City Gardener

Posts

Parachute Flower

My assignment for today was to tie back the drooping branches of three different species of trees: the frankincense tree, the pincushion hakea, and the ben-tree, Moringa peregrina . For tools I had zip ties, plastic tubing and nylon cord. It was not glamorous work, but necessary for the future growth of these small trees. Otherwise they would continue to grow in misshapen forms. Afterwards, I took a few more photos of this parachute flower, Ceropegia sandersonii , which I wrote about in my last blog post. Parachute flower, Ceropegia sandersonii

Sharp Spray of Water

Nearing the end of August, we're on the downhill slope of summer in Minnesota. Today is the beginning of the great Minnesota get together - the Minnesota State Fair. I am not a frequent or enthusiastic fair-goer. Large crowds and long lines make me feel anxious. I mention it only because the fairgrounds are adjacent to the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus, where I volunteer. Today on my bicycle ride to the greenhouse I passed hundreds of cars headed to the parking lots near the fairgrounds. Cycling faster than the traffic was easy since the streets around the fairgrounds were largely grid-locked with cars inching along. Thankfully, the drivers maintained their cool and avoided the temptation to drive in the bike lane - as witnessed last year. I was able to scoot past them and arrive at the greenhouse intact. My main assignment was climb up on a ladder and use a standard garden hose to spray the leaves of four small trees. The goal was to dislodge insect pests of various typ

Betalain and Anthocyanin, Medicinal Red Pigments

It was an honor and a pleasure to spend the first hour of my volunteer shift attending the doctoral dissertation of now-Dr. Alex Crum. She was the first person to show me the ropes of watering plants at the University of Minnesota's Conservatory Botanical Collection. In July 2021, as the covid-19 lockdown was beginning to end, and volunteers were allowed back into service at the greenhouse. I was happy to be one of them. Dr. A was gracious and patient with my first day of instruction as a volunteer. Since then, Dr. A has completed her Ph.D. thesis, studying - the the best of my understanding - the chemical and ethnobotanical details of the compound betalain. This red-colored chemical is made by a limited number of plants in the plant kingdom - specifically, they are made in the carnation family of Caryophyllaceae. But when betalian is present, those plants tend to be used by humans all over the world for medicinal purposes. Examples of betalian-rich plants include amaranthus (anti-

Tending Vines

Today I returned for my volunteer shift at the greenhouse of the Conservatory Botanical Collection at the University of Minnesota (St. Paul Campus). My assignment was to tend potted vining plants. In pots of various size, ranging from 6 to 24 inches, the vines have been trained to grow up onto either cables or trellises for support. During my shift, which today lasted three and a half hours, I was able to clean and prune approximately a dozen of the vines. Since the vines are growing on supports which cannot be moved or taken down, one of the challenges is to reach the top of the vine for cleaning and pruning. Many of the vines reach heights of about 10 feet off the floor. Necessarily, a tall ladder had to be used to access the growing business end of the plants. I was able to arrange a couple of side-by-side ladders so that I could balance a bucket of soapy water on the top of one ladder, and myself on the other ladder. Some of the vines were quite soiled by sooty black mold and scale

Orchid Maintenance Up in the Rafters

Many species of orchids are epiphytic, meaning the live up in the trees. The University of Minnesota Conservatory greenhouse has one remarkable example of an orchid in this sort of habitat. This particular vanda orchid has lived for many years in a 3 x 3 ft wooden basket. In 2019 the plant was moved from the old greenhouse and hoisted up into the rafters of the tropical room of the new greenhouse. It has continued to grow to weight of approximately 50 lbs. The orchid has several branches growing out from the root ball, each branch measuring up to 3 feet in length. After so many years of growth, the root ball has begun to rot and collapse. Today's chore was to help the greenhouse staff to assemble ladders and gather equipment to remove the old orchid and replace it with cuttings from the old plant, now in a new basket. As the staff cut apart the old orchid, large sections of the orchid fell to the floor. The cuttings were free for the taking since they were to be disposed of in the

Deep Cleaning in the Greenhouse

When cleaning my home or work space doing the drains is the dirtiest chore on the list. Almost all of the dirt and grime funnels down through the drain. If the drain is clogged, civilization as we know it, stops. Today my task was to clean window sills and ...drains. The University of Minnesota Conservatory Greenhouse, where I've been volunteering, continues its summer push to deep clean the surfaces and plants to help keep them free of pests and diseases. Integral to a thorough job of cleaning includes lifting the drain grates and flushing out the accumulated soil and organic muck (dead leaves, seeds, etc.). Hiding out of sight under the grates, the muck is potentially a fertile reservoir of pest eggs and bacteria. There were approximately a dozen drains in the four greenhouses of the Conservatory. Each drain consists of a heavy cast cast-iron basket covered by a round iron grill. I lifted, brushed, and washed each component. While I was working from drain to drain, I spotted