- Author: Betty Homer
The latest exhibit at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco is on Aquascapes. The Conservatory defines an aquascape as "an ecosystem in which every living and non-living item contributes not only to the overall beauty to the aquarium, but also to the chemical and biological balance that allows the plants and animals to thrive."
Although I maintained aquariums as a child, the aquatic plants I included were mostly an aesthetic afterthought with little awareness towards creating an ecosystem. I learned from the exhibit that there was a whole movement beginning in the 1930s with the Dutch, devoted to designing aquascapes which can range anywhere from a 5 gallon tank to tanks holding many thousands of gallons of water. In the 1990s, a Japanese aquarist and photographer, Takashi Amano, elevated the art of the aquascape to a whole new level (google his name to view some of his amazing, awe-inspiring work).
The aquascapes featured in the exhibit, consisted of examples of fish and habitat from North America, South America/the Amazon, Africa, and Asia. However, unlike most botanical exhibits, the Aquascape exhibit was fairly light on education/information, which may be a relief to some; instead, visitors are invited to "imagine [themselves] . . .slowly floating through vibrant underwater forests, swaying with the hair grass, and sheltering in the towering sword plants."
One unusual aspect to this exhibit is that once it concludes, the general public has an opportunity to purchase the aquariums on display. You can begin by making those arrangements now, directly with the Conservatory if you are interested.
For more information, please see: http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/special-exhibits. The exhibit runs from now until April 12, 2015.
- Author: Cheryl A Potts
Soft, quiet morning fog
Gently covering.
Bringing wet to too dry plants
Washing my leaves and lawn.
Fog sheltering from early sun,
Dampening thirsty soil.
Gathering, and dripping down
Pretending to be rain.
- Author: Marian I Chmieleski
When I saw the hyacinth bulb this morning in my sister's kitchen, I thought of a poem I heard some years ago. How did that go? Off to the Internet, which, as it tends to do, led me to a whole garden of information.
When we think of hyacinths, what first comes to mind is the Dutch hyacinth, a collection of hybrids that come from Hyacinthus orientalis, which according to the Sunset Western Garden Book is a Mediterranean native. These beauties grow to about a foot tall; have tightly packed blooms in various colors from white, through pinks, salmons and blues to purple; and emit a wonderful perfume. They can be grown in all zones of the USA except Hawaii, but are treated as annuals except where winters are cold enough to really chill the bulbs.
Among other hyacinths are those native to the south of France (Hyacinthus orientalis albulus), which are smaller than the Dutch hybrids and do well year after year in zones 4-24 without needing a winter chill. There is also the wood hyacinth Hyacinthoides, (also known as bluebells)a taller plant with looser flower clusters. The Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica /Scilla campanulata) is the only wood hyacinth that does well in our California lowlands. And finally, we have the grape hyacinth (Hyacinthella azurea/Muscari azureum), which is actually from a different genus entirely (Asparagaceae). The grape hyacinth can successfully be naturalized and will pop up year after year in your garden as a happy little harbinger of spring.
The name hyacinth has a very interesting legend behind it. According to Greek mythology, Hyacinthus was a beautiful young god and lover of Apollo. As the two were out throwing the discus one day, Hyacinthus decided to impress Apollo by running and catching Apollo's throw. (Please note, the discus is not a Frisbee, but rather a 4.4-pound stone disc thrown in field competitions.) As Hyacinthus attempted to catch the stone, it hit him in the head and killed him. A variation on this theme is that Zephyrus, god of the west wind, was also enamored of Hyacinthus and jealous of his relationship with Apollo. It was Zephyrus' blowing of the discus off its intended course then that caused it to kill Hyacinthus. Either way, Apollo, in his grief, made a flower of Hyacinthus' blood so that he would never be completely lost.
A curious aside: Mozart's first opera was Apollo et Hyacinthus. The young composer was 11 years old when he wrote it.
And, oh, yes! The poem....
"If, of thy mortal goods, thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and from the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed the soul."
-Muslihuddin Sadi,
13th Century Persian Poet
You will find hyacinths now in your garden nursery or catalog.
- Author: Mike Gunther
Life's yearly fresh start
Nature's rebirth soon occurs
Optimism abounds
- Author: Kathy Low
About once a year, usually during spring, the county will send out workers with their heavy roadside equipment to mow the weeds along rural roads in the area. But with the benefit of having the weeds mowed comes a downside. The mechanical mower has a bad habit of unintentionally spreading weed seeds from one location to another. Unfortunately a wide patch of whitestem filaree (Erodium moschatum) is now growing on my property near the road.
Filaree (Erodium spp.) is a low growing weed found throughout most of the state. Whitestem filaree, redstem filaree (Erodium cicutarium) and broadleaf filaree (Erodium botrys) are some of the species growing in Solano. They are often found in vineyards, orchards, pastures, fields, and along roadsides.
Young filaree plants grow in a flat rosette pattern. Mature plants bear small flowers in the center of the rosette generally from February through May. The flowers are then followed by long thin pods that eventually burst open to eject thin long seeds.
Filaree propagates by seed. So it's important not to let them go to seed. Which means I'll be spending a lot of time outdoors pulling those darn weeds!
You can find out more information about filaree at UC Weed Research and Information Center website at www.wric.ucdavis.edu.
