Pretty in White

 Out at the U of M Landscape Arboretum Monday there were some pretty cool sights. One of them was the spider you can barely see on the lower left of the peony.

If it weren't for the bee the spider caught you almost couldn't see it. That's pretty awesome camouflage

Here it is larger. Look at the perfect color match except for the red "v" on it's abdomen. I'm feeling sorry for the bee though.

Artic Frost

This is a violet grown by Terri. Note the giant flowers! The hand in the shot is for comparison purposes and those blooms are over three inches across.

Nice plant!!!

TASTY and Fun Too!

WEDNESDAY MAY 19th, 2010 Starting at 5:30 PM

Supper and meeting at the OLD COUNTRY BUFFET in FRIDLEY, MN.

This will be the leaf exchange and general good time get together. A nice meeting to come to if you are thinking of joining or want to check out the club. Everyone is welcome to bring a leaf or two to exchange and we're going to start a club experiment to see who can take a leaf from May, 19th and be the first to get it to bloom. We'll discuss starting techniques and culture at a meeting next fall/winter. Ten dollar prize for the winner!!!!

Email nasvctc@gmail.com for info, questions, directions, miscellaneous comments, etc.

How to Plant African Violet Seeds

Here's a "how to do it" for planting African Violet seeds. This is a seed pod from a "chimera" violet called Emerald City. It's got a green and white "chimera" or pinwheel pattern. Here's a visual set of photos about how to get the seed planted.

 Take a clear container from the deli and put in pre-moistened soil mix. Make super sure the mix is only moist, not soggy, drippy, sloppy or soaking.

 Gently pat the soil mix in place, but do not pack it down. A smoother surface makes finding the baby plants a little easier.

 Some people say that powered sphagnum moss will inhibit some fungal problems. It can't hurt and might help, so... rub some long fiber moss between your hands and make a powder out of it.

 Sprinkle the sphagnum moss lightly over the surface of the soil mix.

 This is a seed pod from 'Emerald City' African violet.

Note how small the seeds are when spilled from the open seed pod.

 This is an ordinary pencil and it is magnified SO much that you can see the wood fibers of the pencil clearly and yet the seed is still so tiny. Gesneriad seed is very, very small.

 Using a sheet of white paper (so you can see the seed as it falls) place seed onto the SURFACE of the moistened soil-dusted-with-sphagnum mix in the container. The seed needs light to germinate, so do not cover it or bury it.



Cover the deli box with it's lid. Label and date the box with a Sharpie marker. Put a couple of small air holes into the container. Small holes will allow air to be exchanged, but it won't allow the soil to dry out too fast.



The last photo is a shot of the seed as it looks sitting in it's pod. Think of how peas lay inside their pea-pod. These are just a ga-billion times littler.

Comment on this article please.

Violet Extraordinaire

How about this violet??? Violet enthusiast, Leah, took a regular "store" violet and turned it into a show plant! Excellent flat leaves and symmetry, really lovely blooms! 
 

Nicely done! Can't wait to see this (and more of it's friends) in the October show!

Before and After...

Ok, so I had to include the "after photo" from the previous situation.

I thought they made a lovely display. : )

Whoops

Whoops..... well, this is what happens when you leave the straw ON the winter hardy banana like they tell you to. "Don't uncover the banana till the last chance of frost is over."... "Don't freeze the crown of the banana in the spring."... blah, blah, blah.....



I guess the tulips thought they were planted extra deep. The are not planted in the straw.


Well, you may as well comment.

A "Crown" fit for a King.

How about these two lovely violets??? The bright coral pink of Kate's Rendezvous is highlighted by the pink variegation in the center of the plant. The purple fantasy, called Festival on Ice, also shows the dark outer leaves and the nicely contrasting inner leaves. This type of plant patterning, generously allowed to be photographed from Sharon's collection, is called "crown variegation".

According to the fine folks at Optimara, the crown variegation is defined as:
Crown Variegation: Characteristic of African Violets which develop variegated leaves on the crown. While all variegated cultivars will normally have crown variegation, the term most often applies to those African Violets which have crown variegation only, while the rest of the leaves remain completely green.

Variegated plants usually show the coloration better when grown in a cooler than average environment. Do you find this to be true? What about variegation do you like? Leave a comment.

Not Really a Plant but Where Interesting Plants Are...

Ok, so there isn't any chlorophyll involved with these two photos generally speaking, but while I was out looking for chlorophyll containing things to photograph FOR the blog this fine fellow was sitting about 10 feet away from us at the park. Note it's daytime and actually a little before supper time....

Quiz time, .... do you know what sort of owl this is? Make a comment. It's easy and the link is directly after this post. Just click on the word "comment". Photos enlarge by clicking on them also.

What's in Bloom Today

I thought it was a nice coincidence that the hibiscus that's been suffering from light deprivation for the last 7 months (since being brought in in late September) had five open double orange blooms on Easter morning!

Hopefully when it goes outside for the summer it won't sunburn too much. They have to have some time to adjust to the brighter outdoor light, or just like your skin, the leaves will burn - sometimes to the point of being so damaged that they will fall off. The plant has to send out new leaves then which takes energy from producing flowers.