The forget-me-nots have germinated around last Tuesday (2/19/08)and the coleus is fine. Aside from that not much else seemed to have done well in my extended weekend of absence. Have reseeded the chives. Not sure what to do about the feverfew...I guess I can try to plant some in a different container later? (How much seed do I have left? Do I have seeds left?)
Random: isoprenes are the compounds that are sort of at the division line between a plant's primary metabolism and its secondary metabolism.
20080227
20080215
Hmm
Feverfew has germinated. I think. (It's so tiny that it's hard to tell.)
We'll see.
Random: Chloroplasts in plants (and mitochondria in all eukaryotic cells too, for that matter) is believed to be a result of endosymbiosis where once upon a time, a larger bacteria (our modern day cell) swallowed a smaller bacteria (the mitochondria first, then some swallowed a chloroplast because they JUST DON'T LEARN -- kidding) and then instead of digesting it decided to keep it around as a pet. To do respiration and photosynthesis for it. So I guess that's more of a slave. Hm. I clearly am not thinking the analogy through far enough, but there have been molecular evidences that support this hypothesis.
We'll see.
Random: Chloroplasts in plants (and mitochondria in all eukaryotic cells too, for that matter) is believed to be a result of endosymbiosis where once upon a time, a larger bacteria (our modern day cell) swallowed a smaller bacteria (the mitochondria first, then some swallowed a chloroplast because they JUST DON'T LEARN -- kidding) and then instead of digesting it decided to keep it around as a pet. To do respiration and photosynthesis for it. So I guess that's more of a slave. Hm. I clearly am not thinking the analogy through far enough, but there have been molecular evidences that support this hypothesis.
20080213
More planted
Put in St. John's Wort, bee balm, and thyme today. Also, just for the heck of it, put in some columbine (music mix) and forget-me-not (blue bird).
Random info: The fail-safe way to tell apart a cycad and a palm tree is that the palm can flower and the cycad can't (it makes this cone-like thing).
Random info: The fail-safe way to tell apart a cycad and a palm tree is that the palm can flower and the cycad can't (it makes this cone-like thing).
20080210
More planting
The feverfew hasn't germinated at all, so I re-seeded it (and over-seeded the tiny pot, I might add) and watered it very thoroughly before sealing it off again with shrink-wrap (which I fail at, I am hopeless with thin films of plastic, it seems). No sign of Dracaena, though the coleus plants are doing great. Chives are still very spindly, if healthy. I won't have time to check up on the club garden until Wednesday, and then I may go and seed some morning glories if nothing else turns out to be germinating (because they're so hardy). If I get around to it I'll soak St. Johns Wort (Common) seeds tomorrow over night so I can plant it around Wednesday with bee balm (Marshall's Delight) and thyme (Olde English).
I brought back one of the three bunches of mint with me to Davis and hung it from the bulletin board. It makes me happy. I will probably have way too much dried mint in a few months so I might do free-mint mailing then. We'll see.
Random info of the day: all plant cells have cell walls, some have only primary cell walls, some have both primary and secondary cell walls. Primary cell wall material must be laid down first before secondary wall can be laid down (which is why you'd never see a plant cell with only secondary cell wall) and is ... one of my professors once described it as sort of paper-towel consistency. Secondary cell wall is much thicker. It's what we usually refer to as wood.
I brought back one of the three bunches of mint with me to Davis and hung it from the bulletin board. It makes me happy. I will probably have way too much dried mint in a few months so I might do free-mint mailing then. We'll see.
Random info of the day: all plant cells have cell walls, some have only primary cell walls, some have both primary and secondary cell walls. Primary cell wall material must be laid down first before secondary wall can be laid down (which is why you'd never see a plant cell with only secondary cell wall) and is ... one of my professors once described it as sort of paper-towel consistency. Secondary cell wall is much thicker. It's what we usually refer to as wood.
20080209
Further update
The red marking on the tape measure are the inches, the black markings are the centimeter.
Yes, Mike has grown.
The peas don't much look like they should be dead a month ago, do they?
The marigolds, gamely struggling on underneath all that spreading sweet peas (which will never bloom, I'm convinced, and I don't know why...yet).
Backyard competition
So I found where the daffodils that I planted two years ago went.
They got eaten by the geraniums.
The rain in the past few weeks have made everything in the backyard very green and luxurious (read: eager to devour each other and take over the left over space), and the geranium was starting to get ridiculously large. I was looking at how it was leaning over everything and shading out the hens and chicks and dill plants and my mother said, "Cut it down, it grows back really fast anyway, right?"
I said, "Okay!" And preceded to trim the huge, thicket-like bush back to the ground.
When I got back to within 4 inches of the ground I suddenly saw these timid monocot leaves peeping out from underneath, and they looked like the sort you'd get from floral bulbs. The ones I got / adopted of narcissi are further away and so I stared at them for a moment before realizing, out loud that "So THAT's where my daffodils went."
Mom laughed at me.
Annie's tomatoes (that her mom gave me last...spring) produced four more tomatoes.
I had to trim back some peas because parts of it that was growing in the shade are coming down with downy mildew.
There was lots of mint.
They got eaten by the geraniums.
The rain in the past few weeks have made everything in the backyard very green and luxurious (read: eager to devour each other and take over the left over space), and the geranium was starting to get ridiculously large. I was looking at how it was leaning over everything and shading out the hens and chicks and dill plants and my mother said, "Cut it down, it grows back really fast anyway, right?"
I said, "Okay!" And preceded to trim the huge, thicket-like bush back to the ground.
When I got back to within 4 inches of the ground I suddenly saw these timid monocot leaves peeping out from underneath, and they looked like the sort you'd get from floral bulbs. The ones I got / adopted of narcissi are further away and so I stared at them for a moment before realizing, out loud that "So THAT's where my daffodils went."
Mom laughed at me.
Annie's tomatoes (that her mom gave me last...spring) produced four more tomatoes.
I had to trim back some peas because parts of it that was growing in the shade are coming down with downy mildew.
There was lots of mint.
Mikey has grown
I went home yesterday and had a moment to inspect the backyard, where the peas (from last year) are covered in bloom and are completely oblivious to the fact that they've gone past their life span (but hey, you won't hear me complaining). The few radishes are done, I think, except for this weird giant thing at the back that might be a left-over turnip from I-don't-know-when that's decided to germinate and grow, somewhat belatedly.
The sweetpeas are taking over the marigolds. And the amaryllis. It needs trimming. Also, weeds are spreading along with lots and lots of alyssums. It's the "carpet of snow" cultivar and seems currently intent on taking over the east end of the garden. Also currently going through invasive growth is, unsurprisingly, my spearmint. The rain's washed it nice and clean though and it looks quite appetizing, so I'm going to trim off a whole bunch and dig up the roots there (when I take a break from my school work later) and limit the growth. The leaves I'll dry and there'll be fresh mint, all around.
I think the lavender preferred drier weather, but oh well, it's hardy, it'll deal.
The stuff indoors are doing fairly well too. Of the three cacti that are left, two are still living. The golden porthos that I've rescued from the dump two summers ago is still...doing it's curly, rambling thing. Mike's grown new leaves that are really large. The old ones are maybe about four inches in length, while the new leaves are longer than the length of my hand, from wrist to finger tip (and I've checked). They look kind of funny sticking out from the thin stem, which is still decidedly more twig-like than tree-like, but I expect some sort of a growth spurt within a year -- or at least, if I remembered to change it to a larger pot.
We still have carnations. They are still growing. They are slow, like the columbines, which I've given up all hopes of seeing them bloom, ever. (They've been there for what, three years?) Oh yes, and there's garlic and green onions, none of which are done growing yet, so I'm leaving them in the ground for a while longer.
The sweetpeas are taking over the marigolds. And the amaryllis. It needs trimming. Also, weeds are spreading along with lots and lots of alyssums. It's the "carpet of snow" cultivar and seems currently intent on taking over the east end of the garden. Also currently going through invasive growth is, unsurprisingly, my spearmint. The rain's washed it nice and clean though and it looks quite appetizing, so I'm going to trim off a whole bunch and dig up the roots there (when I take a break from my school work later) and limit the growth. The leaves I'll dry and there'll be fresh mint, all around.
I think the lavender preferred drier weather, but oh well, it's hardy, it'll deal.
The stuff indoors are doing fairly well too. Of the three cacti that are left, two are still living. The golden porthos that I've rescued from the dump two summers ago is still...doing it's curly, rambling thing. Mike's grown new leaves that are really large. The old ones are maybe about four inches in length, while the new leaves are longer than the length of my hand, from wrist to finger tip (and I've checked). They look kind of funny sticking out from the thin stem, which is still decidedly more twig-like than tree-like, but I expect some sort of a growth spurt within a year -- or at least, if I remembered to change it to a larger pot.
We still have carnations. They are still growing. They are slow, like the columbines, which I've given up all hopes of seeing them bloom, ever. (They've been there for what, three years?) Oh yes, and there's garlic and green onions, none of which are done growing yet, so I'm leaving them in the ground for a while longer.
20080204
20080202
The weather didn't pan out
It's going to rain today AND tomorrow, so our work day out in the club garden's been canceled (I'd say postponed, but the next time people can meet together is I-don't-know-when, so I'm going to say canceled). Currently, I'm also guessing that it means that the Central Park day's canceled also.
Chives are still growing, in all of their green, spindly glory. Neither the Dracaena or the coleus have germinated yet. The seeds I've been swapping on Garden Web finally came through and I received my seeds (traded in some poppies and about seven Dracaena seeds)! It's pretty exciting receiving the stuff in the mail. Now I have some feverfew (mailed from Rhode Island), St. John's wort, columbine (music mix cultivar, so what if they don't breed true? They're COLUMBINES), bee balm, cockscomb, blue flax, and bellflower (mailed from Georgia). I've been picking up a few tricks on soil amendments and square foot gardening, so there's plenty I can try out. Although I guess I won't really have time until Spring Break (and depending on the progression of my thesis, maybe not even then).
I can still start a few things indoor, though. A bit of the feverfew went into a pot (my last pot of reserve soil I have at Davis, oh noes) on Wednesday, and we'll see when it germinates.
Random info: ferulic acid is a part of lignocellulose that helps lignin crosslink (chemical interactions) with polysaccharides to increase the rigidity of cell walls. I.e., it's why seed coats are hard. It's also an antioxidant and I think some people do take like, though honestly I think vitamin C's probably more useful.
Chives are still growing, in all of their green, spindly glory. Neither the Dracaena or the coleus have germinated yet. The seeds I've been swapping on Garden Web finally came through and I received my seeds (traded in some poppies and about seven Dracaena seeds)! It's pretty exciting receiving the stuff in the mail. Now I have some feverfew (mailed from Rhode Island), St. John's wort, columbine (music mix cultivar, so what if they don't breed true? They're COLUMBINES), bee balm, cockscomb, blue flax, and bellflower (mailed from Georgia). I've been picking up a few tricks on soil amendments and square foot gardening, so there's plenty I can try out. Although I guess I won't really have time until Spring Break (and depending on the progression of my thesis, maybe not even then).
I can still start a few things indoor, though. A bit of the feverfew went into a pot (my last pot of reserve soil I have at Davis, oh noes) on Wednesday, and we'll see when it germinates.
Random info: ferulic acid is a part of lignocellulose that helps lignin crosslink (chemical interactions) with polysaccharides to increase the rigidity of cell walls. I.e., it's why seed coats are hard. It's also an antioxidant and I think some people do take like, though honestly I think vitamin C's probably more useful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)