I really loved Sunday even though the wind was howling
here. Yesterday was miserable and bleak
and I think today, even though it is cold, is much nicer with the sun shining
so nicely. The barn roof was dusted with snow this morning and I know it was
snowing quite heavily last night around 10 pm.
Before today I had some garden phlox blooming in the
garden. It may have frozen
overnight. I also found some nicotiana -
flowering tobacco- that had come up from seed and was starting to bloom. I transferred that to a pot and brought it
inside on the porch. It has red flowers
and is a short variety. I will see just
what kind of houseplant it makes.
I also saw that my bronze fennel was putting out a lot of
sprouts at its swollen base so I potted it and brought it inside. I missed getting seeds from it earlier when
it flowered. I am curious to see if it
flowers again or if it even lives inside.
Normally I treat fennel as an annual, it is probably better classified
as a bi-annual so we will see what happens inside.
I have a nice yellow abutilon blooming on the porch. Abutilons, sometimes called flowering maples,
make wonderful houseplants whether they are tree forms or basket forms. Mine are both basket types, one has large
yellow flowers and the other small red and orange flowers. That one also has pretty yellow variegated
foliage which makes a pretty basket whether it’s blooming or not. I included my article on abutilons below
under information if you’d like to know more about them.
Flower of the Year
There are many organizations that nominate plants or flowers
of the year. The National Garden Bureau
has nominated the “wildflower” as the flower of the year. This is odd because wildflower isn’t one type
or even species of flower. Supposedly
many nurseries will use this as a theme for spring plant offerings so expect to
see many wildflowers offered in catalogs.
They also nominated the gerbera daisy as annual of the year and the
watermelon as “vegetable” of the year.
Vegetable?
Other organizations will be nominating plants for flower of
the year and other awards. I’ll let you
know about them as I come across them.
Why bees prefer some
flowers more than others
Over the centuries flowers have devised all sorts of
attractive lures to interest pollinators.
Scientists using electron microscopes have discovered that the petals of
most bee pollinated flowers contain surface cells with a cone shaped
texture. When a bee lands on these petals
its claws are able to grip the surface better than when it lands on a petal
with surface cells in another texture.
Experiments have shown that the extra gripping power the
cone shaped cells give bees allows them to pry open flowers such as snapdragons
to get pollen and nectar and it keeps them on flower petals when the wind
blows. When the surface cell shape is
modified as it occasionally is during selection for other traits, bees may be
less inclined to visit those flowers.
Chocolate Research
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the
agency's Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory (SPCL) and Systematic Mycology
and Microbiology Laboratory (SMML), both in Beltsville, Md., have been
searching in South America and Africa for different varieties of cacao plants,
which chocolate is made from. They are collecting specimens to do research on
the genetics of cacao, which has proved to be a hard plant to domesticate and
farm.
Cacao has many subtle flavors or tones among different
varieties of the plant and different flavors
of edible chocolate are produced from these subtle nuances, just as different
wines are produced from different forms of grapes grown in different
areas. On a trip to Peru
they discovered specimens of a chocolate variety called Pure Nacional, an old
chocolate cultivar that high end chocolate companies greatly covet. It was growing at altitudes that most cacao
plants don’t grow in, giving hope that its genes could produce a top quality
cultivar of cacao that could expand the range of chocolate production.
Chocolate production is suffering because of changing
conditions in South America and Africa,
and a number of diseases that affect the crop.
The ARS has an ongoing program to improve cacao cultivars hoping to
ensure that the world has enough chocolate for the future, which is not only
good for us lovers of fine chocolate, but ensures a good livelihood for the
small farmers who produce the crop and a better economy for their
countries. You can read more about the
research at;
Archeologists and
soil
Soil scientists have given archeologists a new tool to learn
about ancient civilizations. With a tool
called a spectrophotometer
and other new research tools soil scientists can tell what grew in various
layers of soil even when no human artifacts remain. Corn and other cultivated plants leave
different chemical signatures in the soil than native vegetation, and these
signatures persist for thousands of years.
Soil archeologists can also tell when erosion occurred, another sign of
cultivated land.
Archeologists
working in Guatemala’s Tikal National Park were able to map out where corn (
maize) was grown in ancient times by the Mayans. It is estimated that around 60,000 people
lived in this area between 250 and 900 AD.
The soil tools allowed archeologists to find traces of phosporus which
indicate the presence of grain based foods, in areas known to be ancient
homes. The traces were heaviest at the
edges and doorways of where old structures were known to be and in kitchen
areas. It’s very likely the homes were
swept clean freguently and the food particles would settle at the edges of the
structures.
Archeologists
have always speculated at the purpose of the wide, flat “plazas” found near the
temples of ancient Mayan cities, which rarely contain any artifacts. The presence of large amounts of phosporus at
the edges of these plazas may indicate that they were market places, where food
was bought and sold. The plazas were
probably swept clean at the end of each market day or period.
The
new archelogy of soil is giving us a clearer understanding of how our ancestors
ate and lived. Scientists are eager to
explore more areas with this new field of archeology.
How to Grow Abutilons
(first published in Examiner.com)
http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-detroit/kimberley-willis
Maybe you noticed the beautiful Abutilons in a greenhouse
this spring. If you didn’t you missed a
chance to see and own some of the most exotic and interesting container plants
you can grow in your Michigan
garden. They aren’t winter hardy here- but will over
winter indoors, continuing to bloom through much of the winter. Other common names for Abutilons include
Chinese Bell Flower, Chinese Lanterns, and Indian Mallow.
Abutilons have been around as houseplants for at least a
century, commonly seen as a shrubby house plant known as Flowering Maple. The abutilons however, are a genus of about
150 species growing in sub tropical areas of South America
and Asia. They
grow as small trees, shrubs and vines.
Recently plant breeders have worked with the various species of
Abutilon, improving and hybridizing them to create many exotic, easy to grow
varieties you can now find at the greenhouse near you.
Abutilons are evergreen- like most tropical plants they keep
their leaves all year. The stems turn
woody over time. Most species are
perennial but annual varieties exist.
Some hybrids from South American species will survive temperatures into
the teens and growers are working to produce even hardier plants.
The older tree forms of abutilon still exist but the newer
abutilons produced for gardeners tend to form smaller shrub-like plants or
spreading hanging basket plants. There
is a wide variation in leaf size and shape and even flower shape among the
recent introductions. In some the
large, colorful hibiscus-like flowers are the show, in others the beautiful
foliage, often variegated, is as showy as the smaller dangling ‘lantern” type
flowers. All Abutilon flowers are
attractive to hummingbirds.
The large flowered varieties usually have leaves that are
lobed- sometimes looking like a maple leaf.
They can be various shades of green and may be variegated with yellow or
white. Some large flowered varieties
though, have smaller, fuzzy blade like leaves with serrated edges. The large flowered types have 5 tissue
paper-like flower petals shaped like a saucer or cupped ranging in size from 1½
inches to 5 inches across.
The large flowered abutilons have a prominent pistil and
stamens in the center and resemble hibiscus or mallow flowers. Flowers usually
dangle, facing downward. Flower colors
are usually warm colors such as reds and yellows, but white, pink and lavender
varieties exist. There are some hard to
find double flowered abutilons on the market.
Small flowered abutilons are usually hybrids of Abutilon
megapotamicum. The flowers have a large
calyx- (a thicker version of sepals) - on the back of the flower from which the
flower petals protrude beneath, producing the “lantern” look. The calyx is often a contrasting color from
the petals. Usually the colors are
reds, yellows and oranges but some pastels exist. The lantern type flowers are 1-2 inches long.
Small flowered varieties of Abutilon usually have small
leaves but at least one large maple leaf type variety exists. Many small flowered Abutilon have leaves that
are heavily variegated with gold or white.
The lantern types tend to have wiry, arching stems from which the leaves
and flowers dangle and make beautiful hanging baskets.
Growing Abutilon
Gardeners will generally start with plants. Abutilons can be started from seeds, although
Michigan grown plants rarely
produce them. It takes two years for
most Abutilons to bloom from seed.
Abutilons will also grow from cuttings.
Do not put Abutilons outside until all danger of frost has
passed and bring them inside in the fall before frost. They can be planted directly in the ground
and treated as annuals; however you can bring potted plants inside in the fall
for a blooming houseplant. The larger
flowered varieties hold their blooms better if protected from wind.
Abutilons prefer partial to full sun in the garden and a
sunny window indoors. Use a loose, light
potting soil. For best bloom Abutilons
need regular feeding. Use an extended
release fertilizer for flowers or fertilize with a liquid fertilizer every two
weeks. In the house stop fertilizing
November through January and let the plant rest a bit.
Abutilons need regular watering, particularly large plants
in hanging baskets. If they get too dry
they may drop their leaves but may recover if watered in time. Do not over water in the winter, soggy soil
will kill them.
Trim off any damaged or spindly growth. Abutilons can be pruned to control size as
some plants will get as large as 6 foot high and wide. If you want the plants to grow larger replant
in a slightly larger pot each spring.
Some varieties
‘Canary Bird’ is an older, small shrub form with large,
canary yellow flowers and large leaves.
‘Cannington Peter’ is similar but has dark red flowers and yellow
variegated leaves. ‘Violetta’ is a large - 6 foot - plant with large violet to
indigo blue flowers. ‘Voodoo’ has 2 inch
blood red flowers. ‘Hawaiian Ma’o’ is a large upright with 1 inch golden yellow
double flowers. ‘Tennant’s White’ has
huge white flowers.
No comments:
Post a Comment