The Garden As Refuge In A Pandemic Year, With Adrian Higgins Of The Washington Post via A Way To Garden [Shared]

Posted on March 24, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

The Garden As Refuge In A Pandemic Year, With Adrian Higgins Of The Washington Post – A Way To Garden

THE WORLD IS SHIFTING focus again now, toward opening up this time, several months after much shutting down. But as we do, I for one hope we won’t go too fast–or turn too quickly away from awareness of the solace that the garden has provided and that it offers for us at all times, bad or good.

Adrian Higgins has been taking note of that in various ways in his columns for “The Washington Post” throughout the strangest and most chaotic of springs, exploring the garden as an anchor, a support. In his longtime role as gardening columnist there, Adrian always inspires readers to connect.

I was so pleased to speak with Adrian, whose thoughtful work has inspired me for years. He delves beyond just horticulture and great plants—though always serving up plenty of both—regularly exploring stewardship of the environment, and even matters of the spirit. That’s his mask on the fence post at his community garden plot above (photograph by Adrian Higgins).

Read along as you listen to the June 22, 2020 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

Read The Garden As Refuge In A Pandemic Year, With Adrian Higgins Of The Washington Post – A Way To Garden

Why Native Plants Gardening is The Best – Guide to The Next Big Gardening Trend via Food52 [Shared]

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

Why Native Plants Gardening is The Best – Guide to The Next Big Gardening Trend

Planting a tree and seeing it grow and thrive is one of the most long-lasting and fulfilling gardening experiences. I feel that way about the gingko in our front yard, but when it comes to wildlife value, a gingko is almost like having a plastic tree in your yard—it has zero value to the little critters that make nature work. A gingko attracts no caterpillars at all (which are essential for birds to raise their young), but a native oak, on the other hand, supports more than 550 species of caterpillars. According to Doug Tallamy, a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware and a leading voice in the movement to plant more natives, a single pair of chickadees needs 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars to feed one clutch of young.

Read Why Native Plants Gardening is The Best – Guide to The Next Big Gardening Trend

More on Native Plants

Octarooter Air Layer Root Baller by The_Redcoat via Thingiverse [Shared]

Posted on March 9, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

I have been wanting to experiment with some air layering of a few plants in the garden and this — along with my 3D printer — might just get me moving. There are many commercial versions of air layering balls like this, so you can try it out without printing your own. It is a great way of getting something (new plants) for almost nothing. — Douglas

Octarooter Air Layer Root Baller by The_Redcoat – Thingiverse

Still confused about what this is? – It’s an enclosure to clone bushes or trees directly on the plant. Stuff it with soaked sphagnum moss or other rooting support, plus some rooting powder and clamp it onto a section of stem that has had the bark stripped and more rooting hormone applied. The foliage beyond the ball should be 12 to 24 inches in length. Wait 4-6 weeks (longer for some plants & seasons – look it up), for roots to grow inside the ball, then cut it off and plant your new clone.

I experimented with two balls made from gold PLA because it’s dark inside and reflects the heat/light. so might be less prone to drying out & overheating than black. I made another one with white ABS to compare – it’s fairly reflective but not completely dark inside.

Read Octarooter Air Layer Root Baller by The_Redcoat – Thingiverse

A few examples of commercial air layering pods

Rocky Mountain Flowers: The Daring Life and Art of Pioneering Plant Ecologist Edith Clements via The Marginalian [Shared]

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

Rocky Mountain Flowers: The Daring Life and Art of Pioneering Plant Ecologist Edith Clements – The Marginalian

“There is one book that I would rather have produced than all my novels,” Willa Cather rued in her most candid interview about creativity. That book was Rocky Mountain Flowers: An Illustrated Guide For Plant-Lovers and Plant-Users by the pioneering plant ecologist and botanical artist Edith Clements (1874–1971).

Together with her husband, the influential botanist Frederic Clements, she pioneered the science of plant ecology, lending empirical substantiation to her contemporary John Muir’s poetic observation that “when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” In her 1960 memoir Adventures in Ecology: Half a Million Miles: From Mud to Macadam , penned shortly before Rachel Carson awakened the modern ecological conscience with Silent Spring and half a century before the climate calamity we are now living, Edith Clements prophesied:

“There seems little doubt that the application of the principles of ecology to human affairs, whether personal, national or world-wide, would go far in solving the problems that beset us.”

Read Rocky Mountain Flowers: The Daring Life and Art of Pioneering Plant Ecologist Edith Clements – The Marginalian

10 Botanic Gardens You Can’t Miss in the U.S. from The Discoverer [Shared]

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

10 Botanic Gardens You Can’t Miss in the U.S. from The Discoverer

Whether you’re trying to beat the summer heat beneath the leafy shade or escape the winter cold inside tropical greenhouses, botanical gardens are a popular year-round destination for locals and visitors alike. Here are our picks for 10 botanic gardens you can’t miss in the U.S.

Read 10 Botanic Gardens You Can’t Miss in the U.S. | The Discoverer

Vintage Botanical Prints – 74 in a series – Vintage Malus domestica Print from USDA Pomological Watercolors

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Douglas E. Welch

The image features a detailed illustration of three apples and their leaves. The apples are depicted with a high level of detail, showcasing their textures and colors. The top apple is predominantly red with a brownish base and numerous small red spots. The middle apple is green with a yellowish tint and speckled with small brown spots. The bottom apple is a blend of orange and red, also with small brown spots. The leaves surrounding the apples are green with some brown spots and blemishes, adding to the naturalistic appearance. The background is a plain, off-white color, which contrasts with the vibrant colors of the apples and leaves. The artists signature, Shull, is visible in the bottom right corner of the image.

Provided by @altbot, generated privately and locally using Ovis2-8B

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from USDA Pomological Watercolors

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Vintage Botanical Prints – 70 in a series – Cypripediums from The gardener’s assistant (1907)[Prints available]

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Douglas E. Welch

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CYPRIPEDIUMS

No genus or race of Orchids that has been brought under cultivation has yielded so readily, and we may add, so strikingly, to its influence as Cypripedium. This is not only apparent in the results of hybridization, but also in the species themselves, especially in those that have been longest under the cultivator’s care. The most obvious effects of cultural influence have been the development of more robust foliage of a brighter colour; the normally one-flowered scape occasionally becomes two-flowered; the flowers are often larger and modified in colour (Veitch). Generally they are easily culti¬ vated, they flower freely and may readily be induced to mature seeds from which plants can be raised. The species, with few exceptions, readily intercross, and consequently an enormous number of hybrids have been raised artificially. Two of the three represented in the plate are true species, the third, EVENOR, is a garden hybrid. Recently the genus has been divided by botanists into four, viz.:—Cypripedium, Phragmo- pedilum, Paphiopedilum, and Selenipedium.

from The gardener’s assistant (1907)

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Vintage Botanical Prints – 69 in a series – Primula Cortusoides from The botanist’s repository (1797)

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Douglas E. Welch

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from Primula Cortusoides from The botanist’s repository (1797)

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Vintage Botanical Prints – 68 in a series – Rhododendron orbiculare from Curtis’s botanical magazine (1801)

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Douglas E. Welch

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The very distinct Rhododendron now figured is a native of Western Szechuan, where it occurs at altitudes ot 9,000-10,000 feet above sea level. It was first collected near Moupine, in 1869, by the Abbe David who, noting it as remarkable for its rounded leaves, used tor it the name /?. rotundifolium published, but without a lull description, in 1873.