Cymbidium for Christmas

Today, a few days before Christmas, the weather turned very cold. The high today is expected to be -6F. Like other fool-hardy Minnesotans I ventured out to the greenhouse to fulfill my appointed duties. However, when I arrived there, only Curator J.. was in the building. He asked if I would stay and do a bit of sweeping, which I did for about two hours. There wasn’t a lot of debris under the benches, but every bench had a little bit. So the benches in all four collection rooms needed attention. I also swept the workroom.

I have to state the floors of the greenhouse look much tidier since J’s arrival, thanks in part to a leaf blower recently introduced to the greenhouse. He has made a significant effort to get pots up off of the floors onto low benches. The floors clearly are being washed more frequently compared to before his arrival. It is important for the greenhouse because it reduces the biomass on the floor for the proliferation of pests and fungus, which then spread to the plants in the collection, particularly if their pot is sitting directly on the floor.

Next week, I’ll contact A...to ensure there is enough for me to do on the 29th.

A plant that was particularly beautiful today was a cymbidium orchid in full bloom. The plant was approximately 4 feet in diameter and height. There were several flower spikes, each bearing half-dozen open blossoms, and as many buds. The blossoms were each 2 inches in size, with pale green petals bearing reddish-brown spots. The blossoms were not particularly showy, blending into the background foliage. But they were perfectly formed on closer inspection. Gorgeous!

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Rebuilding the support for vanilla vines

Raining in February The morning began with a walk in the rain from my car to the Conservatory greenhouses - in the month of February. According to the calendar, we should be in the depths of winter. The precipitation today should be snow not rain. The storm system that we're experiencing is probably related to drenching rains moving inland from the west coast. I met Coordinator A... at the door of the Conservatory. His office desk faces one of the main doors to the building. He cannot escape observing everyone who enters...poor guy, it must be distracting for him. Anyway, as soon as I entered the building we started to discuss his plan for my activity of the morning. He offered me the project of rebuilding the support for vanilla vines which have been suffering from overexposure to sunlight and dry air. A bit of background The vanilla plant (Vanilla planifolia) is in the orchid family. It is native to Central America and Mexico. The seed pods were used by the Aztecs to flavor coc

Frankincense and Myrtle: Fragrant Treasures

If you were raised in the Christian religion, you've probably heard of frankincense and myrrh. But, do you know much about them, beyond being fragrant commodities as precious as gold? Until today, I could not have described frankincense, myrrh, or citronella. But, by the time I was finished with my volunteer shift at the U of M Conservatory greenhouse I knew more about them. However, I will have to wait for another time to actually see a myrrh tree. I'm not sure if the Conservatory has a myrrh tree. I do know myrrh is in the Burseraceae family, the same family as the frankincense tree. They are not in the myrtle family as the name would suggest. The myrtles (or Myrtaceae) are the gum trees of the Australasia, one which gives us citronella (see below). Maintenance of small trees The day's duties assigned to me were to provide general light maintenance to a group of small trees located in the desert and subtropical rooms of the greenhouse. Maintenance included pruning and mak

Infection control in the Conservatory, from mundane to amazing

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