of just how adaptable we are.  But the idea that we can restore environments to their “original” state is foolish, since there is no original state to go back to.  Do we restore the abandoned lands in Detroit, for example, to the species and conditions that were there 50 years ago or to before Europeans first arrived in the area? 

The first people to come to the area, now called Native Americans, also made changes to the land.  It is unquestionable that they too brought along species of plants and animals that were not in the area when they arrived.  They cut down trees and started forest fires to drive game.  They may have hunted or gathered some species to extinction.  So do we restore the land to pre-human arrival? 

Species arrive in new places on their own, even in the absence of man. And there are the varying periods of climate change, the advancement and receding of glaciers, and many other periods of change in the land area now called Detroit and across the state of Michigan and the continent.  It is impossible to define an “original” ecology and “native” species if we are being honest.  Even though our ability to look back in time through modern archeological methods has helped us know what conditions existed in earlier times we cannot exactly determine all of the species that flourished and then went extinct or that invaded and are from other places.

And even if we could do this and we choose a time to “revert”   to it is impossible to replicate the climatic conditions, the soil conditions and species that have disappeared.  It is probably impossible to eradicate even some of the most recent invasive species.  Think of trying to eradicate the brown rat or the dandelion.

Thinking that we can restore environments that once existed is a result of guilt and romantic thinking.  Instead we should focus on helping nature create dynamic environments that are suitable for the present conditions and because self-preservation is necessary for all species, that optimize our species chances of survival.  That may mean bringing in a non-native plant to clean the soil of dangerous metals and chemicals or that can survive polluted water or air.   It may mean eliminating species, even “native” ones that pose a threat to our health. 

Multiflora rose- good or bad?
Using species considered to be native in re-planting areas is fine because those species are usually adapted to the area. But species from other places that could adapt to the conditions are also good.  We may want also want to bring in non-native plants to help other non-native species we find desirable such as honeybees, which are not a native species.  And we shouldn’t feel guilty about planting non-native species because they benefit us.

There are very few instances where a non-native species has actually caused the extinction of a “native” species, unless you count man as the invasive species.  Most cases reported lack the scientific evidence that it was the new species that was the problem and not changing conditions which favored the new arrival.  Some of these stories have been around for a long time and until recently were never questioned.  Another article will discuss the belief that extinction of species occurs because new species are introduced.

We may want to remove or prevent the establishment of some species of plants and animals that pose a threat to our health or to our food security and that’s fine too.  But we must stop believing that all non-native species (except for a few chosen crops) are dangerous and stop wasting resources on removing or controlling those which do little than offend us because they aren’t what we believe should be there. 

We can guide nature in rebuilding an ecosystem so that’s its pleasing to us.  That’s called gardening whether it’s in our backyard or in a vast nature preserve where we assiduously remove species we don’t want and add ones we do.  Or we can let nature do its thing and develop its own ecosystems, protecting an area from any human intervention at all.  We can remove the most invasive species of all, us, and stop even pretending we know what is best for a specific environment. Some forests and grasslands that nature develops by using all species available, including alien ones, work better than what existed before alien species arrived. That’s what wilderness protection should be-letting nature determine what lives and dies.

Happy New Year,  drive safely, and have fun

Kim Willis
 “He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero

Events, classes and other offerings
Please let me know if there is any event or class that you would like to share with other gardeners.  These events are primarily in Michigan but if you are a reader from outside of Michigan and want to post an event I’ll be glad to do it.

Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share?  Post them here by emailing me.

Free seeds
I have these seeds that I collected from my garden that I am willing to share free.  Look at the list and if you would like some contact me at kimwillis151@gmail.com

I will tell you where to send a stamped self-addressed envelope for the seeds. If you want popcorn or black walnuts it will take several stamps.  I have published this list on the seed swap sites also.  I’ll try to give everyone who asks some until they are gone.

Lilies, a seed mixture of assorted hybrids, oriental- Asiatic- trumpet- Casa Blanca, Stargazer, La Reve, purple tree, yellow tree, Silk Road, more
Anise hyssop
Morning glory – common purple
Scarlet runner bean - few
Japanese hull-less popcorn
Hosta asst.of seed from numerous varieties- lots
Ligularia desmonda (daisy–like flower)
Ligularia rocket – spires of flowers
Yucca
Glad mixed
Zinnia mixed
Foxglove Dalmation peach
Calendula mixed
Baptisia blue
Jewelweed
Cleome white
Columbine mixed- small amount
Nicotiana small bedding type- mixed colors
Nicotiana alata ( woodland tobacco, Only the Lonely)
Daylily mixed
Kangaroo Paws orange
Hollyhock mixed
Black walnut- few hulled nuts

An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/875574275841637/

Here’s a facebook page link for gardeners in the Lapeer area


Here’s a link to classes being offered at Campbell’s Greenhouse, 4077 Burnside Road, North Branch.  Now open.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor
Here’s a link to programs being offered at English Gardens, several locations in Michigan.

Here’s a link to classes at Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy and Shelby Twsp. MI, and now combined with Goldner Walsh in Pontiac MI.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Bordines, Rochester Hills, Grand Blanc, Clarkston and Brighton locations

Here’s a link to events at the Leslie Science and Nature Center, 1831 Traver Road Ann Arbor, Michigan  | Phone 734-997-1553 |
http://www.lesliesnc.org/

Here’s a link to events at Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Rd, Tipton, MI

Here’s a link to all the nature programs being offered at Seven Ponds Nature center in Dryden, Michigan. http://www.sevenponds.org/education/progs/springprograms/

Here’s a link to events and classes at Fredrick Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids Mi
http://www.meijergardens.org/learn/ (888) 957-1580, (616) 957-1580


Newsletter information
If you would like to pass along a notice about an educational event or a volunteer opportunity please send me an email before Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also if you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly notes. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.

I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week. It keeps me engaged with local people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive these emails have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

December 15, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

December 15, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter    © Kim Willis

Hi Gardeners

Elk in Catalooche Valley  by Brian Simpson
Well I have said it many times this year-and last- it seems that Tuesdays often bring weather changes.  I can feel the temperature dropping out there.  This weekend we may see snow flurries, even though it doesn’t look like any major snowstorms are coming- yet.  Michigan weather is something else.  Last weekend I sat on the deck in the sun, in just a sweatshirt. 

I have been getting calls and emails about plants coming up and budding out.  I have tulips and crocus coming up and green buds on the lilacs, forsythia and roses.  Don’t get too alarmed yet.  The gradual cool down we are going to get should return most things to dormancy.  Bulbs peeking above ground will be fine.  The leaf tips may brown if they are left exposed but the plants should flower.  However if they do manage to flower-some crocus or snowdrops just might if we get more mild weather- they won’t bloom again in the spring. 

It’s debatable whether covering exposed bulb sprouts will help or not. You could try chopped straw, chopped leaves or fine bark chips, but just bury them so the tips are covered.  You may want to remove that mulch in spring.  Even shading them with cut evergreen branches might help.  Remove those in the early spring

Woody plants are getting leaf buds, not flower buds.  They too should be fine unless we get more mild weather spells in January and February.  The closer we get to spring equinox in March the more likely mild spells will cause premature bloom or death of buds when cold returns. You may remember that this happened in the spring of 2012.  The fruit trees bloomed early and then the blossoms were killed by frost.  Most spring flowering shrubs didn’t bloom. 

As long as nights return to below freezing and temps don’t go above the 40’s in the daytime most plants will be ok.   We may get some tip die back because plants didn’t “harden off” before the cold. We don’t know what the weather holds for us this winter and into spring but it could get dicey for our plants if we get big swings between warm and cold weather.  But there’s not much we can do about the weather.

Ice storms are also possible when temps hover just around that freezing mark and the next 2-3 weeks are prime times for ice storms in our area. Ice storms are very damaging to the landscape. This year it’s making me nervous because the transition time from mild to cold is going to fall right in this time span.  You may want to review your emergency supplies and plans for power outages.

Next week no newsletter- it’s the solstice holiday- back on December 29th

Long before Christians were celebrating the birth of their savior every civilization known was celebrating a winter holiday centered on solstice.  It was generally the most important celebration of the year, when the longest night was over and it was assured that the days would begin to grow longer again.  Great care was taken by the astrologers in early times to plot the exact moment of the solstice. And the solstice is truly a moment in time, the exact time the suns axis is tilted the farthest from the earth.  After that moment, the days begin to lengthen. 

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument by David  Lane
Stonehenge and the pyramids were tools to figure out the solstices and other celestial events. It is amazing to me that they could determine the incremental increase in daylight that begins the day after winter solstice by using these things as tools.  This year winter solstice occurs on Monday, December 21, at 11:49 PM, Detroit time.  The first day of winter – the day the sun is reborn- is said to be December 22nd.

Early Christians decided that they would make the birthday of Christ right after the solstice because people were used to celebrating at this time. It was set at the end of the traditional 3 day solstice celebration.  And the winter solstice does symbolize birth, a new beginning.  Most religious historians place the actual birth of Christ as sometime in the spring, when taxes were collected in Bethlehem and when a peculiar star formation in the East occurred. 

Since the story of Jesus’s birth was actually written some 200 years after it was said to happen and there was no written record of it at the time, what date it actually occurred is lost.  But the early founders of Christianity decided to make it easier for followers and just place the celebration close to where people were used to celebrating. 

The older European solstice celebrations usually involved bonfires.  You burn your troubles and fears and wish for good things in the coming year. People carried tokens, often acorns and oak branches, representing things they wished to get rid of and threw them in the fire.  Oak logs are the traditional fuel for these fires.  There are however, many, many different traditions from various places and cultures in the world to celebrate winter solstice.  The most accurate time to throw your cares into the fire would be at the moment of solstice.

The time around the solstice, between the 21st -24th, is when the ancients believed that man’s mind was most open to spiritual enlightenment and positive life changes. It was a time of meditation and reflection. You are to wish for self- improvement, knowledge, healing of spiritual wounds and the ability to meet personal goals.  In ancient times it was not a time to wish for material things and if gifts were given it was to the very poor or the gifts were symbolic in nature.  I encourage everyone to spend three days in meditation and reflection before the great orgy of worshipping material things that Christmas has become.

Marijuana could help you lose weight

You may have seen this on the news but since I love good news about marijuana I’ll repeat it.  Two large studies have found that those who smoke marijuana regularly, which is defined as 3 times or more per week, weigh less on average than those who do not smoke marijuana.
 
Despite all the jokes about getting the munchies and eating, people who use marijuana are less likely to be obese than those who don’t partake.  It’s known that marijuana does increase the appetite and helps people who may have difficulty with nausea and lack of appetite from chemotherapy or disease.  But researchers think that ingredients in cannabis may also change the body’s metabolism, making it more efficient. They also think that people who use marijuana consume less alcohol, which is a big cause of obesity. 

More research needs to be done of course.  Since marijuana is a very safe research  subject it should be relatively easy to conduct.  Maybe being obese can now be the reason for getting that medical marijuana card. And if marijuana  has weight loss benefits maybe that will finally allow it to be legalized for all uses, including recreational.

Magic mushrooms may heal depression

From the beginning or recorded history and probably before that, men on every continent used mushrooms from the family of Basidiomycota mushrooms for religious-spiritual experiences.  There are over 200 species of mushrooms in this family that contain the potent mind altering chemicals psilocybin and psilocin. These chemicals cause euphorbia, changes in perception, alteration of the sense of time, heightened senses, and audio and visual hallucinations in those that use them.  The ‘Shrooms’ are used recreationally but are illegal.

Research in recent years has found that a single dose of psilocybin may result in remission of symptoms of OCD and clinical depression for several months.  Psilocybin has also been used to treat alcoholism.  Recently a study done by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that a single dose of psilocybin cured the depression of people who had cancer.

In patients who have certain cancers with high fatality rates there are understandably high rates of anxiety and depression.  Researchers found that a single dose of psilocybin high enough to induce changes in perception and cause hallucinations reduced the levels of anxiety and depression in patients to a much greater degree than a control group who was not given the drug.  The results lasted at least 6 months and greatly increased quality of life.

The research results were recently presented at the annual meeting of American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.  It suggests that psilocybin from “magic mushrooms” can be an important aid to treating clinical depression and possibly other mental disorders.  Don’t experiment on your own however.  The magic mushrooms are easily confused with poisonous mushrooms and unsupervised “trips” may cause more harm than good.

Climate change notes

Because of the climate change summit that recently took place, reports of various climate change findings have been dominating the news.  Research has been on-going for many years on the topic and there are many conflicting results but here are some of the recent notable studies and what was “discovered”.

A research study in Australia found that cities and urban suburbs have more bio-diversity than most other eco-systems and they found endangered species living in almost every large Australian city.  They suggest that all places are important to study and preserve and that some species are actually helped by human cities. (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2015; DOI: 10.1111/geb.12404)

If you want to sequester (take it out of the environment) the most carbon in the eastern United States an ecosystem with only 50-60% forested land is preferable to one that is 90% or more forested according to the US Forest Service.  Mature trees take up less carbon than young growing trees combined with brush and grassland.  We may need to change how we think about old growth forests and managing ecosystems.  (Scientific Reports, 2015; 5: 17028 DOI: 10.1038/srep17028).

Plants have changed the way they accomplish photosynthesis due to higher amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. Plants take up carbon during photosynthesis but lose it during photorespiration.  Photorespiration occurs during hot, dry weather when the plants increased photosynthesis causes the balance of enzymes and chemicals, particularly oxygen to get out of balance.  The plant releases oxygen and carbon into the air to achieve the proper balances for life processes.

Research has found that climate change which has increased CO2 in the atmosphere has caused plant photosynthesis to ramp up and sequester more carbon than in the past, which has been good. However as the climate warms and gets drier researchers say that photorespiration will quickly begin to offset the carbon sequestration increase.  So increasing a plants photosynthesis rate will not be our salvation.    (PNAS, 2015 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1504493112)

An international research group, led by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in collaboration with the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, has found that we really have a shocking misconception of what species exist on earth and what species have been lost.  Our calculations of some types of plants and animals are grossly under reported and in others grossly over reported.  In fact they conclude we have no real handle on how many species of plants and animals actually exist on earth or that have been lost.
Black Footed Ferrets- Kimberley Ramkun USFS

Researchers came to this conclusion after doing intensive inventorying of selected plots in various ecosystems around the world.  They found that bio-diversity was generally 50% off in one direction or another than what was expected of that ecological area. And that’s a major difference.

Often new species are not “discovered” until decades after they were collected and stored away in some museum. We have thousands of species on earth never described or named.  And many species thought to have been lost may still exist, some in quite adequate numbers.  Add to that the fact that new species are evolving constantly, at a much faster rate than we once believed.  Our whole way of counting earth’s bio-diversity is a mess.  And at this point we really do not have a good method of inventorying earth’s biodiversity. Remember that when some people begin crying about the extinction rate caused by climate change or man.  (Nature Communications, 2015; 6: 10169 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10169)

What I think about climate change

My take on climate change is this.  It is happening. If you deny that you are not very observant or educated.  Man has contributed to it but whether we are the major drivers of climate change is debatable. I applaud our country in participating in an effort to save our species. But we know that there have been drastic climate shifts in earth’s history and some of the change is probably due to natural cycles.  And the fact is that the earth is going to continue to change regardless of whether the human species remains or not. 

This does not mean that man is removed from any responsibility to try and save the species.  It’s a part of life itself, its imbedded in our genetic code to save the species.  And when it all comes down to it – we are trying to preserve the environment we feel is right for earth because we feel it’s the best for us.  Yes we throw in other species like tigers and panda bears and spotted owls that we feel must be saved- and that’s a noble cause – but we are trying to preserve the environment that’s best for us and not for bacteria or plants or even tigers.

Nature is remarkably adaptive.  Even the most “ruined” areas recover in time.  Maybe not with the same species that once existed there but generally a complex bio-diverse ecosystem develops.  Man may one day become extinct as a species- indeed several species of man have gone extinct.  But life on earth will go on.  We are arrogant when we think we must be part of this life.

That does not mean that we shouldn’t try to reduce carbon emissions, that we shouldn’t care for the earth and develop better ways to live upon it.  We should be planning for changes to the environment and developing ways to adapt to it. That’s good for us and will probably help other species.  But we should realize that species come and go on earth and even though we may have contributed to the decline of some species, that’s a natural cycle too.  Species compete.  Its only man that feels guilty about winning the competition.  Nature – the entire world ecosystem- really doesn’t care if we are here- or tigers or spotted owls.  We should live in harmony with nature and care for our home, but we should also realize that we aren’t in control and never will be.

Holiday plants you may want to avoid

Plants have been brought into the home to decorate it around the winter solstice for hundreds of years.  They have become part of the tradition and lore of the holidays and the practice persists even today.  But not all holiday plants are safe for children and pets and knowing which ones are poisonous is important for a happy holiday.

Poinsettia
The poinsettia has long been listed as a poisonous plant but as toxic plants go, it’s probably not that harmful.  Yes if someone ate a lot of poinsettia there could be serious consequences but that scenario is unlikely.  The sticky white sap of the poinsettia is unpleasant tasting enough that even the naughtiest dog probably wouldn’t eat enough to get more than a stomach ache.  It would take eating several large plants to be lethal to a pet or child, if that.

Mistletoe on the other hand is extremely poisonous and just a few of the berries dropped on the floor and eaten by a pet or child could cause death. All parts of the plant are toxic, dried or fresh. Mistletoe is a plant that does not belong in homes where children and pets are present.

Holly is often used in decorating for the holidays but all parts of the plant are poisonous.  The leathery leaves would be unlikely to be eaten but the bright red berries that some holly has would be attractive to children and pets. 

Another very poisonous plant that is sold around the holidays as a potted plant is the Jerusalem Cherry.    The plant is a compact bush-like house plant with glossy green leaves and bright orange-red berries.  All parts of this plant are poisonous.

In fact around the holidays many plants with red or orange berries are sold.  Some of these are new to the trade and little is known about their toxicity - whether they are poisonous or harmless.  It’s a good idea to place any of these attractive plants out of the reach of children and pets.  Always keep a plant label with a plant so if any part is ingested you can tell poison control what it is.

Amaryllis
Amaryllis bulbs are often sold around the holidays either in bloom or as kits that you add water to and watch it grow.   They are often sold as a bulb in fancy pots.   They have long strap-like leaves which appear after the bloom stalk.  The amaryllis bloom is trumpet shaped; there may be one or several blooms on each tall stalk.  It comes in red, white, pink and other pastel shades.  All parts of the plant are poisonous.

Another bulb often given as a gift kit is the narcissus or daffodil bulb.    The common one sold is called paper white narcissus.  They are often set in gravel and water to grow roots and bloom.  They have flat, grass like leaves, and the typical daffodil flower of a “cup” surrounded by a ring of petals.  They are white or yellow and have a strong fragrance.  All parts of the plant are quite poisonous as is the water surrounding the bulb, or if the blooms are cut and put in a vase of water, that water is also toxic.  Narcissus and daffodils should never be put where children or pets might taste them or drink the water they are in.

Yews are not used as often as some evergreens for holiday decorating but they are sometimes used in floral arrangements and unsuspecting homeowners may bring branches inside for decorating.  They have soft, flat dark green needles and are often sheared into hedges around a home. The yew is an extremely toxic plant with only a bite of the plant causing death to a pet.  It sometimes has fleshy red berries with a hard seed inside that attract children and pets.  The soft part of the berry is harmless but a few swallowed seeds can be deadly.  A mouthful of the plant can kill a grown cow.  It is not a plant that should be brought into the home.

Sweet Annie or other kinds of wormwood (artemisia) are often used in wreaths and other dried arrangements.  While unlikely to be eaten in quantity, these plants are also poisonous and munching should be discouraged.  Since wreaths, dried arrangements and fresh floral arrangements can have all sorts of exotic plants tucked in them and might be sprayed with chemicals, it’s a good idea to keep them out of the reach of children and pets.

Christmas Cactus and Other Confusing Holiday Cactus

The Christmas Cactus is a plant with a long life, even if sometimes neglected.  They brighten the winter with their cheerful blossoms and give plant lovers something to mull over- is it a Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter Cactus?

This family of cacti doesn’t come from the hot desert.  They come from the cool mountain rainforests in Brazil.   They don’t grow in soil but in pockets of humus rich debris in the crotches of trees and cracks of rocks.  They usually have a spreading, drooping habit. 

Christmas cacti have been in cultivation a long time. The plants being sold today are clones of several crosses of two species, Schlumbergera bridgesii, (or Schlumbergera russelliana), and Schlumbergera truncate that were developed in the 1800’s. Typically they are given the names Thanksgiving cactus or Christmas cactus by the time of year they bloom.  There are some slight differences in leaf shape in the different clones. 

To add to the confusion Christmas Cacti bloom can be manipulated fairly easily by growers and the different varieties may be in bloom at the same time or even delayed until later in the spring, when they can be sold in place of the true Easter Cacti.  Some varieties also bloom sporadically all winter.

The Easter Cactus belongs to another species entirely, Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri.  It comes from the same general area as the other holiday cacti and requires just about the same care. It usually blooms in April.

The holiday cacti all have leaves that are thick and fleshy and occur in segments linked together. They are dark green. The base of the plant may turn woody as it ages.  The earliest blooming Cacti have segments that have points at the top and a jagged side; the later blooming cacti tend to have more rounded tops and smoother sides, although this is very variable.   Easter Cacti have more rounded segments.

The Christmas- Thanksgiving Cacti produce buds at the end of a segmented stem.  The buds take several weeks to grow from tiny bumps to long, beautiful flowers.  Each flower is tubular, with satin-like petals folded back along the tube in layers.  These varieties now come in traditional red along with pink, white, orange, yellow and lavender. 

The Easter Cactus produces buds at the ends of stems and along the stem at other segments. The flowers of the Easter cactus are rounder, and more like a daisy than a tube. There are several shades of red, pink and mauve.

Growing Holiday Cacti

The rainforest cacti are grown by rooting one of the leaf segments.  The leaf segments will root easily when stuck in damp vermiculite or gravel.  Most gardeners will buy or be given potted plants, usually in bloom.  Take the foil off the pot and place it in a bright, sunny window.  Make sure the pot has drainage holes.   There is no need to rush to re-pot the plant as most holiday cacti actually prefer to be root bound.

Plants found in stores are usually only labeled by color not by variety name.  It is possible to find named varieties in catalogs and at better garden stores.

Your Christmas cactus will bloom longer if your house is on the cool side, especially at night.  But don’t let them get too cold. Temperatures below 50 degrees or drafts may cause the plant to drop its buds. These plants need to be watered when the top of the soil feels dry, but don’t over water. Constantly wet soil will cause root rot.  When not blooming, the cacti will survive longer without water, but if the stems feel limp and flat you need to water.

To get your Christmas or other holiday cactus to bloom again it needs a summer vacation.  After all danger of frost has passed put it outside in its pot in a shady location in a partly or lightly shaded area.  If the light is too bright the cacti will either turn reddish or bleach out.  Make sure the plant will not sit in water when it rains.  Bring the plant back in before frost.

The Thanksgiving or Christmas cacti need lengthening nights and cool temperatures at night to form buds.  Keep the plant in a cool room with bright light and no drafts for best results.  The trip outside will generally have allowed enough naturally shortening daylight to start buds forming. Easter cacti begin blooming as the days start to get longer.

If you cannot put your plant outside for the summer, move it to a window where the sunlight is not too hot and strong in the summer.  By late summer it should be getting cooler nights, about 55 degrees, and the same amount of light that is outside. You may want to cover it when it is dark outside or move it to a closet.  Sometimes just the cooler nights will start buds forming. Once the buds have formed they usually continue to develop despite getting light at night.

When the cacti have buds try not to move them to another location.  This will sometimes result in dropped buds. Easter cacti are a little harder to get to re-bloom and a little more sensitive to drafts and improper watering, but worth the extra trouble.

In the late spring through blooming it doesn’t hurt to give these cacti a little liquid house plant fertilizer, every other week is good.  Stop fertilizing when blooming stops for 3-4 months.  You can also pinch the plant back to promote more branching.  The segments you pinch off can be rooted to start more plants.  Stop pinching after June 1st or you will not have buds in the fall.

Christmas and other holiday cacti can live for decades; many people have plants 30 or more years old, passed from generation to generation.  Every three or four years you may want to re-pot the plant.  Use a mixture designed for cacti or mix peat, sand and vermiculite in equal amounts.  These rainforest cacti like slightly acidic conditions.  If you use hard, alkaline water to water them you may want to add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to each gallon of water to increase the acidity or use an acidic plant food when you fertilize. 

If you care for it well that small plant you got this Christmas may become a large beautiful plant you pass to your grandchildren in 30 or 40 years. 





Have a Spiritual Solstice, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holiday.  May your days be long and filled with peace and love.

Kim Willis
 “He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero

St. Mary's Lake, Glacier National Park by Gavin Danapong

Events, classes and other offerings
Please let me know if there is any event or class that you would like to share with other gardeners.  These events are primarily in Michigan but if you are a reader from outside of Michigan and want to post an event I’ll be glad to do it.

Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share?  Post them here by emailing me.

Free seeds
I have these seeds that I collected from my garden that I am willing to share free.  Look at the list and if you would like some contact me at kimwillis151@gmail.com
I will tell you where to send a stamped self-addressed envelope for the seeds. If you want popcorn or black walnuts it will take several stamps.  I have published this list on the seed swap sites also.  I’ll try to give everyone who asks some until they are gone.
Lilies, a seed mixture of assorted hybrids, oriental- Asiatic- trumpet- Casa Blanca, Stargazer, La Reve, purple tree, yellow tree, Silk Road, more
Anise hyssop
Morning glory – common purple
Scarlet runner bean - few
Japanese hull-less popcorn
Hosta asst.of seed from numerous varieties- lots
Ligularia desmonda (daisy–like flower)
Ligularia rocket – spires of flowers
Yucca
Glad mixed
Zinnia mixed
Foxglove Dalmation peach
Calendula mixed
Baptisia blue
Jewelweed
Cleome white
Columbine mixed- small amount
Nicotiana small bedding type- mixed colors
Nicotiana alata ( woodland tobacco, Only the Lonely)
Daylily mixed
Kangaroo Paws orange
Hollyhock mixed
Black walnut- few hulled nuts


An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/875574275841637/

Here’s a facebook page link for gardeners in the Lapeer area


Here’s a link to classes being offered at Campbell’s Greenhouse, 4077 Burnside Road, North Branch.  Now open.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor
Here’s a link to programs being offered at English Gardens, several locations in Michigan.

Here’s a link to classes at Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy and Shelby Twsp. MI, and now combined with Goldner Walsh in Pontiac MI.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Bordines, Rochester Hills, Grand Blanc, Clarkston and Brighton locations

Here’s a link to events at the Leslie Science and Nature Center, 1831 Traver Road Ann Arbor, Michigan  | Phone 734-997-1553 |
http://www.lesliesnc.org/

Here’s a link to events at Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Rd, Tipton, MI

Here’s a link to all the nature programs being offered at Seven Ponds Nature center in Dryden, Michigan. http://www.sevenponds.org/education/progs/springprograms/

Here’s a link to events and classes at Fredrick Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids Mi
http://www.meijergardens.org/learn/ (888) 957-1580, (616) 957-1580


Newsletter information
If you would like to pass along a notice about an educational event or a volunteer opportunity please send me an email before Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also if you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly notes. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.
I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week. It keeps me engaged with local people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive these emails have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com