Training a Stephanotis vine; Nescodon cleaning

I met coordinator A... in the workroom where he was inspecting a Calycanthus occidentalis plant heavily infested with whitefly. The plant is native to California, called western sweetshrub or spicebush. It has large red blossoms. He put the plant outside in the rain until he decided how to protect it from the whiteflies. I asked him about his experiment with scale insects and the three types of predators he had purchased. Unfortunately he was not happy with the set-up of the experiment, the plastic bags were too wet causing the wasp predators to stick to the plastic rather than attach the scale insects. He also said the type of wasp was probably incorrect for our soft shell scale insects, and they are better suited for hard shell scale.

Stephanotis vine

Coordinator A... then assigned to me the task of cleaning and pruning a Stephanotis floribunda vine (Madagascar jasmine). The vine sits in a 12-inch pot on the sill of the workroom. The vine trails overhead along pipes and metal support beams. I had to find a tall ladder to reach the vine. Carefully I untangled the vines as best I could, and let them drop onto a counter top in the workroom. The lower part of the plant was infested with mealybugs. I used soap, water, and alcohol spray to clean the leaves and stems respectively. After cleaning the plant, I found an old plastic tray to cut into a support base to sit snuggly on the slanted window sill. The base allowed the pot to sit secure and squarely on the sill. Then, I lifted the vine back onto the overhead metal beams. On branch of moderate size was pruned near the base to allow for new growth nearer the pot. I can imagine when the plant is in bloom the workroom will be filled with the scent of jasmine!

Next, coordinator A... asked me to trim and prune the Nescodon plants in room 1C. The old leaves are dried and falling away, they look messy. A said he and J are currently focusing on the cloud forest room while the weather is still warm enough to work in there comfortably. Perhaps I'll be able to write about the Nescodon plant in the future. Basically, it is a unique plant from Madagascar famous for being one of the very rare plants with bright red nectar. The pigment of this nectar is being studied at the University of Minnesota for its colorful properties. The color of the nectar attracts the pollinator of this plant, the gecko.

Nescodon plant

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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...

Mobile indoor green wall

Finally, after three years... my plant vines have grown and spread to be green wall that I had hoped for. I'm not sure it would have taken as long if the plants were in a more humid, sunny climate, et cetera. But given our indoor Minnesota location - even with a southwest exposure - the vines have needed that amount of time to climb the six feet from the base to the top rungs of the metal grid supporting them. The result has been worth the effort. And to be honest, I didn't have to wait three years to begin enjoying the green wall. The vines were already attractive when only half way up the trellis. A metal grid is filled with mix of Epipremnum aureum cultivar "Marble Queen", Epipremnum aureum aka golden pothos, and Philodendron Brasil . Architecture of the green wall The initial intent of the project was to grow a green wall, in an apartment, that could be moved around to be able to clean underneath, and also to provide a mobile room divider for our open-plan loft....

Strung out in the greenhouse

The assignment for my four-hour volunteer shift at the University of Minnesota Conservatory greenhouse was clearly listed on a whiteboard, with my name attached. Since most of the tasks involved working with strings of overhead cables or air tubing, much of my shift was spent at the top of a ladder. Vining plants are limited to only a few of the many benches in the greenhouse. Steel cables are strung above the benches to support their growth. Because many plants grow in a small space, part of the challenge is to untangle and separate the vines so that they don't strangle each other. Not many of the vines are blooming at the moment, as it is winter. However, Thunbergia grandiflora is producing a few lovely blue flowers (its tendrils grow clockwise, hence the common name Bengal clockvine). It's a popular houseplant, but it has become an invasive weed in parts of the world, like Australia, especially around waterways. Thunbergia grandiflora; notice small brown scale insects sucki...

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