We sure are having a gray fall. I keep telling myself that the rain is good
for the plants but it sure doesn’t help my mood. People have been telling me that odd things are
still happening related to the unusual weather.
Someone from the mid-south told me that down there some trees that lost
leaves are already starting to bud out again.
I noticed that my bulbs are already poking above ground.
The National Weather Service has issued their meteorological
winter (December through March) forecast.
Because of the jet streams, ocean water temperature and other markers,
they predict “normal” winter weather for Michigan
and most of the nation. So now we have
normal weather, milder and drier, and wetter but colder winter predictions if
you add the Weather Service forecasts to both Farmers Almanacs
predictions. Well, someone will be
right.
If you are one of the people who worry about the thinning of
the ozone layer over us a new finding will get you even more worried. Recently research has discovered that some of
our massive storms that supposedly come from global warming are actually
shooting water into the stratosphere, where we think it doesn’t belong. There it mixes with pollution and forms
chemicals that degrade ozone.
Now no one knows if storms have always pushed water into the
stratosphere on occasion and whether this was a problem before we added certain
chemicals to it from fluorocarbons and other things. But we do know that wherever large storms
with powerful updrafts have been there is a thinning in the ozone layer for
several months over that location. Ozone
protects us from harmful radiation.
On to more scary stuff.
Do you believe the world will end on December 21? I personally expect to be here on December
22nd and maybe a few years beyond that. There
are dozens of scenarios from the rapture to a massive meteor strike being
thrown about. But I planted lots of
bulbs this fall and as a gardener I expect that when winter is over, however
the weather turned out, spring will return.
Christmas presents
for gardeners
Gardening books and gift certificates to nurseries are
welcome gifts for the gardener in your life but here are a few more
suggestions.
Guerilla gardening, where you sneak in and plant things on
abandoned land or public spaces has become a popular pastime. Seed bombs are the weapon of choice. You lob these bombs into the space you want
to re-claim and hopefully plants grow.
One company has made gift baskets that contain various seed mixtures in
bomb form combined with slingshots in re-cycled gift boxes. You can purchase these for about $40 or you
can purchase the seed bombs by the pound (about 30 bombs) and make your own
kits. Find the bombs and kits here http://www.greenaid.co/guerilla-gift-box-critters/
How about a quality shovel engraved with the gardener’s
name? You can purchase those at www.diannebbest.com/shovel.php.
Nancy Szerlag has
an excellent idea for giving garden magazine gift subscriptions in a recent
Detroit News article. Read the article
and get a list of garden magazines to subscribe to at http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121130/OPINION03/211300313/Winter-s-housebound-gardeners-will-enjoy-gift-magazine?
New poinsettias
Thinking about buying a poinsettia for a gift or to decorate
your home? The last few years have seen
an increase in the colors of poinsettias that you can buy, although the
familiar red poinsettia is still the top seller.
“Polar Bear” is
white with beautiful green veins. “White
Glitter” is red with white flecks. “Ice Crystal
Of course plant lovers know that poinsettia flowers are really
colored bracts. The true flower is the
yellow tubular shaped objects in the bract center.
New Roses
I promised to talk about new roses for 2013 this week and
here are a few I have come across in my reading.
Francis Meilland™ is a tall, very
disease resistant hybrid tea rose. The
flowers are large, well formed, pale pink and very fragrant. It has won many awards in Europe .
Tequila Gold™ is a
new shrub rose with beautiful golden flowers.
It is a continuous bloomer with excellent disease resistance. It could be used as a specimen or as a hedge.
Wollerton Old Hall
is an English type rose. The blooms are
cream with a blush of peach and the flowers have an intoxicating myrrh
scent. While not a continuous bloomer it blooms abundantly for many
weeks. It is almost thornless which
makes picking the blooms easy.
Lady Salisbury is
a continuous bloomer of pretty pink flower clusters that are excellent for
cutting. It is an English type rose.
Fighting Temeraire
is another English
rose. It has semi-double flowers of rich apricot with a splash of gold in the
center. It has strong, tall stems and can be trained
as a climber.
England’s Rose is striking cerise pink with a
strong spice fragrance. It blooms in
waves throughout the summer. The small
to medium size blooms drop their petals cleanly and never look like blobs in
damp weather.
Other new plants of
note
A Fantastic
Foliage® Selection, Flashlights is a new seed grown Milium effusm, that gives
gardeners another shade tolerant ornamental grass. Flashlights
makes arching clumps of chartreuse leaves to light up the shade. It’s excellent for bedding or containers and
gets about 10 inches high by 8 inches wide.
The new Jams
'N Jellies Blackberry vinca provides another fantastic bedding plant
that could be used in place of impatiens.
It has a velvety purple, almost black flower with a light pink center
and would be beautiful paired with light pink, lavender or white flowers.
Jade Princess is an ornamental millet that has
chartreuse leaves with upright purple flower heads that when they are mature,
give off a molasses smell. It would be a
neat choice for a sunny container planting on a patio or porch.
Reading the genes of wheat
It may not
seem like a big deal to the average person but scientists are excited that the
genome of wheat has finally been sequenced, that is we have a map of the
genetic make up of wheat. Did you know
that wheat has 94,000 to 96,000 genes which is about 5 times as many genes as a
human has? We think of ourselves as
extremely complex organisms but some living things that seem less complex than
us have a much more detailed set of building blocks.
Wheat is the
most valuable crop in the world and is facing an emerging disease threat that poses a serious threat to global food
security. A disease called Ug99, a stem
rust disease, has popped up in wheat growing areas of Africa and has spread to the Middle East and Asia .
Ug99 causes almost 100% loss of a crop when it hits an area and current
controls for other types of wheat stem rusts are not working well on Ug99.
Our ARS
(Agricultural Research) scientists are working with international groups in a
research facility in Turkey US
Scientists discover why hybrid plants grow better
It’s long been suspected but researchers have recently
confirmed that the reason that hybrid plants (and animals) are more vigorous
and productive is that the crossing of two individuals that are not closely
related provides back up copies of genes that may have become defective or have
gone missing from genetic lines that have been inbred for long periods of time. Every inbred generation loses some genes
through mutation or destruction. When the cell DNA divides during sexual
reproduction so that each parent provides half of the chromosomes to an
individual many mistakes can happen that damage or destroy genes on those
chromosomes.
Many of those faulty or missing genes don’t make substantial
differences but sometimes even a single gene that becomes damaged or that is
lost can cause great differences.
Usually however the constant loss of a few genes here and there just
cause a decline in vigor and productivity over the generations of inbred
(purebred) lines.
A hybrid plant, a cross between two varieties of plants that
are not closely related, often has 350 or more genes than one of its
parents. These extra genes can replace
missing or damaged genes inherited from one parent with healthy ones from the
other parent. And sometimes two sets of a certain gene bolster health and
production.
Researchers in Israel
produced 50 different varieties of tomato plants that had just one genetic
mutation after the tomato genome was sequenced so that researchers had an idea
where to look for gene mutations.
Crossing these tomatoes with each other provided a variety of
enhancements to plant vigor and productivity.
They found that just one gene can increase the sweetness in tomatoes and
one gene controls the numbers of flower clusters that form.
Research on the tomato genome has produced some other
interesting things. A tomato gene was
discovered that when injected into cancerous tumors of animals caused the
tumors to “die”. Trials on human cancer
will begin soon. Other tomato genes may
become helpful in controlling or preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
Gardeners who avoid hybrid seeds may be missing out on plant
varieties that are healthier and more productive than those grown from “open
pollinated” or purebred lines. And it is
important to stress that hybrid seeds can be produced organically. Just because a variety of seed is open
pollinated does not mean it is organic.
Here are some articles you may want to read.
Poisonous 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.
http://www.examiner.com/article/poisonous-holiday-plants-you-may-want-to-avoid
Using Ginger
Ginger is commonly associated with ginger bread and
other pastries but ginger root is a staple of Asian cooking,
especially in stir fry. Ginger is often used in sauces and marinades for fish.
Ginger also combines well with fruits like peaches and apples as well as
vegetables like squash. Ginger is also well known as an herbal remedy for
nausea.
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