Pollenatrix

Relatively quiet week

I finally got my car back from the garage after that deer ran into my car. Luckily there was no mechanical damage, but the body work was $500 (on a car that's probably only worth $1000). C'est la vie, but not the end of unfortunate encounters. Earlier this week, Mousepad the cat was jumped by the miserable cat creature that lives downstairs. The following morning he was a pathetic thing, dragging his hind leg around and mewling. I was a bit alarmed that he couldn't put any weight on his paw, so off to the vet. Fortunately, he was sent right home ($100) later with a shot of antibiotics and some pills I'm supposed to force down his throat every morning. He's much better now, and much more willing to be petted since I found (and pulled) a large claw out of the back of his head.

I gave away a bunch of houseplants last night, to make rooom for more orchids in my light stand. The trichopilia suavis 'Doris' I bought at the big sale is struggling a bit, trying to adjust to its new environment. It was inexpensive because it was stressed to begin with, but I sent a couple of pictures to John just to make sure I wasn't killing it. Here's what he told me: "Don't worry about your plant.  All is well and doing fine.  That last remaining green leaf and the new growth coming up from it should not have any problems...  Everybody likes to, but don't let yourself be tempted to dig around the new growth to see if there are any new roots.  They will be there and you will certainly at least, bruise them.  That plant cannot take any more setbacks.  Just be patient and let it do its' thing and recover in peace. " In the grow room, the spikes on the cattleya portia are starting to break out of their sheaths, and I expect I'll have blooms next week. The stanhopea looks like it has similar plans. I'll post pictures when it happens.

# discuss

Growing food and hope

In Bangladesh, poverty and hunger are a way of life. Seven per cent of women suffer from iron-deficiency anaemia, 48 per cent of children under the age of five are malnourished, and nearly 50 percent of the population have iodine-deficiency disorder. But there is hope. A UN-sponsored project called “Integrated Horticulture and Nutrition Development (IHND)” is giving young women like Sultana Begum, 20, a bright girl of Telegati village in Khulna, Bangladesh, a chance to produce mushroom, banana and other necessary vegetables on property near her home. “We don’t need to buy vegetables from the market, rather we are able to eat as well as sell the surplus,” she told a group of visiting journalists. Under the self-help project, landless people are mobilised in groups to lease unused lands from landowners, and cultivate their own vegetable gardens. Bangladesh has 13.3 million hectares of arable land, and only 0.64 million hectares, or 4.8 percent, is farmed. The project not only helps landless and marginal people generate income, it also helps meet their nutrition needs. So far, 22000 people have benefited in 106 villages, and 77.4% of them are women. More on United Nations Development Programmes

Blooming at my house today...

This is a Phrag. Sedenii 'Blush', otherwise known as a Phragmipedium. I bought this one in bloom from John Marcotte, it has a second spike that is about to bust out another set of flowers any day now. Phrags are my favourite orchids -- I love the slipper lip on the blooms, and they seem to grow well for me. They need lots and lots of water, so they don't have any objections to my heavy-handed watering ways. I like a flower that likes me back.

This is Mtdm. Bartley Schwarz 'Highland' AM/AOS. "Mtdm." stands for Miltonidium, which is a Miltonia crossed with an Oncidium. I guess if you don't know what a Miltonia or an Oncidium look like, that's not much help. But, it's a pretty flower, there are several on the spike, and they're a deep burgundy red with a creamy white lip. I can take full credit for this one, it's the first time it has bloomed for me.

This little cutie isn't an orchid, it's an air plant of some kind. I think it's really a Tribble from an old Star Trek episode.

# discuss

Abducted gnomes in search of home

Ya gotta shake your head at misguided groups like the GGLF who think they're actually doing a good deed by setting these garden gnomes free. They don't realize that the poor things have been standing around growing moss for so long, they don't remember the tune to hi ho hi ho and they certainly don't remember where it is they're supposed to go. Who knows...maybe they're in fact experimental life forms who have escaped the clutches of the mad scientists at the Human Gnome Project. I've heard reports that they spent a lot of time at Burning Man this summer.

Good mileage: 98 tons of plants per gallon

The Washington Times reports that's how many tons of prehistoric, buried plant material it takes to produce just one gallon of gasoline. Researcher Jeff Dukes asked, "Can you imagine loading 40 acres worth of wheat -- stalks, roots and all -- into the tank of your car or SUV every 20 miles?". Do we have to dig it up first or can we just go right in there with a scythe?

Keep your menfolk away from the flowers!

Males exploited for sex: "An Australian orchid has been exposed as a master of sexual deception, luring male wasps by emitting the same heady scent that female wasps use to seduce potential partners. "It's an unfair system. They exploit the wasps,' he said." But wait! The orchid's wicked ways don't stop there. An Australian experiment has found the deception is actually harmful to the female wasps, whose males reject them in favour of the flowers. One of the researchers "speculates that it will tend to be naive or younger male wasps that are taken in by the orchids." Subterfuge. Intrigue. Dangerous liasons. Who said flowers are boring?

He should have borrowed her lipstick

With Spiders, to Know You Is to Spare You: Casual dating can be dangerous.  A study of spiders shows female wolf spiders will eat strange-looking males that try to mate with them, but spare and even hook up with familiar-looking males. "Hebets painted the legs of male spiders either brown or black with nail polish .... the females were more likely to eat males painted with the 'wrong' color instead of mating with him".

Life in 2020: solar power, hens in the garden and a robot in the loo

"Scientists see an energy efficient future in which traffic jams are rare and the air is cleaner, but imported food is a luxury". I'm doubtful about this one: "When working at home, a telephone gadget in his ear, which operates on electricity generated by his brain, allows his manager to speak to him at any time during working hours. " Sorry buddy, don't bother trying to light a spark in my head before 10AM. Things won't change THAT much in next 15 years. I'm not sure I'm all that happy about predictions concerning poo in the loo, either....

Chalk one up for the good guys...

For every sad story about community gardens (like in L.A.), there's an encouraging one this is SouthDevon - Herald Express News :  Residents heard in garden battle

Endangered Orchid Saved by Golfers

In Britain, golf courses are maintained somewhat more "ecologically" than the traditional North American chemical wasteland monocultures that are poor excuses for "recreational green spaces". And by unwittingly sowing native orchids seeds, it seems that their golfers serve a useful purpose while they pointlessly knock a little ball around for several hours every Saturday morning.  Endangered Orchid Saved by Golfers (with apologies to the men in my family, who are avid golfers)