Mediterranean scrubland

Swept up leaves and debris from the D4 display room (cacti and euphorbia), and also D3 (mediterranean scrubland)
I removed weed plants growing on the floor along the walls in C2 and C3.

I had a short introduction and discussion with the new curator, J...

I noticed the Crassula cutting had not yet been potted - I had cut it last week. Assistant Director A potted it up in a small terracotta pot. I placed it back in D3, next to the parent Crassula.

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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...

Honolulu International Airport Gardens

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu, HI Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu HI This photograph says so much about this special garden in a single image: - Senator Daniel Inouye represented Hawaii in the US Senate for decades. He was of Japanese descent and a senior in a Honolulu high school when he witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Later, he volunteered for an all-Japanese army unit which served first in Mississippi, then in Italy and France during the war. The airport has rightfully been named in his honor. - The building itself was designed - by the great Honolulu architect Vladimir Ossipoff - in the open native Hawaiian concept of the lanai. To native Hawaiians the lanai was a free-standing building with a thatched roof and open-sided walls to allow a fresh breeze to wash through. The main concourses of the airport terminal are all open to the outside air, recreating the concept of the lanai. Upon landing in Honolulu, the freshness of the ...

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