Plantidote of the Day 2012-10-05

Zantedeschia aethiopica

Yellow calla

Happy Friday! We've been hoping that Friday's Plantidote would become Petidote. But this seems like a good spot for weekly garden and plant link round up. Grab your reading glasses, today's plate is overflowing ....

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Nearly 400 beautiful, mature trees may be cut down to allow the space shuttle Endeavour to travel from LAX to its new home at the California Science Center (h/t cg.eye). Adding insult to injury, residents of the working class communities where the trees are being destroyed were never notified or consulted about the process. Oh, and people on Mayor Villaraigosa’s team lied about what they are doing, claiming the trees were diseased and dying. They’re not, as the story linked to above points out. And now if you’ll allow me a brief editorial moment: Hope you rot in hell, assholes. Or at least some place with no trees.

Speaking of trees (how about that segue, huh?), scientists have discovered it’s possible to use tree rings to study variations in the Amazon basin’s climate, since it may affect climate change all over the world. And look at that – they don’t have to clear cut the trees to get the information from the rings. Quick, someone call the LA Mayor’s office. Okay, I promise I’ll drop it now.

Did you know you can create a micro-climate using plants? It’s true! So when next summer’s heat wave hits, surround yourself with greenery and watch the mercury or whatever it is that’s in thermometers now plummet. Okay, plummet may be a bit of an exaggeration. But seriously, you can lower the temperature a bit with plants. And of course, there's the whole aesthetic bonus, not to mention oxygen. Win-win-win!!

Outside, it may not be good gardening weather again for months. But use that downtime to plan ahead. It’s never too early to get a leg up on next year’s vegetable garden. Start here, with a handy vegetable garden planner from Mother Earth News.

Curious about the nutrient content of various fruits and vegetables? Check here to find out which vitamins, minerals, and other good things are in your food.

Fall is a great time to capture a little spring and summer beauty with dried flowers and plant material. Here are some links to how dry flowers, etc. The first page, from University of Nebraska Extension, is not very attractive design-wise, but it has loads of details on drying different types of flowers.

And then there’s this page from Clemson University Extension with more drying suggestions. I'm sure you can find plenty more on your own, but I just wanted to plant the seed, so to speak.

Department of New To You: Meet the Ice Cream Bean tree, which produces nuts wrapped in a fuzzy substance that tastes like … ice cream? According to the story, it’s yummy. Sure, I’ll try it. After you ….

Here are two words I never expected to find in the same sentence -- mafia and rainforest. Needless to say, the word “destroying” is also in that sentence.

Finally, here’s a useful collection of resources -- the Catalog of Garden Catalogs, with more than 2,000 mail-order seed and garden catalogs in the U.S. and Canada. Be careful! This is the sort of thing you can get lost in. I suggest setting a timer before delving in or the next time you look up it’ll be dark out and you’ll wonder where the day went. Yes, that’s based on firsthand experience -- of a friend, of course. I would never do something irresponsible like that!

****************************************

Readers, please send twig (twig4now@gmail.com) images and stories for the ongoing Plantidote of the Day series. In exchange, you'll win undying fame in the form of a hat tip! Plants growing in your garden, your house, or neighbor's yard, plants from the forest or farmers' market, plants you preserved, plants you prepared (wine; cider; tea; dried beans), plants you harvested (grains; chantrelles), plants you picked (flowers), plants you dried (herbs), plants you covet or hope to grow someday. Herbal remedies, propagation tips, new varieties, etc.. And if you can, include some solid detail about the plant, too -- a story, the genus and species, or where you got the seeds, or the recipe, or your grandmother gave it to you. Or challenge us with a "Name That Plant" mystery entry ... And please feel free to add corrections and additional information in the comments.

Click on the image for the full-size version. Click here to see the entire series.