Superbells. Supertunias. Superbenas. Super small. Super large. Super great. Super sucky. Super bloomer. Super fruiter. Super foliage. Super flowering. Super yields. Super disease resistance. Super narrow. Super broad. Super weeping. Super tall. Super short. Must be time for the Super Bowl.
Since this is Super Bowl XLVI weekend, let’s take a look at some plants from 46 years ago and today that received awards for excellence.
Filed under: Horticulture
Last week I found out about an important day coming in 2012. I don’t remember how I came upon it. Did somebody send me a link? Was it a link in a larger message? Did I just stumble onto it? I cannot remember. But here it is. May 18, 2012. Fascination with Plants Day. FASCINATION with Plants Day. Did you hear that? FASCINATION WITH PLANTS DAY.
How damn fabulous is that? I think it might be better than Madonna performing at half-time during the Super Bowl.
Oh hell, I know it is. (But here’s a link to her newest song anyway - no real video yet)
What is Fascination with Plants Day? Well, let’s look at a quote directly from their website.
The first international “Fascination of Plants Day” will be launched under the umbrella of the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO). The goal of this activity is to get as many people as possible around the world fascinated by plants and enthused about the importance of plant science for agriculture, in sustainably producing food, as well as for horticulture, forestry, and all of the non-food products such as paper, timber, chemicals, energy, and pharmaceuticals. The role of plants in environmental conservation will also be a key message. Everybody is welcome to join this initiative!
So it leans to the agriculture and scientific community it seems, but there in the midst of it all is Horticulture. Oh yea. Horticulture (I added the capital H to emphasize). Horticulture is this slightly indefinable thing created where agriculture, science, and art join together. And what leads most of us to Horticulture? That’s right Smarty Pants – a fascination with plants. It’s that undeniable love of chlorophyll that joins us all together from the old neighbor with the first tomatoes of the season (every year) to the professional in the public gardens (like me!) to the newbie gardener scared they are going to kill a daylily (so sad yet sweet).
Yes, we have National Public Gardens Day through the American Public Garden Association, with support from Rain Bird and Better Homes and Gardens on the Friday before Mother’s Day (May 11th in 2012). And yes, we will be participating in that program (more details later but some tours at the very least). But that program is about getting people to visit and appreciate public gardens which is a little different in my mind than getting people to appreciate the plants themselves. Both are good causes worthy of attention and I see no reason why a person or organization cannot participate in both.
There are some really neato pictures at the FwPD site here.
As of now, Fascination with Plants Day is a European idea and project. But it is not too late for America, as in the United States of, to get involved. Even if not on an official level, we can still celebrate Fascination with Plants Day. Maybe give a plant to a non-gardener. Maybe cook something to share with a friend or neighbor. Maybe just sit in our own space and really think about how much the plants do for us either directly or indirectly – cleaning the air we breathe, the water we drink, and even the very soil they grow in. Feeding us, clothing us, celebrating with us, comforting us, bringing us uncountable moments of joy throughout the day and a lifetime. For me, and I suspect many others, every day is Fascination with Plants Day at some level.
Filed under: Horticulture
Snow!!! All I could think when I came out of Meijer last night and saw the roof of my car covered in snow was “Crap. It feels cold.” In the meantime, I have my plants around my desk to remind of a better day to come.
And in truth, it is November. Snow in November isn’t exactly a miracle or a sign of the arrival of the End of Days.
All the same, I was not amused. It had been spitting snow off and on for a few hours but I never figured it would really get to the point of covering anything. When I arrived home, the wind-gathered leaves were heavily dusted with it. Plants in the garden had it clinging to their leaves and spent flowers. My gazing globes were covered with it, though under the full moon they looked rather delightful.
Fortunately earlier in the week I had gathered the last of my tropicals from my IMA gardens. At home, I collected the last of my most crucial plants and hauled them down to the basement on Monday evening. It gets dark so damn early I barely get started before I can’t see where to dig. With only four minutes of daylight after I get home in the evening, I gotta move fast. I only got four minutes to save my plants!
I still have cannas and dahlias to dig. Still have some agaves outside in pots (and one XMangave – Manfreda X Agave). Oh shit. I just realized I left my yellow-leaved fig out. Oh, I hope it’s okay. Damn. I don’t know where I can get another and it was not cheap. Dammit. Oh well. I said I was not going to try to save everything this year. Guess I’m just keeping myself true to my word.
Here at work, we are keeping more plants in the offices since we are trying to save money by not heating the old over-wintering greenhouse we used in the past. We concentrated on the tough stuff that can handle less than ideal conditions. It’s good to have some large specimens to put out so there is a bit of maturity to a design from the get-go.
Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Horticulture
For many, fall is best appreciated for the beautiful display of leaf color and irresistible weather – typically mild, sunny and dry here in central Indiana. This fall, however, conditions were right for recognizing an old favorite in the landscape – giant puffball mushrooms. We’ve found many of these delightful specimens throughout the IMA gardens; they keep popping out all over the place! Giant puffballs are often found in more open woods and grassy areas, which makes them both visible and easily accessible. Sadly, a good number were kicked apart prematurely by folks attempting to explode the trillions of spores encased inside the ballooning gleba (white mass that houses the spores) and release a puffy cloud of spores into the air. I realize it’s irresistible, the desire to destroy these alien-looking, spongy bubbles. How can one deny an urge that so exemplifies the spirit of a child’s delight with nature? Yet I know that the anticipation was met with a rather anticlimactic squelching; the spores were not yet ripe. The result was a disappointingly flat pile of flaky white chunks that just doesn’t garner the same reaction as that of a soaring spore cloud.
Result of dropping immature giant puffball mushrooms off the Interurban Bridge.
The mushrooms were fresh and new, with firm white flesh that is at its best for flavor and edibility. It’s not until the puffball has turned brown, discolored and inedible, when the outer flesh has started to break apart, that they are primed and ready to be sent sailing through the air. I wish people would wait until the mushrooms are ready, when they aren’t as visually appealing, so other people can enjoy seeing them in the garden and perhaps have the opportunity to share something unfamiliar and intriguing with their kiddos. Please consider this before acting on perfunctory impulse.
Filed under: Art and Nature Park, Horticulture
As a recent first-time home buyer, I’ve learned a lot of things that I did not know six months ago. From the actual home buying process to moving and settling in, it has been a crash course. Most recently, I covered a chapter in household plants.
My husband and I moved from a 750 sq. ft. apartment to a tri-level three bedroom house, so needless to say, we’ve started the search for furniture. Oddly enough however, the first items on our “to purchase” list were plants – who needs a couch, anyway? Now I must say, I have only owned one or two plants in my lifetime. I’ve always appreciated plants, especially the kind I can eat, but I’ve never really explored owning them until I purchased a home.
With the IMA’s Greenhouse Shop full of plants from which to choose, I knew where I wanted to shop, but had no idea what to buy. No idea. One of the great things about working at the IMA is that each department is a resource, full of knowledge across a wide-range of topics, especially when it comes to horticulture. Thankfully, my green-thumbed colleague Lynne Habig agreed to some hand holding and plant teaching. When she started talking about all of the different types of greenery, she said something that really sparked my interest: clean-air plants.
And with that, my plant lesson was quickly interrupted by an impromptu guest-lecture on household pollutants. Pardon my ignorance, but this was the first I had heard of sick building syndrome. As Lynne broke it down for me, our indoor environments are full of pollutants (trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, benzene, etc.) that are espoused from common household items like electronics, adhesives, paints, cleaning products, and fabrics (yikes!). These chemicals are linked to everything from eye irritation and dizziness to liver carcinogens and even throat cancer. Sick building syndrome occurs when small spaces are tightly concealed in an effort to save energy, but in turn creates a harmful space where these pollutants can gather.
So what does all of this have to do with plants? For many years, NASA conducted a study on ways to purify the air both on earth and in space habitats which are perhaps the most contained work environments. The study found that common household plants are actually the best crime fighters for such pollutants.
I was sold. I wanted to fill my house with plants, but now I needed to fill it with clean-air plants. According to the study, the top plants found most effective in decreasing the amount of air-pollutants include:
With Lynne’s continued guidance, I picked out a selection from the Greenhouse Shop that fit the clean-air profile and my personal tastes: English Ivy, Mother-in-Law’s Tongue, Golden Pothos, Peace Lily, Spider Plant, and Dracaena, all pictured below.
And while they might not bestow “clean-air” – I couldn’t pass up a few other nice looking gems.
For those of you now wanting to purify your own air, don’t worry, it won’t break your bank. The plants purchased range from only $3.95 – $7.95. If you’re still not sold, check out the video below of our 2011 Indianapolis Island resident Katherine Ball talking about her use of clean-air plants.
Filed under: Greenhouse, Horticulture
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