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

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