December
15, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter
© Kim Willis
Hi Gardeners
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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
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