They are members of the
olive family, among the
earliest flowering plants imported to the United States. Planted near the front doors of flat, bare early Colonial house facades, they helped to create "
dooryard gardens," which softened and brought beauty to a rough-hewn early America.
Jefferson planted them; at Monticello, some of those bushes still bloom.. They gave
Pan his pipes. They are employed as evocative symbols in
American literature,
song,
and poetry, where they symbolize the
sensuousness of love in its earliest stages.
Festivals celebrate their
blooming, and
NOAA tracks the earliest leaves and flowers for evidence of climate change. The inability to smell it may be an
early indication of Alzheimer's disease. No wonder people like to
steal them.
posted by Miko
on May 23, 2008 -
31 comments
A revised U.S. plant hardiness map has been put out by the National Arbor Day Foundation, based on numbers from 5,000 cooperative climate observation stations throughout the United States. The foundation
forged ahead with their own revisions since the official
USDA map update has stalled. One unofficial
draft [PDF] does exist. A USDA
spokesperson said their map delay is because of fine-tuning where to draw the zone lines; the agency also plans to incorporate other data such as wind.
posted by rolypolyman
on Jan 6, 2007 -
8 comments
Alnwick Castle , used in various films including
Harry Potter and
Robin Hood, has started planting the
Poison Garden as part of its most
recent additions (pdf). The Poison Garden includes
belladonna and other examples of the worlds most deadly plants. Some specimens are kept behind bars for security purposes. Both the castle and the
extensive garden seem like wonderful places to visit.
posted by onhazier
on Mar 9, 2005 -
2 comments
The orchid, I think is the most beautiful variety of flower. If not for my black thumb I'd gladly devote some time to growing this gorgeous flowers. The main link is to the Internet Orchid Photo Encyclopedia. There's apparently a cultural phenomena involving orchids that even includes tails of
theft. A case of Nicaraguan theft has even been likened to
rape. NOVA has done an
episode on it, which sadly I haven't seen. They're an amazingly diverse species.
posted by substrate
on May 15, 2004 -
11 comments
Lunar gardening is the oldest
form of gardening known to man,
the practice centers on the moon's gravitational effect on the flow of moisture in soil and plants and, to a lesser degree, the effect of moonlight on seed germination. "I've got a large area in potatoes. We've got some planted at the right time of the moon and some crops at the wrong time of the moon. The difference is so obvious and there for everybody to see"
posted by stbalbach
on Jul 17, 2003 -
11 comments
"Feeeeed Me!" Although the physical reality of this "museum" seems a bit sketchy, you simply have to love lush color photos of carniverous plants. I mean
c'mon! Audrey II would be proud.
posted by jeremias
on Mar 4, 2002 -
2 comments
Pollination Pets for the Garden. The UK bee population has almost halved in the last 10 years due mainly to the
spread of a mite called
Varroa from Asia. The loss of such a large proportion of the bee population has implications for agriculture, horticulture and nature, bees pollinate the majority of plants with no intervention from man, there isn't a more reliable fertilisation method.
However an Oxford company has come up with a
simple kit to attract Mason bees to nest in your garden requiring no effort and no protective clothing, they're pretty docile too, so it's unlikely you'll get stung.
BTW, the
US is affected too.
posted by Markb
on May 11, 2001 -
7 comments
