Black Oil Sunflower Seed – preferred by birds everywhere by Elaine Lockey

With almost a foot of snow descending from the skies at my house in the foothills, I worry about the wild critters who are scrounging for food outside.  I am very glad that I filled my bird feeders the day before the snowstorm so there would be plenty of abundant food for the birds.  Juncos, House Finches, Chickadees and Stellar Jays all compete for room on my feeders and what falls below them.  

Snowflake Wonder by Elaine Lockey, former Jeffco Master Gardener

http://weather.thefuntimesguide.com/2009/01/the_snowflake.php

If you get caught outside finishing up gardening tasks when it begins to snow, chances are you aren’t too interested in stopping to admire it.  But when you have the opportunity, “snowflake watching” will transport you right back to your childhood sense of wonder.

Snow crystals are single crystals of ice while a snowflake is one or more crystals stuck together. Water molecules create a hexagonal lattice that is formed when water vapor condenses directly into ice in clouds when the temperature is freezing or below. There are several factors that influence the shape of snowflakes: humidity, temperature, and air currents.  Colder temperatures create more intricate shapes – sharper tips and more branching.

Spiders Paired with Unlikely Partner to Make Silk by Elaine Lockey

Spiders use their silk for building webs to catch prey, as a safety or drag line if they are spiders that roam, spider "dens" (think orb spiders) and more. Spider silk, a protein fiber, is stronger than steel. Humans discovered the benefits of silk thousands of years ago for fishing lines, the healing of wounds and blood clotting. In more recent years silk has been used in body armor, fishing nets, a thread for optical crosshairs such as telescopes in WWII, beautiful cloth, and violin strings!

However, as you can imagine, it is very difficult and time consuming to harvest enough silk for most applications. So researchers are looking at a host of other ways to extract silk or create silk more efficiently.

That's where goats come in. Yes, goats. Through biotechnology, transgenic goats can produce spider silk proteins in their milk. Amounts average 1-2 grams of protein per liter of milk. However, the silk still does not fully retain the properties of natural spider silk. The following video explains the science behind this strange pairing and should reduce any horrific images in your head about what this looks like.

The science is moving quickly as researchers have also had some success with genetically altering silkworms to produce spider silk and also using bacteria to produce spidroin, the spider's dragline.

top photo courtesy of  http://www.gutsandglorytennis.com/

For more information on spiders and spider silk research, check out these links:

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/media/periodic-tabloid/2012-05-23-the-amazing-adventures-of-spider-silk.aspx

http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Pests/spiders.htm

Carbon Farming with Jatropha by Elaine Lockey

photo courtesy of http://research.ifas.ufl.edu

There has been much recent press about the desert shrub Jatropha curcas and it's potential to soak up carbon monoxide emissions. A team of German scientists, publishing in the international science journal Earth System Dynamics, analyzed data from Jatropha plantations in several countries and found that approximately 2.5 acres of Jatropha can capture 17-25 tons of carbon monoxide per year, over a 20 year period. 

According to the study’s lead author, the plants can lower desert temperature by as much as 2 degrees Fahrenheit as well as increase rainfall in these regions. Scientific American.com states that if the 1 billion hectares of suitable land was to be used for growing Jatropha, it would be "enough to offset the annual CO2 pollution of China, the U.S. and the E.U. combined."

This poisonous scrubby plant grows as a shrub or small tree and can handle low-nutrient soils. It can live for over 50 years and has not shown to be invasive. The benefit of growing Jatropha is that it grows well in the most arid of regions where it is difficult to farm for food.  Instead, it is grown for ‘carbon farming’. Ideally this plant would be grown in coastal regions where it can receive some minimal irrigation.  The cost of planting these plants if you use existing desalination devices would be more cost effective than higher-tech practices.

Book Review: 50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants by Elaine Lockey

In my search for plant ideas to help in my heavily deer-foraged garden, I came across the book 50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants by Ruth Rogers Clausen.  The premise of the book is that “you can still have a lush, thriving garden by making smart plant choices. Many stunning plants are unpalatable to deer because of their poisonous compounds, fuzzy or aromatic leaves, tough, spiny or bristly textures, and for a variety of less obvious reasons.”

The author stresses that there is no such thing as a deer-proof plant.  During times when deer are hungriest they will try to eat most anything. You might also notice that one group of deer leave your asters alone while another group or individual browses it any chance she gets. Plants that are considered “deer candy” and not recommended are hostas, lilies, daylilies, tulips and roses (except Rosa rugosa which deer leave alone).  Clausen offers a more complete list of these favorites to avoid. But she lists in depth many more plants that you can happily grow without feeling you need to keep watch over your garden.

Peaches on the Grill by Elaine Lockey

photo courtesy of chasingdelicious.com

Grilled Balsamic Peaches

Yes, you read it right: grilled peaches. The sweet and tangy combined taste of grilled peaches is like no other.  I was skeptical until I tried this and now it’s my favorite summer side dish.  Use fresh peaches for this. It’s a great way to use up peaches that need to be eaten right away.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

4 peaches, halved and pitted (don't need to skin)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper to taste   

1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (can decrease this amount)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)

2 teaspoon chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

Directions   

1. Preheat grill for high heat for 10 minutes

2. Place olive oil in a bowl. Add peach halves and toss to evenly coat with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Cook the peaches, flesh side down, on preheated grill until slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and dust with Cajun seasoning. Cut halves into slices or leave as is. Put peaches into bowl and toss with vinegar and parsley if desired.

4. Serve warm. Great side dish.

(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com and originally submitted by user Shock)

Hummingbird Moths Worth a Closer Look by Elaine Lockey

photo by Elaine Lockey

While eating dinner recently on a restaurant’s outdoor patio, I noticed something flying around the potted plants.  My first thought was “hummingbird” but something didn’t seem quite right.  On further inspection, it turned out to be an insect resembling a hummingbird.  It wasn’t long before it attracted the attention of many of the other diners. 

This strange insect that acts like a hummingbird is commonly called a “hummingbird moth”.  Sphinx moths and hawk moths are the common name for many of the hornworms, but there are several different species that can also be called hummingbird moths, because of the similar type of flight pattern with fast wing beats, hovering behavior and similar size heavy body.  They fly around deep-lobed flowers, and so are commonly seen around your flowers.  

Mulch-Moving Turkeys by Elaine Lockey

As if deer weren’t enough of a struggle for mountain gardeners, throw in some mulch-moving turkeys! 

Turkey surveying her handiwork

Ever since I put down new mulch on my garden bed, I‘ve had regular visitors who like to do some landscaping of their own.  A group of turkeys scrape out all the mulch onto the driveway and sidewalk with their strong feet, on an almost daily basis.  This not only causes a big mess but damages the plants. 

They are searching my garden for food, most likely insects as turkeys are opportunistic omnivores.  They eat a mostly plant-based diet of herbaceous green leaves, berries, seeds, grasses, and acorns.  Insects play a smaller but important part of their diet, especially for the young turkeys, called poults.  Insects might include grasshoppers, dragonflies, slugs and snails and beetles.  Turkeys do a large amount of scratching for food especially in the fall, so possibly coincidental timing with my new mulch.  They are enjoying the ease of moving the soft mulch to most likely find plentiful insects hiding within the bed.  

I wondered if this was a unique situation but I did find some fellow internet gardeners who have experienced the same thing.  And they weren't just mountain gardeners - many lived in suburban settings and reported that there were more turkeys moving in. There are some various solutions that they offered.  

New Online Gardening Resource from the Denver Botanic Gardens

Prunus padus 'Albertii' can be seen on the Cherry Blossom Blitz tour

The Denver Botanic Gardens is bringing gardeners an exciting and valuable new online resource.  Gardens Navigator allows you to search for plants growing at the York Street location by common or scientific name or by features or garden. Navigator can also help you find plants that bloom at certain times or by flower or leaf color to help you design your own garden.

Pasque Flower Signals that Spring is Here by Elaine Lockey

Spring arrives officially today, March 20, the vernal equinox.  By now you’ve probably been wandering around your garden looking for signs of spring’s arrival: buds opening on the serviceberry, bright yellow Winter Aconite flowers, Narcissus leaves emerging, or the sight of a robin.  One of the signs I look for is the emergence of Pasque Flowers, Pulsatilla patens (syn. Anemone patens). 

It’s Time to Prune Your Summer Flowering Shrubs by Elaine Lockey

Rejuvenation pruning on an older Potentilla. The one on the left needs similar work.

Get out your pruners and loppers - it's time to do some pruning. Summer-flowering shrubs bloom on new growth from this year. Some examples are Potentilla, butterflybush, blue mist spirea and Rose of Sharon. They should be thinned or rejuvenated in the late winter or early spring before growth starts.  

Wicked Bugs!

Join Amy Stewart, author of Wicked Bugs, in a lively video as she highlights insects, like the mosquito, that have changed the world (and killed a lot of people).

And the 2012 Academy Award Winner is...by Elaine Lockey

http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/Rafflesiaceae/Raff.arn.page.html

Don’t you wish there was a category at the Academy Awards for best botanic movie? Most stunning landscape background?  Best use of a plant in a scene? Me too.  So since there isn’t, I went in search of a plant with star power that I think could shine in a future movie.

And so my selection for the winner of this year's award for most movie-worthy plant would be the Rafflesia arnoldii.  Its common name is Corpse Flower.  It also happens to have the world's largest flower.

The Supertrees of Singapore by Elaine Lockey

photo by Wong Maye-E, AP

 Singapore is currently constructing an astonishing botanic park, integrating massive tree sculptures in with their gardens.  Dubbed “supertrees”, they range from 82-164 feet and weigh hundreds of tons. These mega trees are made of concrete and metal rods, with steel frames on the trunks to host huge vertical gardens.  

The Supertree Grove will support flowering climbers, epiphytes, ferns and other plants that can do well in such an environment.  Eventually when the supertrees project is complete, there will be 18 trees covered in over 200 plant species, giving the feeling of a woodland grove. Huge built tree canopies will provide shade to the live plants and ground areas. There will be rainwater catches added to the trees and some of the trees will have solar panels to provide lighting to the gardens. Aerial walkways will connect two of the trees and a treetop bistro will give visitors a great view of the gardens and the bay. 

Real Christmas Tree Industry Needled by Growing Artificial Tree Sales by Elaine Lockey

Christmas tree farm

There has been a downward trend in real Christmas tree sales in the US, from 40% of homes purchasing one in 1991 to just 23% last year (National Christmas Tree Association). The main reason? More people are buying artificial trees. In the recent Wall Street Journal article, "Fir Real? Christmas Trees in Crisis", changing demographics are contributing to the decline - baby boomers are less inclined to buy real trees as they get older. Buyers of real trees are buying smaller trees now which are less profitable. The economy is also playing a role as tree growers planted a surplus of trees when the economy was doing well but now there is an oversupply of trees with fewer buyers.

Real Christmas trees have a long and illustrious history.  The first known decorated tree was in Latvia in 1510.  Since then, Christmas trees have held a place in countless homes and outdoor displays. A Christmas tree has been displayed in the White House annually since 1914, when President Franklin Pierce began the tradition.

There are over 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the US that employ 100,000 people.  Almost half a million acres of land are grown for Christmas tree production. So what is the industry doing about the decline in sales? 

The Science Behind Your Christmas Tree by Elaine Lockey

photo courtesy of SeattleTimes.nwsource.com

Going to pick out a Christmas tree is always an exciting holiday tradition.  It’s one my family never really took to though.  My father preferred the variety of tree that didn’t drop needles or require watering.  Once I had a home of my own, I decided that I wanted a “real” tree from then on – I sought the fresh smells and natural beauty that an artificial tree just can’t provide. 

As I perused the tree lots looking for the right tree, I have to admit, it never crossed my mind to think about why the choices are Douglas Fir, White Fir and Scotch Pine for the most part. What makes them the tree of choice to adorn my living room?  And once I brought the tree home, what can I do to keep it greener longer?

It turns out, there is an incredible amount of research behind the selection of trees specific for growing as a Christmas tree, and another whole body of research into how trees can behave more to our liking when growing in a tree stand - way more than the time that it takes me to pick out the perfect tree.  Just who is doing the research?  One such place of research is the Christmas Tree Research Center at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College.  

Aconitum - A Plant with a Dark Side

“Even those who are pure of heart, and say their prayers at night, can become a wolf, when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.” 

You might remember hearing that popular rhyme while watching the old werewolf movie “The Wolfman”.  Wolfsbane, also known as monkshood, is a member of the Aconitum genus of over 250 plants.  Aconitum species are popular and attractive ornamental perennials that enjoy shady moist garden sites, but beware, they are also considered some of the deadliest plants in the world.

The myths and fear surrounding Aconitum are based on real-life danger.  Every part of the plant is poisonous especially the leaves, roots and seeds. The principal alkaloids are aconite and aconitine.  Aconitine is thought to be the main toxin causing severe gastrointestinal upset, followed by cardiac symptoms and eventually death if enough has been taken in. 

Violets and Ground Ivy in the Lawn by Elaine Lockey

Common blue violet

 Is it a flower or a weed?  Well that answer is truly in the eye of the beholder. The common blue violet, Viola species, seems to be such an innocent little plant when first appearing in your lawn but can become a very difficult plant to control if allowed to spread.  It can make a stunning ground cover with its pretty blooms in early spring and heart-shaped green leaves. It is generally found in woodlands and enjoys shady to partly sunny moist areas. However, it can also adapt to dry areas once established.

Ground ivy, also known as creeping Charlie, Glechoma hederacea, offers lush dark green leaves that are rounded with toothed edges and small funnel-shaped purplish-blue flowers in the spring.  This perennial belongs to the mint family and has square stems and a pungent odor when the leaves are crushed.  Ground ivy and wild violets can sometimes be confused when flowers are not present.

Both plants spread via seed from blossoms, branching rhizomes, and creeping roots.  With so many options to expand their range, it’s easy to see how they do so very easily.  These plants will simply spread out of your landscape beds and into your lawn.  Removal of them is a little more complicated.  Hand-pulling often just results in a lot of time and effort and broken off plants as they have extensive root systems.  Herbicides are usually recommended.

Espalier: The Art of Plant Training by Elaine Lockey

Espalier at Denver Botanic Gardens

Espalier, pronounced esp-al-ee-er or esp-al-ee-ay, is the practice of training and pruning a plant to grow on a flat plane against a wall, fence or building.  This can create a beautiful focal point in a garden, can save space in small areas, and help fill in space if you have a large wall or fence that you want to hide.

Espalier can be informal or formal and there are several common forms practiced.  Certain plants respond best to certain types of espalier as well.  Informal espalier can be as simple as a vine climbing up a wall to a pyracantha hedge that is pruned in a flat plane but is allowed to branch where it wants vertically and horizontally.  Formal designs can be like the French palmette verrier in which a plant, commonly a pear tree, is attached to a frame that helps to shape it into the desired structure.  This particular one looks like a box shape or candelabra. This enables the pear tree to grow wide but the height is limited.

The Seed Cathedral by Elaine Lockey

photo by Heatherwick Studio

In case you missed it, art and horticulture combined for an amazing exhibit last year. Called the Seed Cathedral, the sculpture was composed of 60,000 fiber optic rods with seeds implanted on the tip of each one. The Seed Cathedral’s goal was to raise awareness of the global race to save seeds and the growing number of seed banks that safely preserve these seeds. Created for the 2010 World Expo held in Shanghai, it was designed by English designer Thomas Heatherwick. 

The structure was lit from within at dark and during the day the rods captured and funneled the sunlight highlighting the seeds within.  The structure also gently swayed in the breeze giving it life.  It was nicknamed pu gong ying or “The Dandelion” by Chinese visitors. How many seeds were in it? More than 217,000! Visitors could go inside it for a completely immersive experience.