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

I celebrate learning this about cycad plants

I didn't know that the cardboard palm - Zamia furfuracea - is a cycad. It isn't a palm tree (don't judge me, I'm not a botanist). But it also doesn't look like the other more familiar types of cycads with their fluted upright palm-like fronds. I didn't know it is said to be the second most commonly cultivated cycad, after Cycas revoluta . I didn't know this plant is unrelated to the common ZZ plant - Zamioculcas zamifolia - although they have a similar appearance. Before today I didn't know any of these things, but now I am happy to have learned them. From the parking lot I walked to the U of M Conservatory greenhouse in near-zero F weather. Stepping into the tropical spaces was a joy of its own. But being able to learn new information and experience new procedures was a compounding factor. Joy squared. During my 3-hour volunteer shift, my initial task was to clean the parasite critters (mealybugs and scale) from the stems and leaves of the cycad, Zami...

The eponymous palm of Palm Springs

Tens of thousands of native California fan palms ( Washingtonia filifera) rise over the gardens and streets of Palm Springs. The fan-like leaves flutter and wave as the trees gently sway in the desert breeze. If a plant could be described as elegant, this plant would certainly be one. Delicate fibers peel away from the leaf blade as they age, giving the palm part of its name, filifera . The advantage of the fibers to the plant is uncertain; however, the fibers were used by the indigenous Cuhuilla tribes for tools and fabrics. It is no accident the city is named for the palm. For centuries the native Cuhuilla residents were vastly outnumbered by fan palms. For the Cuhuilla, the plant became an important resource for their tools and shelters. Even today, I wouldn't be surprised if the number of palms outnumber the residents of the current modern city. Bird's eye view over old Palm Springs neighborhood; fan palms are everywhere. In their native environment, the palms grow best al...

Sharp elbows in the desert

How do plants do it... ...some stand-off-ish plants have figured out how to keep their distance from each other. They have evolved clever adaptations - sharp elbows - to keep their neighbors away. This behavior is important for survival, especially in the desert where plants compete for water. I have noticed this phenomenon especially when I've been on a plane flying low over the desert. Where there are plants, they are uniformly distributed but not touching each other. They don't form clumps. They seem to know how far apart to grow. How is that? Why is it these desert plants don't form clumps? They weren't planted this way on purpose (Palm Springs, CA). It seems so obvious to me now that I recognize what is going on, but it took me a few years of hiking in the desert to be mentally conscious of how widely separated, but yet uniformly distributed in the landscape many plants seem to be. How is it that plants are able to keep what appears to be a relatively uniform dis...

City Gardener

Search This Blog