As a horticulturist, I've become almost used to TV and movies completely screwing up plant id. (I'm looking at you, CSI:NY!) So I found this very interesting when I came across it today:
TV shows and community: is it wise to insult us?
Also, "The role of the tree branch was played by a Siberian Elm." Chortle!
Showing posts with label Horticulture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Horticulture. Show all posts
March 7, 2012
January 20, 2010
That Was Never 5 Weeks Just Now.
Where the heck did my semester break go? Spring semester started this week, and I am completely uninterested in taking part. I'm a very hands-on type of learner, and I feel like I need a break from all my classroom time. But, since the horticulture season is still not quite ready to wind up, that means jobs are few and far between, so I might as well be in class. I suppose.
In completely unrelated news, I heard today that Robert B. Parker passed away on Monday, and I was very sorry to hear it. I've always been a big Spenser fan - both the books and the TV series - and I recently read the books in his western trilogy, Appaloosa, Resolution and Brimstone. If you are like me and lament the disappearance of the Western genre, I recommend them. (I haven't yet seen the film version of Appaloosa, but it's on my radar.) By the end of the trilogy I had a mental image of an old west version of Spenser and Hawk, but I guess that's probably understandable.
Not much of a post today, but I'll see if I can't rustle up something interesting to chat about next time.
In completely unrelated news, I heard today that Robert B. Parker passed away on Monday, and I was very sorry to hear it. I've always been a big Spenser fan - both the books and the TV series - and I recently read the books in his western trilogy, Appaloosa, Resolution and Brimstone. If you are like me and lament the disappearance of the Western genre, I recommend them. (I haven't yet seen the film version of Appaloosa, but it's on my radar.) By the end of the trilogy I had a mental image of an old west version of Spenser and Hawk, but I guess that's probably understandable.
Not much of a post today, but I'll see if I can't rustle up something interesting to chat about next time.
January 3, 2010
Pretty Pretty Pretty.
Now that the New Year has been ushered in, it's time to start planning the garden! Keeping in mind the fact that the motto of Colorado gardeners is something along the lines of, "Well, there's always next year," I am attempting to keep a tight rein on myself and NOT overhaul every bit of yard in one season. Not only can we not afford it, but that would just send me right straight in to the loony bin. I'm picking my battles.
In later posts, I will be telling you all about my plans and ideas for the yard (and you will be sick of it and begging for more cat posts before long, I'm sure), but for tonight I will just share with you my vine of choice. See, the backyard (and a not-insignificant part of the side yard) had been overrun with Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). It's a nice vine, but not only is it everywhere in our yard, it's everywhere in Denver. I swear, people can't understand that there are other vines out there. And quite frankly, other than a really stunning fall color display, I don't see that there is much to recommend it. So ... out with the creeper and in with this:
This lovely vine is Variegated Porcelain (or Porcelain Berry) Vine (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata 'Elegans'). And no, it doesn't come from the craft store - it really does look like that. The berries go from green, to white, to pink/red and finally to a lovely cobalt/indigo color.
Now, before any stray gardener stumbles into this blog and commences to throw a horticultural hissy fit, let me remind you that I live in Colorado. In other, less harsh parts of the country that aren't constantly teetering on the edge of yet another drought, this plant is indeed very invasive. An unofficial noxious weed, even. However, here in the Rocky Mountain West, it behaves itself very nicely. Our temperature range is too wide and our moisture too hard to come by for this to break loose and rampage through a neighborhood the way it does in other parts of the country.
So there you have Plant #1. Next up ... The Edibles.
(Photo borrowed from Dave's Garden. Hope Dave doesn't mind.)
In later posts, I will be telling you all about my plans and ideas for the yard (and you will be sick of it and begging for more cat posts before long, I'm sure), but for tonight I will just share with you my vine of choice. See, the backyard (and a not-insignificant part of the side yard) had been overrun with Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). It's a nice vine, but not only is it everywhere in our yard, it's everywhere in Denver. I swear, people can't understand that there are other vines out there. And quite frankly, other than a really stunning fall color display, I don't see that there is much to recommend it. So ... out with the creeper and in with this:
This lovely vine is Variegated Porcelain (or Porcelain Berry) Vine (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata 'Elegans'). And no, it doesn't come from the craft store - it really does look like that. The berries go from green, to white, to pink/red and finally to a lovely cobalt/indigo color.Now, before any stray gardener stumbles into this blog and commences to throw a horticultural hissy fit, let me remind you that I live in Colorado. In other, less harsh parts of the country that aren't constantly teetering on the edge of yet another drought, this plant is indeed very invasive. An unofficial noxious weed, even. However, here in the Rocky Mountain West, it behaves itself very nicely. Our temperature range is too wide and our moisture too hard to come by for this to break loose and rampage through a neighborhood the way it does in other parts of the country.
So there you have Plant #1. Next up ... The Edibles.
(Photo borrowed from Dave's Garden. Hope Dave doesn't mind.)
October 1, 2009
Something Horticultural
With this semester being such a pain in the butt, it's very easy to just write about the cats (and the lingering kitty-shaped hole in our hearts.) However, today I do have a plant-related post to share with you. Since today is Thursday, and Thursdays are now "reserved" for goofing off and general mental decompression, I finally wandered up the road to the little garden center by the new house. It's not the huge, spiffy nursery that was by the old house, but what the heck ... I can't keep schlepping 30 minutes out of my way every time I need to do some shopping, so I thought I'd give it a try.
This being October in Colorado, their selection wasn't stellar - lots of garden mums, pumpkins and assorted gourds, some half-price perennials that need to get planted right quick if they aren't going to end up on the compost heap, and the usual houseplants, gift items and garden tools and supplies. All in all, nothing to write home about. But just inside the front entrance, there were several display shelves/bins full of bulbs. I didn't pay a lot of attention to them when I went in - I think I've become used to the bulb displays in Lowe's and Home Depot, which are always more of the same old, same old. But since I was wandering around with my pie pumpkin ($1.10 for the cutest little pumpkin you ever did see!), trying to figure out where the heck I was supposed to go to find an open register, I got to looking at the bulbs and found these:
These are "Shirley" tulips, and the photo really doesn't do them justice. When I lived in the Pacific Northwest, I had a big ol' container bed of these babies, and they were just the coolest tulips ever. They're late bloomers, which is nice for a shot of color after a lot of the other bulbs have petered out in the garden, and they have the neatest color progression I've seen. As the flower bulbs develop, they go from green to yellow to a pale, buttery cream color before they start to open. The cream fades almost to white, and then they start to develop little thin streaks of purple on the petals. The streaks get bigger and longer and turn a deeper purple as the bloom matures, until by the time the petals drop off, they're mostly purple with just a few white streaks. They are the coolest tulips ever, and I had never seen them for sale in Colorado until today. So when I finally figured out where to go to pay for my things, I plunked down my $8 for the bag o' bulbs (and the pumpkin) and went happily on my way.
I promised myself that I wouldn't plant anything this fall, but obviously that has fallen by the wayside. But I don't think 10 tulip bulbs are a major violation. Besides, there was nostalgia involved. I think I'm going to plant them in the bed right next to the garage door so that I can see them every day as I come and go. That way I'll get to enjoy the color progression, but they'll be away from the sidewalk where they might tempt passing elementary school students to pick them. Let 'em get their own flowers.
(Yes, yes, I know - more photos swiped from the web. If the folks at Tulip World really object, they can send me a C&D letter and I'll take it down. At least I left their URL on the photo.)
This being October in Colorado, their selection wasn't stellar - lots of garden mums, pumpkins and assorted gourds, some half-price perennials that need to get planted right quick if they aren't going to end up on the compost heap, and the usual houseplants, gift items and garden tools and supplies. All in all, nothing to write home about. But just inside the front entrance, there were several display shelves/bins full of bulbs. I didn't pay a lot of attention to them when I went in - I think I've become used to the bulb displays in Lowe's and Home Depot, which are always more of the same old, same old. But since I was wandering around with my pie pumpkin ($1.10 for the cutest little pumpkin you ever did see!), trying to figure out where the heck I was supposed to go to find an open register, I got to looking at the bulbs and found these:
These are "Shirley" tulips, and the photo really doesn't do them justice. When I lived in the Pacific Northwest, I had a big ol' container bed of these babies, and they were just the coolest tulips ever. They're late bloomers, which is nice for a shot of color after a lot of the other bulbs have petered out in the garden, and they have the neatest color progression I've seen. As the flower bulbs develop, they go from green to yellow to a pale, buttery cream color before they start to open. The cream fades almost to white, and then they start to develop little thin streaks of purple on the petals. The streaks get bigger and longer and turn a deeper purple as the bloom matures, until by the time the petals drop off, they're mostly purple with just a few white streaks. They are the coolest tulips ever, and I had never seen them for sale in Colorado until today. So when I finally figured out where to go to pay for my things, I plunked down my $8 for the bag o' bulbs (and the pumpkin) and went happily on my way.
I promised myself that I wouldn't plant anything this fall, but obviously that has fallen by the wayside. But I don't think 10 tulip bulbs are a major violation. Besides, there was nostalgia involved. I think I'm going to plant them in the bed right next to the garage door so that I can see them every day as I come and go. That way I'll get to enjoy the color progression, but they'll be away from the sidewalk where they might tempt passing elementary school students to pick them. Let 'em get their own flowers.
(Yes, yes, I know - more photos swiped from the web. If the folks at Tulip World really object, they can send me a C&D letter and I'll take it down. At least I left their URL on the photo.)
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