Sharp Spray of Water

Nearing the end of August, we're on the downhill slope of summer in Minnesota. Today is the beginning of the great Minnesota get together - the Minnesota State Fair. I am not a frequent or enthusiastic fair-goer. Large crowds and long lines make me feel anxious. I mention it only because the fairgrounds are adjacent to the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus, where I volunteer.

Today on my bicycle ride to the greenhouse I passed hundreds of cars headed to the parking lots near the fairgrounds. Cycling faster than the traffic was easy since the streets around the fairgrounds were largely grid-locked with cars inching along. Thankfully, the drivers maintained their cool and avoided the temptation to drive in the bike lane - as witnessed last year. I was able to scoot past them and arrive at the greenhouse intact.

My main assignment was climb up on a ladder and use a standard garden hose to spray the leaves of four small trees. The goal was to dislodge insect pests of various types: thrips, mealybugs, scale, spider mites, etc. After cleaning the plants, I use a hand-sprayer of dilute (less than 1%) peppermint and clove oil to coat the leaves. These essential oils are a natural deterrent - non-toxic to humans at low concentrations - to help keep the pests off of the plants. I've written about this subject in the past, and believe it's worth mentioning here again.

The small trees I cleaned treated today are: Passiflora lindeniana, Melaleuca citrina, olive, and lime.

Passiflora lindeniana, popular for its beautiful blossoms

Another assignment I enjoyed today was repotting a couple of small cycad plants. With an ancient lineage dating back to a time before the dinosaurs, the greenhouse has a small but respectable collection of these critically endangered plants. Many of them have struggled to thrive in the greenhouse. However, now a few of them have started to grow well. The hope is larger terracotta pots with well-draining sandy soil will encourage them further, and eventually produce cones.

Collection of endangered cycad plants

Finally, the plant coordinator for the greenhouse introduced me to an unusual plant that has just begun to produce flowers - Ceropegia sandersonii. The flower resembles an open parachute gentle wafting down to earth. It is unusual for its ability to trap flies, forcing the insect to remain in the blossom, unintentionally pollinating the flower as it tries to escape. Eventually, the blossom dries and the fly is able to escape.

New green and white flower of Ceropegia sandersonii, also know as the parachute flower, which is able to trap flies

Ceropegia sandersonii, parachute flower, climbing up a metal hanger

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...

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...

City Gardener

Search This Blog