Jessica Atkins of Texas A&M University and Sara Oliveira Santos at Brown University have published preliminary results suggesting that commonly used gardening techniques could help grow chickpeas on the Moon.
19.01.2024 - 23:45 / backyardgardener.com / Frederick Leeth
A friend called not long ago, and she sounded desperate.
“I am going to join the N.R.A,” she said in a tone that suggested she had just committed herself to scrubbing the floor of Grand Central Station with a toothbrush. When I asked her why a normally peaceful person would want to do such a thing, she told me the whole sad story.
It seems that my friend had just bought a fall-blooming anemone that was gorgeous, healthy and-best of all-on sale. Lovingly installed in her Westchester garden, the anemone lasted exactly one day. A deer apparently ate it during the wee hours of the following morning. This was particularly ironic for my friend because just recently she had seen her anemone’s name on a respected publication’s list of “deer proof” plants.
The myth of the deer proof plant is only one of several that I have been reminded of recently. In truth, a hungry deer will eat just about anything, even if the act results in distress of one kind or another. Unfortunately deer have rather large stomachs and rather small brains.
Thinking about deer reminds me of another myth-that the presence of a dog or cat will keep squirrels, racoons and other marauders out of the garden. I have three cats. One is an excellent mouser and another is as big as an average cocker spaniel. Neither of them is able to intimidate the horde of bulb-stealing, plant chewing mammels that troop through my backyard on a daily basis.
The truth is that even if the average domestic cat or dog performs effectively during the day, it probably won’t be patrolling the yard all night, when many varmints are out on the prowl. While you and the cat are snuggled on the sofa listening to Mozart or watching Survivor, the mice, voles and groundhogs are rifling through the
Jessica Atkins of Texas A&M University and Sara Oliveira Santos at Brown University have published preliminary results suggesting that commonly used gardening techniques could help grow chickpeas on the Moon.
If there’s one thing celebrity recipes are guaranteed to do, it’s spark a (lightly-controversial) conversation in the comments of their social media. Reese Witherspoon did just that after she shared a new creation with the world on TikTok January 18: a mug of snow mixed with cold brew topped with salted caramel and chocolate drizzle.
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In 2024, design is taking a turn away from pastels and towards the boldness of jewel tones.
From the Greek pyr, fire, probably with reference to fever, since the plant was used medicinally to assuage fever (Compositae). These hardy plants are admirable for a sunny border and last well as cut flowers. Long known as pyrethrum they are botanically classified under Chrysanthemum.
When it comes to sculptural form in the garden, it’s hard to compete with a well-grown agave (Agave spp. and cvs., Zones 7b–11). With sizes ranging from 6-inch rosettes to hulking 12-foot giants, there really is a perfect plant for every garden or container. Most are striking enough in their natural tones of green to blue, but some have raised the bar a bit higher, adding highlights of white and gold to the palette.
Fragrance in flowers is such a desirable attribute that it’s a perennial complaint of many gardeners that modern varieties of various plants, particularly roses, lack all or most of the fragrance of the older varieties. This is demonstrably untrue of many varieties, of course, yet there is a good deal of truth in the generalization. Some varieties are certainly much less fragrant than the ‘old-fashioned’ roses and a few seem to lack detectable fragrance, but, on the whole, a good modern variety will number fragrance among its qualities. Much depends, of course, upon the individual sense of smell, coupled with the ‘scent memory’ which all of us possess to some degree. It is, in fact, usually well developed and most of us are readily and instantaneously reminded by present scents of past incidents, places, and persons, and although the actual vocabulary of scent is limited, it is usually possible for us to describe a scent fairly accurately by comparing it with another. Thus it is quite usual for us to say that a flower has a lily-like fragrance, or that it smells like new-mown hay.
Soil tests done in a lab are one way to check the health of your soil. However, the ultimate test is how well your plants are doing. By carefully observing your plants, you can tell which nutrient your plants are lacking. With this information, you can choose which amendments should be added to the soil to maximize the soil health.
In his classic book Mormon Country, author Wallace Stegner noted that nineteenth century Mormons planted rows of Lombardy poplar trees wherever they established settlements in the territory that is now Utah. The trees served as windbreaks and boundary markers, but they were also the flags that marked the advance of Mormon civilization in a hostile territory. In my hometown and lots of other towns all over the United States elm trees served a similar function, marking the spread of middle class residential neighborhoods during the end of the nineteenth and the first third of the twentieth centuries. In the 1960’s almost all of those tall elegant trees fell prey to Dutch Elm Disease, making each municipality a little poorer.
From the Greek helios, the sun, and anthemon. a flower (Cistaceae). Sun Rose. A genus of evergreen and semi-evergreen shrubs, sub-shrubs, perennial plants and annuals, very free flowering. Numerous named varieties and hybrids are grown and four species are native plants.
Many attractive plants are suitable for cultivation in suspended baskets. For this purpose plants of a drooping habit of growth are preferable, as their pendulous stems, falling over the sides of the baskets, display the flowers or foliage to the best advantage. Hanging baskets are made of various materials; those of galvanized wire are the most popular, as they are light and last for many years. Teakwood or cypress wood baskets are used for orchids of drooping growth.
Planting a tree takes a lot of thought. We may have to consider if we want a tree that is: