Vine pruning and support

I arrived by bicycle again today. The weather was cool - low 60s F- and almost drizzling. But, the bike ride was pleasant enough to enjoy.

Al... was the only person in the workroom when I arrived at 10a. She had finished watering all of the rooms. She suggested I could work on vine maintenance in room 3c, which I did.

I first inspected the low table holding the vining plants in 3C. I decided what tools I’d need, and returned to the workroom to gather the supplies: pail, clippers, green tape, latex gloves, bucket of soapy water.

I started by cleaning the soot from a “scrambling” hydrangea (Hydrangea obtusifolia, scrambling shrub, native of China) sitting next to a small wood trellis. Next, I selected the longest tendrils on the hydrangea plant and attached them to the trellis using the green stretchy tape. I was careful to attach the vine tendrils on one side of the trellis only because there was another different vining on the opposite side of the trellis. Later, I read the plant is not considered a climbing hydrangea, but rather a scrambling hydrangea. The two most common species of climbing hydrangeas are H. integrifolia and H. serratifolia (both are evergreen). H. seemannii is a climber, but not evergreen.

Having finished the side with the hydrangea, I went to the opposite side of the trellis to take down and reattach the Delavay honeysuckle (Lonicera similis, from Asia). The vine had a fragrant and showy spray of white and yellow tubular blossoms at the end of one of the main branches. As I left the building for the day I told Curator J... what I had done to the hydrangea and honeysuckle vines. He is doubtful the hydrangea will act like a climbing plant. He is likely correct.

Finally, I washed sooty mold off the leaves of 3 other vining plants on the same bench as the two vines mentioned already.

B... introduced me to Intern D..., who is a new intern at the Greenhouse.

September 7th, 2023 (photos above)

Comments

Thrip control: peppermint and clove

Here's a question: how many natural plant scents do you find repellent? The one that comes to the top of my mind is the scent of the newly blossomed corpse flower, Amorphophallus titanum . It smells very much like the name implies. If I could produce a scratch-and-sniff blog post, I would be tempted. The odor is horrible to humans, but sweet to some flying insects which are also attracted to rotting flesh. But perhaps you cannot tolerate the scent of clove, or eucalyptus? Insect pests are like us in this respect. Pests in the garden and greenhouse Insects, arachnids, fungi, and viruses. Their numbers are legion. The battle is constant. The most effective weapon is vigilance. In addition to vigilance, there are biological controls made from natural compounds which are generally non-toxic to humans. Included in this category are essential oils. For example cinnamon, rosemary, sage, neem, clove, peppermint and many others. These oils are repellent, and even toxic, to many of the pests...

Nerding out in Japan, autumn of 2025

We celebrated a bit of good news in our household with a spontaneously planned trip to Japan in November. Completely unintended, the trip coincided with the full regalia of fall colors. Particularly notable were the popular Japanese maples of every size and variety with their brilliant reds, yellow, oranges, greens, and rusts. But happy accident, we learned a few things about the art of sculpting full-grown trees - niwaki - and how to protect plants from ice and snow over the winter - yukizuri . Winter is coming The fall colors were still in full swing with crowds of adoring leaf-peepers - like me - filling the famous gardens and parks. Despite the crowds, there was already serious preparations for the coming winter. Fancifully pruned trees - the tree-sculpting art of niwaki similar to bonsai - were being trussed with ropes and propped up on long poles . As newcomers, the preparations seemed extremely odd, as if some hurricane was about to shred the life out of every branch an...

New roots for an old soul: extreme 30-foot plant cutting

A large contingent of students and staff was gathered when I arrived for my volunteer shift at the Conservatory Greenhouse at the University of Minnesota on the St. Paul campus. The crowd was on hand to help with the gentle felling of the largest plant in the greenhouse, decades old and 30+ feet tall. Native to the island of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, this fern -- S phaeropteris intermedia the largest of all tree ferns -- has been happily growing in the tropical room of the greenhouse for a number of years, to the point its fronds are brushing up against the glass ceiling panes of the roof. Tree fern fronds brushing against the roof of the U of M greenhouse Rather than cut the tree down and lose the specimen, the staff decided to try to save the tree. The process would involve cutting off the top half of the tree and reinserting it into a new space in the soil of the greenhouse floor. Months of planning and preparation A well-known technique was used, referred to as ai...

City Gardener

Search This Blog