Bloomer Online

Square-Foot Gardening Class

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:35:00 +0000

The Crawford County extension office will be hosting a square-foot gardening class at their office in Van Buren on February 28 at 6 P.M. It's free. The class will be taught by Carla Vaught, the extension agent in Mena. Carla is a good speaker and it should be a good program.

The Extension office is at 105 Pointer Trail West in Van Buren. (Turn west off hwy 59 at Walgreen's.)

Below is the flyer.

Square Foot Gardening Class 2012

Advanced MG Training Open

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:26:00 +0000

Craighead County Master Gardeners have opened up registration for their latest Advanced Master Gardener training.

"Your Landscape Design, The Tools, Techniques and Tips"

It's $60. Forms for the training are available at your Extension Office. The class is March 10, however registration is due by Feb. 27. It will probably fill up quickly.

Romand Cape Hyacinth

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:51:00 +0000

By Dr. Gerald Klingaman

During midwinter, especially when the weather is close, chill and dull, it is sometimes difficult to maintain the cheer possessed by most gardeners. But then I stumble out to my little cold greenhouse and find plants starting to bloom and am instantly reawakened to the hopeful spirit that lives in every gardener. Today, I happened upon the cheery yellow blossoms of Romand Cape Hyacinth (Lachenalia aloides ‘Romand’) and was again renewed.

Romand Cape Hyacinth is a tender bulbous plant from South Africa that belongs to the newly created hyacinth family. Lachenalia is a diverse genus of about 110 species of bulbous plants found in the southwestern part of South Africa in areas with a mild Mediterranean climate – namely, cool and moist winters and blistering hot and dry summers. The various species are winter-blooming in the Southern Hemisphere, producing flowers from April through September in their native homeland. When grown in the Northern Hemisphere, the Lachenalia are winter bloomers with flowering from December until April. For me, Romand has bloomed consistently during the past three winters in mid-January. But by regulating forcing techniques, bloom time can be adjusted.

This clone produces 50 cent-sized fleshy white bulbs that produce a pair of fleshy, inch-wide and six inch-long leaves that, in well-nourished plants forced in a cool climate, are marked with large brown spots. The leaves appear before the plant flowers and disappear when temperatures begin to climb in the greenhouse. The plant has been dormant for me by late May.

In Romand, the brown-speckled scape is to 12 inches long with 40 to 50 inch-long, bright yellow tubular flowers. Plants remain in bloom for three weeks and have a faint spicy fragrance. ‘Rupert’ has purple blooms, while ‘Rosabeth’ has cherry colored blooms. These and other cultivars are part of the “African Beauty” series licensed by Dutch bulb forcer J.H. van der Vossen. There are at least 25 hybrid Lachenalia in the trade, many of which involve either L. aloides or L. bulbifera as part of their parentage.

Lachenalia bulbs were first collected in 1652 when traders from the Dutch East India Company first entered the interior of South Africa looking for new bulb species that could be grown in Holland. During the next century, they became a part of the collector market for rich Europeans but were not systematically studied until Baron Nicholas Joseph Jacquin studied a collection at gardens of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. He created the genus Lachenalia in 1784, naming it after a well known Swiss professor, Werner de Lachenal.

Lachenalia never became much appreciated and always remained a minor collector bulb until scientists at the Roodeplant Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Institute of the South African Agricultural Research Council decided to try to commercialize it as a new crop for greenhouse forcing. Initial breeding work was started in 1965, with the first clones released about 1980. Since 1990, Institute scientists have developed propagation, production and marketing protocols for the new crop. Though uncommon in American markets – at least in the central part of the country – it is developing as a part of the spring flowerpot trade in Europe.

I potted my Romand Cape Hyacinth bulbs after receiving them from Brent and Becky Bulbs in Virginia during the fall of 2009. Using just ordinary greenhouse potting soil, they were planted in a six-inch pot in mid-October and placed in my cool greenhouse, which is kept between 45 and 50 degrees at night. Flowers appeared in about 12 weeks from planting, even at the cool temperatures. A greenhouse is not needed for forcing – any cool well-lighted window sill should work just as well. When I bring my plant inside to warmer temperatures, the scapes stretch out and the plant is not as attractive as it would be if kept cool during the flowering period.

Lachenalia bulbs require frequent watering during the forcing period to keep the foliage from wilting. Though I have not routinely fertilized my plants, others say they benefit from a supply of balanced liquid fertilizer during the forcing period. When the bulbs die down in late spring, I leave the pot inside the greenhouse to keep it warm and dry during the summer. My green0house has summer shade, so it never gets above 100 degrees. Too much moisture during the summer months will lead to bulb rot. When I bring in my other greenhouse plants in during October, I begin watering the pot again, and so far it has bloomed on schedule each winter. Though I have not tried it, new bulbs can be started by means of leaf cuttings.

Arkansas State MG Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:59:00 +0000

Registration is now open for the 2012 MG State Conference in Monticello, Arkansas, May 17-19. Attached is a lot of information, so please read through it thoroughly. There is a printable and mailable copy of the registration form, or you may follow this link: and register online. I would suggest reading through the material before you start to register, so you know what you are signing up for. Remember that open registration is for Active MGs only (and county agents) from February 1-March 1 for a fee of $69. From March 2-March 16 guests, sustainers, and MGs on leave of absence may also register for the early registration discount until March 16. March 17 – April 16 the rate goes up to $85 if space is available and the final registration deadline is April 16. You may cancel your registration with a $15 penalty prior to April 16. After that date, there will be no refunds. Hope you can attend!

Beekeeping Classes

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:48:00 +0000

Are you interested in beekeeping but were a little afraid to try it? No worries! Extension has you covered. Jon Zawislak, Extension's bee-guy, and the Western Ark. Eastern Okla. Beekeepers are hosting a short course again this year. The class will be Feb. 20 and 27, and March 5 at the Janet Huckabee River Valley Nature Center. Time is 6p to 9p. There's no charge. If you have questions, contact your Extension office. I've been to the class and they do a really great job.

Composting Class

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

The Washington County Master Gardeners Composting committee will be conducting a 2-day, in-depth composting class for any Master Gardener or school teacher who would like to learn the science of composting. Details are as follows:

Who: Any interested Master Gardener or School Teacher. Program taught by Washington County Master Composters
What: This intensive course will be class room as well as hands on at the Compost Demonstration Site.
Topics include: The Science in Composting, Composting Techniques, Worm Composting, Compost Teas, and Use of Compost
When: February 4, 8:00am – 5:00pm and February 18, 8:00am – 12: noon
Where: Washington County Extension Office
Cost: $25 registration fee due by February 1. Mail check to the Washington County Extension office, 2536 N. McConnell Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72704. Provide email address to confirm receipt of registration fee.
Textbook: The Complete Compost Gardening Guide, by Barbara Pleasant and Deborah L. Martin, 2008, Storey Publishing Co. will be used. Class participants will need to purchase this text before training begins. It is available at Tractor Supply Company and Barnes and Noble, $19.95 or through online sources.
More Information: Contact Berni Kurz bkurz@uaex.edu 479-444-1755 or George Loucks gloucks1942@yahoo.com 479-879-3099

Fruit Pruning Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:56:00 +0000

Fruit Pruning Workshop, February 23, 2012 U of A Fruit Station, Clarksville, AR Pre-registration required. $5.00 Cost

There will be a pruning demonstration workshop scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23rd at the U of A Fruit Research Station in Clarksville. In this workshop, you will learn about the principles of pruning along with a hands-on demonstration for pruning apples, blueberries, brambles, grapes, and peaches. Registration will begin at 1:00 p.m. and the workshop will begin at 1:30 p.m. and end at 4:00p.m. Please call 479-754-2406 to pre-register, or to get further information. When you call, please state whether you are a commercial producer or a homeowner. There will be a $5.00 charge collected on the day of the event.

Round-Table Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:06:00 +0000

Saturday, January 21st is the annual round-table discussion at the meeting of the Flower, Garden and Nature Society of Northwest Arkansas. Bring your favorite garden tool for show-and-tell and be prepared to ask questions and give suggestions. Gardening adventures and tall-tales are welcome. The program begins at 10:00 a.m. with social time at 9:30, in the Student Center of the Northwest Arkansas Technical Institute, 709 S. Old Missouri Rd, Springdale, AR, at the stoplight on Ford Av. and Highway 265. The programs are free and open to the public. For more information, call Lynn Rogers at 479-521-9090.

Summer Tree Dieback

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:24:00 +0000

If you're absolutely sure that large sections of your tree are dead, winter is a good time to get it pruned. It's a lot less of a headache without all those pesky leaves in the way. Keep these things in mind though:

If you think there's a remote chance it may live and only defoliated prematurely, wait until it leafs out to see what happens. You don't want to prune if it's not needed.
Don't top the tree. It will weaken it further.
You do NOT need pruning sealant or paint on the wound, even if it is John Deere Green.
If it is near power lines, get professional help for sure!
Get several quotes. Prices may vary.

Early Bird Registration

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:19:00 +0000

If you're interested in attending the 2012 Southern Region Master Gardener Conference, you better hurry! Early bird registration ends Jan. 14. After that the price goes from $105 to $155. Ouch! Info for the conference is here.

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:01:00 +0000

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Sebastian County Extension Office!

Interesting Begonia

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:45:00 +0000

With all the news of Kim Jong-Il's death, I learned something I didn't know before. Kim Jong-Il has a flower named after him called 'Kimjongilia'.

It looks like this:

It's an attractive cultivar of hybrid tuberous Begonia. Its official name is Begonia x tuberhybrida Voss 'Kimjongilhwa'. But we call it Kimjongilia in English. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it is red.

This cultivar was created by Japanese breeder Kamo Mototeru in 1988 to commemorate the dictator's 46th birthday. It's supposed to flower on February 16 every year, but I have no confirmation that this is accurate. After all, North Korean state news also said Kim Jong-Il bowled a 300 on his very first game.

Even more surprising to me is that his father Kim Il-Sung has a flower named after him, too. (An orchid.)

Extension Holiday Closings

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:42:00 +0000

All cooperative extension offices in Arkansas will be closed for winter break from December 23, 2011 to January 3, 2012. If you have urgent extension needs, you'll need to contact us before then.

Japanese Katsura Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:22:00 +0000

By Dr. Gerald Klingaman

Weeping Katsura is one of the most beautiful weeping deciduous trees.

While a majority of our garden flowers and shrubs hail from distant lands, gardeners and the nurserymen that support their habit have mostly shunned foreign shade trees. About 80 percent of the landscape shrubs listed in nursery catalogs are exotics while, if you exclude the small flowering trees, only a couple shade trees are offered. Japanese Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) is one of these, yet it remains rare in landscapes.

Katsura is a large, low-branched, multi-trunked deciduous tree with a pyramidal form in its youth that becomes broad-spreading as it ages, often becoming as wide as it is tall. Though slow-growing the first few years as it becomes established, a 20-year-old tree can be expected to be 40 feet tall and wide. In Japan, it often reaches 100 feet and is the largest-growing hardwood in that country.

Katsura belongs to its own plant family, with only one genus and two species. Fossil records from the Tertiary period (younger than 65 million years) have been found in North America, but it disappeared during the cold snap that befell the planet about 5 million years ago.

As the Latin name implies, the leaves of Katsura are shaped like those of a redbud and grow from 2 to 4 inches long. When they emerge in the spring they are red, but turn blue-green as they mature. Fall color is yellow to orange, but recently cultivars have been selected that display red fall color. Katsura is dioecious, with seedlings being either male or female. The flowers are small and inconspicuous.

Katsura was introduced into the United States about 1865 by Thomas Hogg Jr. (1820–1895), who was appointed by President Lincoln in 1862 to counsel the Japanese government in establishing a customs office. Hogg remained in Japan for eight years and then returned in the 1870s for another several years. Japanese trade ports had been forcibly opened about a decade earlier when an armada of U.S. warships arrived in Kyoto Bay under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry.

Hogg was the son of a Scottish immigrant who established a nursery in New York City in 1822. With his father’s passing, Thomas and his brother inherited the firm. Many choice Japanese plants eventually made it into the American nursery trade, due to Hogg’s keen eye for what he thought would sell.

The Japanese Katsura is hardy from zones 4 through 8 and is generally well-adapted to the growing conditions found in the eastern half of the United States. It has poor drought tolerance, especially during the establishment period, so is best located in sites with deep soil profiles. Because of the tree’s height and spread, it is best used as a lawn tree or sufficiently far from the home so its spreading ways do not interfere with structures or power lines.

‘Pendula’ is a weeping form of Katsura that has a cascading habit of growth and looks like a living waterfall. It grows 25 feet tall, but given sufficient time will billow outward several times its height. This selection is from a 300-year-old tree growing at a Buddhist temple ruins in Myosenji, Japan and is sometimes offered as “Myosenji Weeping”.

For more information about horticulture, or to see other Plant of the Week columns, visit Extension’s website or contact your county extension agent.

A Sweet Potato Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:17:00 +0000

By Carol Sanders

Chances are that the sweet potatoes you are enjoying this holiday season began the journey to your table long before you even thought about them.

If you are eating Arkansas grown sweet potatoes, their journey probably began at Mississippi State or Louisiana State University, says Dr. Obadiah Njue, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) researcher and Cooperative Extension Program horticulture specialist. Next year, the journey will begin closer to home – as tissue culture explants at the UAPB biotechnology laboratory.

Sweet potatoes do not grow from seeds planted in the ground; they grow from plants or sprouts, called “slips,” purchased from slip producers, in seed bundles at seed stores, or grown from the roots of the previous season’s crop.

Growers need virus-free slips in time to allow for the 120-day growing season. For years Arkansas sweet potato growers have had to rely on neighboring states for slips. Today most Arkansas producers purchase slips from two Arkansas slip producers who get their seed potatoes from Louisiana, North Carolina or Mississippi.

Virus-free sweet potato plants are growing in the UAPB greenhouse. These plants are field ready.

This may soon be a thing of the past as UAPB scientists Drs. Muthusamy Manohran, associate professor, and Sathish Ponniah, plant breeder and Extension associate, have successfully produced virus-free sweet potato plants and transferred them to the UAPB greenhouse for further hardening and multiplication. Arkansas slip producers are eager to get their seed potatoes from UAPB, which already has slips in its greenhouses and two acres of generation zero sweet potatoes under cultivation. Seed potatoes from generation zero will be made available to Arkansas slip growers.

Once mature, sweet potatoes are harvested, usually mechanically, or by hand sometimes by white-gloved harvesters to avoid nicking the tuber. Mechanical harvesting is usually with a one-row or two-row digger. A four-row digger runs about $150,000 plus a big tractor to pull it. The UAPB facility in Marianna has some equipment to assist limited resource farmers with the mechanical planting and harvesting of sweet potatoes.

Out of the ground sweet potatoes do not go directly to the store or farmers’ markets. They must first be cured for up to two weeks to heal any wounds and increase sugar content.

“Sweet potatoes are a fitting crop for small or limited resource farmers,” says Dr. Njue. Except for the water needed the first 20-30 days after planting, not much water is needed as they put down deep roots. And, sweet potatoes are not bothered by the heat. If properly cured and stored, they may have a shelf life of six months or more.

Eight sweet potato related research projects are underway at UAPB, including the mass multiplication of virus-free sweet potato through tissue culture. UAPB also participates in the National Sweetpotato Collaborator’s Group Yield Trials annually. Other projects range from the profitability of fresh market sweet potatoes vs. processed sweet potatoes, evaluation of vegetable rotations for small farms and environmental stresses affecting sweet potato production and using sweet potato leaves as a potential antioxidant source for a fish diet.

Hardy Ageratum

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:31:00 +0000

By Dr. Gerald Klingman

Over the years, I have bemoaned the fact that plant names keep changing and, instead of adding clarity, muddy the water and make the job of gardeners, nature lovers and those who write about these subjects ever more complicated.

While I bemoan these changes, most of them make sense as plant taxonomy (classification and naming) has become international in scope, and scientists have access to better and more thoroughly evaluated data on which to base their classification schemes. Let us explore how an Eastern American native plant I have long known as hardy ageratum or mist flower had a name change from Eupatorium coelestinum to Conoclinium coelestinum.

Mist flower is a perennial herb of the daisy family, with fuzzy heads of purplish tubular disc flowers borne at the ends of stems in early fall. Plants mostly are around 2 feet tall and spread by means of a rhizomatous root system that, in partially shaded moist sites, can form significant stands. The oppositely arranged toothed leaves are 2 to 3 inches long. At first glance, the mist flower does look much like the annual ageratum, at least when in full flower.

Linnaeus named our American mist flower Eupatorium coelestinum in 1753 in his Species Plantarum, giving it a lot of credence in botanical circles. Over the next two centuries, the genus Eupatorium became a dumping ground for “sort of looks like” asteraceous plants from throughout the world, ultimately ending up with an unwieldy 800 species classified in the genus.

Linnaeus’ classification system was built on what he called his “sexual system,” and based almost entirely on the characteristics of the flowers. This was quickly found to be too restrictive, and ever since his day, more and more data points have been added to the tally sheets taxonomists use to lump and/or split plants into various related groups. Starting about 1970, two Smithsonian Institution botanists, R.M. King and Harold Robinson, began sorting through the portion of the daisy family where Eupatorium resides. In 1987, King and Robison proposed an extensive revision of the genus that reduced the number of Eupatoriums to just 42 species.

In their new revision, only white-flowered species from North America, Europe and Asia were retained in the genus Eupatorium, while the remaining species were moved to 13 new and/or enlarged genera. With the publication of their paper, the 200-plus-year-old Linnaean names for familiar garden plants such as our mist flower (E. coelestinum) and Joe-Pye weed (E. purpureum) became Conoclinium coelestinum and Eutrochium purpureum, respectively. As late as the mid 1990s, the proposed revision was being ignored by some prominent taxonomists, but beginning in 1999, several detailed studies were published that added DNA analysis and largely confirmed the reclassification scheme.

Today even the stodgiest and most conservative taxonomists have adopted the reclassification. Unfortunately, all of my horticultural and botanical references are now out-of-date, due to these and other changes that have crept in since DNA-supported reclassification has been added to the data set used to assign relationships amongst plants. Though frustrating and annoying, the changes do make biological sense, and in another generation, gardeners will absorb the new names as quickly as we absorbed the old.

Mist flower or hardy ageratum is native to the southeastern states, and is winter-hardy from zones 5 through 11. It is best in a moist woodland situation, where it can be allowed to run and spread as room and environmental conditions permit. In a fertile, overly rich border, it has a tendency to become thuggish and take over more timid neighbors. Its late flowering makes it a welcome addition to the woodland edge.

MG Class Deadline Near

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:17:00 +0000

Anyone interested in becoming a Master Gardener should note that the deadline for the 2012 River Valley MG class is Wed., Dec. 7. That's tomorrow!

Here's the application.

Timekeeping Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:15:00 +0000

Many Master Gardeners have those fancy smartphones. If you have an iPhone, there are a few apps that might make it a bit easier for you to keep track of your volunteer and educational hours.

See this page: 5 Timekeeping Apps For Your Small Business

Indiangrass

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 14:02:00 +0000

By Dr. Gerald Klingaman

As a child of the prairie, I’ve always had a fondness for grasses, especially the big, bold ones. The grasses used in landscaping, like almost everything else we encounter these days, are mostly imports from Asia. Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), though, is a homegrown grass with ornamental appeal that should be used more.

Indiangrass is a warm-season clump-forming grass growing up to 6 feet tall with erect stems, but its pendent leaves give it an arching form. From pencil-thin stems (culms), indiangrass produces glabrous green to blue-green foliage that is 3/8 inch wide and 18 inches long. Most of the leaves are produced on the lower half of the culms. In the fall, the leaves turn burnt orange and the plant remains standing into the winter.

Indiangrass bloom spikes appear in late summer at the end of the culm and produce a mass of yellow blooms that are perhaps interesting if you are into the fine detail of nature. The beauty comes when the inflorescence matures into an inverted cone-shaped form bearing the coppery colored seeds. The seed head is not as attractive, nor does it persist as long as those of maidengrass (Miscanthus sinensis), but it is indiangrass’ most distinctive feature.

Though most at home in the prairie states, indiangrass has one of the most far-flung distribution patterns I know of in North America, ranging from the eastern Canadian provinces to Florida and west to Utah and Arizona. It is the state grass of Oklahoma and South Carolina, a state not often associated with prairies.

Prairies – also called steppes, plains, pampas or just grasslands – cover 31 percent of the surface area of the planet and, after forests, are the second most common plant community on earth. Grasses and grasslands appeared in the fossil record at the end of the Cretaceous, soon before dinosaurs went extinct some 65 million years ago. Their appearance and widespread dominance of broad areas of the earth’s surface indicates a general drying of the globe.

Short grass prairies form in areas receiving between 10 and 20 inches of rainfall a year, whereas tall grass prairies, the prairie community to which indiangrass belongs, form in areas receiving 20 to 30 inches of rainfall. These original tall grass prairies must have been a sight to behold. Early settlers and those crossing the Great Plains en route to Oregon or the California gold fields tell of mounted riders disappearing completely in a sea of grass when indiangrass and big bluestem were in flower in the fall.

Forests begin dominating in areas receiving more than 30 inches of rainfall. The Grand Prairie of east Arkansas is an anomaly because it receives plenty of rainfall to support trees, but a shallow hardpan prevents trees from getting established. This same soil layer made it ideally suited for prairie grass, or after 1900, rice production.

As a grass, indiangrass needs at least six hours of full sun per day. It is extremely adaptable to varied soil conditions, thriving on everything from sand to clay, though best performance is in better garden soils. It is a big grass, best-suited for use in naturalized areas in mass plantings or at the back of the border. Once established, it has considerable drought tolerance. It can be divided in the spring, or new plants can be grown from seed.

Holiday Plant Safety

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:04:00 +0000

FYI: My column in this month's Entertainment Fort Smith magazine is about toxic holiday plants. You can pick up a copy just about anywhere in the River Valley.

Design Class Links

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:22:00 +0000

Those of you taking my landscape design class at UAFS: here are the links to the irrigation resources I mentioned in class.

Rain Bird's Design Guides
Rain Bird's Homeowner stuff (has videos)
(Remember Hunter, Toro and others have resources, too.)
IrrigationTutorials.com
Utah State's Free Online Course

These are all excellent resources.

Water Efficiency Program

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:18:00 +0000

Pulaski County Cooperative Extension has been working on a water conservation program with Central Arkansas Water for a few years now. As a result, they've developed and collected some good resources into one place on the web. While the events won't do you much good in our neck of the woods, the links are helpful.

As you may recall, 2011 wasn't exactly the wettest year on record. Climatologists' models are predicting a similar pattern in 2012 as well so this information may come in handy. I hope to do a class or two on irrigation and conservation next year.

Stay tuned for more.

There And Back Again

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:15:00 +0000

Hello, Internet!

If you read this blog you may wonder why nothing has been posted for a while. Or not.

For the curious, I've had a wild and crazy past few weeks. Actually, it was the opposite of wild and crazy.

After a whirlwind visit to central North Carolina, I became ill almost as soon as my feet hit the ground in Fort Smith. I eventually got pneumonia, the funnest part of which is spelling it. I'm better now so hopefully I'll get a few items posted in the coming days.

Carnivorous Plants Insprire New Material

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:56:00 +0000

From New Scientist:

Now, a new material takes a cue from one of the plant world's few meat-eaters: the carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes . The plants prey on insects, whose oily feet normally allow them to walk up walls. But pitchers' tube-shaped leaves have microscopic bumps that hold a thin layer of water in place. The water repels the oils, sending hapless insects slipping straight into their gaping mouths.

"They just step on the rim, and immediately slide into the digestive juices," Aizenberg says.

Aizenberg realized that with the right choice of lubricating liquid, the pitcher plant's strategy could be adapted to repel virtually anything.

Video:

Greenhouse Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Dustin) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:10:00 +0000

Here are plans for a simple greenhouse from Extension. It uses corrugated fiberglass. You can substitute more modern materials like acrylic. Good fiberglass should last 15 years. You'll probably have to order the good stuff.

Here's some discussion on glazing materials.