Nature, Gardens & Flowers

[CaaC (John)+]

Had a good search and could not find a thread on gardening and from what I have seen in TF365 members like @Bluewolf likes gardening by reading his gardening project thread which won him the best TF365 2018 Post of the year.

I live in a second-floor flat so all we have is pot plants but over the years where we lived in a house with a garden, I was an avid gardener and enjoyed going outside doing a bit of gardening with the wife as she grew up with her grandad doing a lot of gardening, I have just seen this when surfing the net so I will put it in here to start this 'Garden & Flowers thread off. 

  Biggest bloom: 'world's largest' flower spotted in Indonesia

© Handout The bloom of the giant Rafflesia tuan-mudae only lasts about one week before it withers and rots

Indonesian conservationists say they've spotted the biggest specimen ever of what's already been billed as one of the world's largest flowers.

The giant Rafflesia tuan-mudae -- a fleshy red flower with white blister-like spots on its enormous petals -- came in at a whopping 111 centimetres (3.6 foot) in diameter.

That's bigger than the previous record of 107 centimetres on a bloom also found in the jungles of West Sumatra several years ago.

"This is the largest Rafflesia tuan-mudae that has ever been documented," said Ade Putra at the Agam Conservation Agency in Sumatra.

© Handout The giant Rafflesia tuan-mudae grows in several Southeast Asian countries

The flower's bloom will only last about one week before it will wither and rot, he added.

It was named Rafflesia after British colonialist Sir Stamford Raffles who spotted one in Indonesia in the early 19th Century.

The species grows in several Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines where a 100-centimetre specimen was recorded.

The parasitic bloom sometimes referred to as corpse flower, mimics the stench of rotting meat to attract insects.

Sharing that noxious smell is Indonesia's Amorphophallus titanum, a phallus-shaped flower that can reach heights of up to three metres (10 feet).

Related Slideshow: 16 of the rarest flowers on earth (Provided by Photo Services)

SLIDES - 1/16

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/biggest-bloom-worlds-largest-flower-spotted-in-indonesia/ar-BBYzEQp

 

[Stan]

I hear @Carnivore Chris @Teso dos Bichos like to tend to their weed collections every now and then

[Stan]

9 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said:

TR365 post of the year

By the way, you realise it's TF365 right ?!

[CaaC (John)+]

7 minutes ago, Stan said:

By the way, you realise it's TR365 right ?!

Err...what...where     

[nudge+]

9 minutes ago, Stan said:

By the way, you realise it's TF365 right ?!

Easy to remember too. Talk Flowers 365 right?

[CaaC (John)+]

11 minutes ago, Stan said:

I hear @Carnivore Chris @Teso dos Bichos like to tend to their weed collections every now and then

I can't remember if this is Teso or Chris?  

[nudge+]

Love gardens; currently living in an apartment so don't have one (but working on a nice herb garden in the balcony at the moment). Had a nice small garden at our last place together with a bigger communal garden for everyone.

 

[CaaC (John)+]

2 minutes ago, nudge said:

Love gardens; currently living in an apartment so don't have one (but working on a nice herb garden in the balcony at the moment). Had a nice small garden at our last place together with a bigger communal garden for everyone.

Love the photos, I miss my garden really, I will see if I can dig up some old photos of our garden in the past. 

[CaaC (John)+]

1st photo was around 1984 and the rest around 1993, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, I loved my garden, the son & daughter were at college then in 93.

 

 

 

  

[CaaC (John)+]

Peru to plant one million trees around Machu Picchu

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra launched a campaign on Thursday to reforest the Machu Picchu archaeological site in order to protect it from mudslides and forest fires.

Vizcarra has pledged to plant one million trees in the 35,000-hectare protected archaeological complex that features the stunning Inca citadel.

"We're here to begin the planting of a million trees in the protected zone around the Machu Picchu sanctuary," said Vizcarra.

The Machu Picchu estate -- which includes three distinct areas for agriculture, accommodation and religious ceremonies -- is the most iconic site from the Inca empire that ruled a large swathe of western South America for 100 years before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.

Vizcarra said the ambitious target of one million trees is "a commitment from the government, the region, the municipality and all the citizens who want to protect this world wonder."

Environment ministry specialists evoked the need to plant trees to protect not only the sanctuary but also the protected ecological area's fauna and flora.

The area is at risk of mudslides due to heavy rainfall in winter and forest fires in summer.

It's the second such measure taken in the last eight months to protect Peru's most popular tourist destination.

In May, Peru announced a restriction to three key areas of the site to prevent greater degradation: the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Condor and the Intihuatana Stone.

Back in 2017, Peru limited visitor numbers to just under 6,000 a day in two waves.

Machu Picchu, which means "old mountain" in the Quechua language indigenous to the area, is at the top of a lush mountain and was built during the reign of the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438-1471).

It lies around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Andean city of Cusco, the old Inca capital in southeastern Peru.

It was rediscovered in 1911 by the American explorer Hiram Bingham. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1983.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/peru-to-plant-one-million-trees-around-machu-picchu/ar-BBYNUAZ

[CaaC (John)+]

 

Predatory worm with hundreds of eyes wreaks havoc on gardens after invading the UK

A predatory worm from Argentina is invading the UK and could wreak havoc with farms and gardens.

The flatworm Obama nungara, up to three inches long and covered in hundreds of tiny eyes, has already started eating snails and earthworms in mainland Europe.

Soil without earthworms is less fertile and more prone to flooding.

A study led by Professor Jean-Lou Justine of the Natural History Museum in Paris found the worm in 530 European locations.

He said the worm was “a potential threat to the biodiversity and ecology of the soils in Europe”.

It is thought to be spread by the potted plant trade.

The charity Buglife says it is one of 19 pest flatworm species in Europe.

The worm was first seen in Europe on Guernsey in 2008, but has spread through France and into Spain and has also been confirmed at a number of locations in the UK.

It was first seen on the mainland in 2016 crawling out of soil from a Heuchera plant at a garden centre in Oxfordshire.

Lead Professor Jean-Lou Justine, a zoologist at the Natural History Museum in Paris, said: "To date, the presence of Obama nungara has been occasionally recorded from several countries in Europe, including Spain, Portugal, UK, Italy, and Belgium.

"However, in none of these countries has a study of the extent of the occurrence of O. nungara been performed."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/predatory-worm-with-hundreds-of-eyes-wreaks-havoc-on-gardens-after-invading-uk/ar-BBZJPQ5?li=AAnZ9Ug#image=1

[CaaC (John)+]

29 Plants You Should Always Grow Side-by-Side

SLIDES - 1/12

Step back in time to embrace some gardening wisdom your grandparents may have practised: The concept of companion planting, or planting combinations of specific plants for their mutual benefit. "The theory behind companion planting is that certain plants may help each other take up nutrients, improve pest management, or attract pollinators," says Tom Maloney, horticulture educator for Penn State Extension. "Some research, such as how to attract beneficial insects like lacewings to the garden to fight pests, has been studied, so we know it's effective. We're still researching other aspects of companion planting."

While you're planning your companion garden, consider making your yard more inviting to some other friends by including flowers that attract hummingbirds or flowers that attract butterflies. Make the space appealing to the younger members of your family by including the best plants for kids or even a whimsical fairy garden. Add some pretty and practical structure to the garden with garden fence ideas. Don't forget to make space for some of the best flowers that bloom in summer. But be sure to set aside some space, whether it's a small plot or a raised bed, to try out these common-sense companion combinations in your garden. Then sit back and reap the benefits.

[CaaC (John)+]

Barnard College’s Corpse Flower Just Bloomed for the First Time Ever—Watch It Here

If someone’s talking about a corpse flower or Amorphophallus titanum, there’s a good chance they’ll end up mentioning one or all of these characteristics: It’s phallic, it smells atrocious, and it might only bloom about once a decade.

Earlier this week, Barnard College’s corpse flower unfurled for the first time ever, and you can watch its slow progress in real-time on the YouTube live stream below. This particular specimen was given to Barnard’s Arthur Ross Greenhouse by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Horticulture Department in 2013, and it’s named “Berani,” after the Indonesian word for brave—a nod to the species’ native region of Sumatra, Indonesia.

In previous years, the greenhouse staff has watched the potato-like tuber sprout into a tall, leafy structure—each taller than the last, with the most recent one measuring about 12 feet—hoping that next time, they’d get to watch it blossom into a flower instead. When Berani began to shoot up again this spring, they noticed it looked different, and by the time it was nearly 3 feet tall, they could confirm that the swollen spathe would soon unsheath a beautiful, putrid flower.

Since the coronavirus pandemic prevented them from inviting the public to see Berani blossom in person, greenhouse administrator Nick Gershberg and his colleagues have documented the process on the greenhouse’s Instagram account (as well as the live stream), and they’re planning to release a time-lapse video soon.

Gershberg tells Mental Floss that the flower reached its peak on Sunday night, May 31, at which point it measured 72 inches tall and 44 inches wide. And, true to its reputation, the corpse flower-filled the room with a heavy stench that initially smelled like a dead rat. As the flower heated itself up to a temperature about 12 degrees warmer than the room—a respiration process called thermogenesis—Gershberg detected other recognizable scents, including dead fish, Camembert cheese that’s been left out overnight, and the odour of slightly decayed lilies. After the flower’s temperature came back down, it settled into a much more pleasant smell: a freshly-gutted pumpkin.

The corpse flower gets its name because its odour is often compared to that of a corpse, but Gershberg’s experience suggests that the association might be more in our heads than anything else.

“It was only when I went on the mental expedition of happening upon [the smell] in a jungle and thinking, ‘Oh my god, that’s a dead body,’ that it was actually nauseating. At that point, it was very nauseating,” he explains. “But as soon as I stopped thinking about it as, like, ‘Oh this is a dead body, or maybe dead person, even,’ then it didn’t have that effect. So it was interesting to see how in the face of this extreme odour, so much of it was really psychological, as far as whether I thought it was a good smell or a bad smell.”

Since a corpse flower only blooms for about 48 hours, Berani will soon begin to wither, and it’ll eventually fall over and separate from its base. After the roots die, the only thing left will be what Gershberg describes as “a 40-pound, beach ball-sized potato.” The team will remove it from the pot, clean it, inspect it for any infections, replant it, and wait for the now-dormant tuber to send up a new leaf, which will likely happen sometime in the next three to six months.

According to Gershberg, the experience of seeing the corpse flower bloom in all its majestic glory fundamentally changes how you view its usual tuber and leaves.

“It’s like when you see someone do karaoke and you’re like, ‘My God, that person can really sing,’ and you never quite look at them the same way again,” he says. “You’re like, ‘There’s actually a superstar in that head of accounting over there.’”

To help them remember just how big of a superstar Berani really is—and give the public a chance to see it for themselves in the future—the Barnard team is hoping to preserve some of it as a flower pressing. While you’re waiting to see what that looks like, you can learn more about corpse flowers here.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/barnard-colleges-corpse-flower-just-bloomed-for-the-first-time-ever—watch-it-here/ar-BB14WAHA

[CaaC (John)+]

@Bluewolf ,  yes or no?

Quote

Even a ‘tiny patch of nature’ in a front garden reduces stress and makes people happier

Adding just a few plants to a bare front garden can lower stress levels and help people feel happier, research suggests.

Researchers introduced ornamental plants such as juniper, azaleas, clematis, lavender, daffodil bulbs, and petunias into small bare front yards in economically deprived streets in Salford, Greater Manchester.

The study by the Royal Horticultural Society and the universities of Sheffield, Westminster, and Virginia in the US then measured the stress levels of residents taking part in the scheme and asked them how they felt.

Some 42 residents with 38 gardens were involved in the study, with one group starting a year later to act as a control group.

Residents could each receive one tree, one shrub, one climber, and enough smaller plants, bulbs, and bedding plants to fill two containers. They were not required to look after the plants, as the containers were “self-watering” with a 22-liter in-built reservoir of water, but they were encouraged to take part in gardening their plot, with help from the RHS advisory team.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/even-a-tiny-patch-of-nature-in-a-front-garden-reduces-stress-and-makes-people-happier/

 

[Bluewolf]

9 hours ago, CaaC (John) said:

@Bluewolf ,  yes or no?

 

I don't know about lowering stress to be honest... Our front garden is a bit lifeless to to be frank, got the motorbikes out there, ( 4 now ) and we have a bit that slopes down to the path and no matter how many times me and the missus discuss what to do with it we can never agree on anything... If it was up to me I would just grow tons of Lavender plants out there because the bees love it... but she hates lavender just as much as she hates my bramble bush... It's a war of wills.. I do find watching the wildlife relaxing though, seeing hundreds of bees flocking to and from my bramble bush each year fills me with great satisfaction... 

[CaaC (John)+]

16 hours ago, Bluewolf said:

It's a war of wills.. I do find watching the wildlife relaxing though, seeing hundreds of bees flocking to and from my bramble bush each year fills me with great satisfaction... 

I had that in a garden down Southend way with a big bush at the end of the garden and loads of bees darting backwards and forwards and around our rose bushes, somedays I would just sit there on a deck chair on a warm day supping wine or lagers watching them and even falling asleep as It was so relaxing, even a cat we had sleeping under a bush.

 

 

 

[CaaC (John)+]

The banyan tree looks odd for a reason

Genomic study reveals the secrets of those aerial roots.

The banyan tree (Ficus macrocarpa) is known for its rather odd appearance, thanks to the ability to sprout roots from branches that eventually reach the soil.

Perhaps less well known is that it, like others in the Ficus species, has co-evolved with the wasp that pollinates it. The size and shape of wasps correspond exactly to those of the fig fruits, and each fig species creates a unique perfume to attract that wasp.

Now researchers in the US and China think they know how and why this happens. Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s all about the genome.

In a paper in the journal Cell, a team led by Ray Ming form the University of Illinois and Jin Chen, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, describes its analysis of the banyan tree, its pollinating wasp, and a related fig tree, Ficus hispida.

Unlike F. microcarpa, which produces aerial roots and bears male and female flowers on the same tree, F. hispida produces distinct male and female trees and no aerial roots.

“When we sequenced the trees’ genomes, we found more segmental duplications in the genome of the banyan tree than in F. hispida, the fig without the aerial roots,” Ming says. “Those duplicated regions account for about 27% of the genome.”

The duplications were found to increase the number of genes involved in the synthesis and transport of auxins, a class of hormones that promote plant growth. Duplicated regions also contained genes involved in plant immunity, nutrition and the production of volatile organic compounds that signal pollinators.

“The levels of auxin in the aerial roots are five times higher than in the leaves of trees with or without aerial roots,” Ming says, adding that the elevated auxin levels appear to have triggered aerial root production. The duplicated regions also include genes that code for a light receptor that accelerates auxin production.

When they turned to the fig wasp and compared it with related wasps, the researchers observed that it was retaining and preserving genes for odorant receptors that detect the same smelly compounds the fig trees produce – a likely signal of co-evolution.

They also report discovering a Y chromosome-specific gene that is expressed only in male plants of F. hispida and three other fig species that produce separate male and female plants, a condition known as dioecy.

“This gene had been duplicated twice in the dioecious genomes, giving the plants three copies of the gene. But Ficus species that have male and female flowers together on one plant have only one copy of this gene,” Ming says. “This strongly suggests that this gene is a dominant factor affecting sex determination.”

Understanding this evolutionary history is important, the researchers say, because the ability to produce large fruits in a variety of habitats makes Ficus a keystone species in most tropical forests.

https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/plants/the-banyan-tree-looks-odd-for-a-reason/

[CaaC (John)+]

Quote

Gardeners may have one gene to thank

Study pinpoints the cause of flower diversity.

The huge variety of flowers we know has made them seem very complex, but there may be a relatively simple reason why they look so different.

A team led by Yuzhou Zhang of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria has found that a single family of genes, known as PIN-FORMED (PIN) auxin transporters, is important in helping multiple plant organs grow – and could be largely responsible for the origin of flowering plants.

These genes appear to have experienced three major evolutionary events, which likely contributed to the vast array of modern plant shapes, they explain in a paper in the journal Science Advances.

Determining this was a multi-step process. The team first introduced mutant genes into Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant commonly used in research. They found that the genes regulated the growth of the stem, stalk and flower clusters and, in particular, the formation of flowers. Plants suffered without them.

To check exactly how this happened, they traced the amount of auxin – an important plant hormone – in plants with and without PIN genes. They found that the PIN proteins helped move auxin to specific parts of plant organs, such as the root tip, to help them grow best.

Arabidopsis is an angiosperm: one of a group of flowering plants that evolved from non-flowering plants about 135 million years ago and now accounts for about 80% of living plants. Until recently, how and why these plants started flowering was relatively unknown.

To understand this, Zhang and colleagues put Arabidopsis PIN genes into other plants to see if they could still function.

First, they established that root PIN genes worked in almost every plant group except for algae. This meant that the genes were old and had occurred very early in evolution when plants began evolving to live on land.

Then they traced which plants could use PIN genes to form the inflorescence: the cluster of branches on which flowers or seeds will grow. These genes worked in vascular plants, which have a xylem to transport water from their roots up to their leaves. Vascular plants include plants that grow flowers and cones.

Last, they found that the flower-controlling PINs worked only in angiosperms to control the shape and number of petals and pollen-making organs.

Hence three potential evolutionary events gave PIN genes three functions. First, they evolved to help land plants grow roots. Second, they evolved a function in vascular plants to influence the arrangement of flowers and seeds. Finally, they evolved a third function to change the shape of flowers.

Altogether, this means that PIN genes may have been a major reason why we see so many different roots, stems, petals and flower arrangements. PIN genes in angiosperms had all three organ development functions, but other plants had only one or two.

“Therefore, we proposed that this extensive diversification of PIN molecular properties and their different expression patterns enables the PIN gene family to acquire a variety of developmental roles in flowering plants, and thus contributes to the establishment of their complex architecture,” the authors write in their paper.

However, further genomic and bioinformatic data is needed to determine the exact evolutionary history of this diverse gene family.

https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/plants/gardeners-may-have-one-gene-to-thank/

 

[Carnivore Chris]

On 07/02/2020 at 10:56, CaaC (John) said:

Predatory worm with hundreds of eyes wreaks havoc on gardens after invading the UK

A predatory worm from Argentina is invading the UK and could wreak havoc with farms and gardens.

The flatworm Obama nungara, up to three inches long and covered in hundreds of tiny eyes, has already started eating snails and earthworms in mainland Europe.

Soil without earthworms is less fertile and more prone to flooding.

A study led by Professor Jean-Lou Justine of the Natural History Museum in Paris found the worm in 530 European locations.

He said the worm was “a potential threat to the biodiversity and ecology of the soils in Europe”.

It is thought to be spread by the potted plant trade.

The charity Buglife says it is one of 19 pest flatworm species in Europe.

The worm was first seen in Europe on Guernsey in 2008, but has spread through France and into Spain and has also been confirmed at a number of locations in the UK.

It was first seen on the mainland in 2016 crawling out of soil from a Heuchera plant at a garden centre in Oxfordshire.

Lead Professor Jean-Lou Justine, a zoologist at the Natural History Museum in Paris, said: "To date, the presence of Obama nungara has been occasionally recorded from several countries in Europe, including Spain, Portugal, UK, Italy, and Belgium.

"However, in none of these countries has a study of the extent of the occurrence of O. nungara been performed."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/predatory-worm-with-hundreds-of-eyes-wreaks-havoc-on-gardens-after-invading-uk/ar-BBZJPQ5?li=AAnZ9Ug#image=1

 

@Berserker  I bet these would be a deadly live bait for fishing

[Berserker]

15 hours ago, Carnivore Chris said:

 

@Berserker  I bet these would be a deadly live bait for fishing

That looks fucking digusting, like a fucking slug, i wouldn't touch that with my hand even if you promised me i could catch a white whale.

[CaaC (John)+]

Quote

Brown stink bug among 'future threats' to gardens

Gardeners are being urged to be on alert for the stink bug insect and other pests set to arrive in the UK.

The brown marmorated stink bug has been spotted at three places in England so far, but experts are warning that it may become more widespread.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said gardeners should be on their guard for the insect.

It could appear alongside more familiar animals such as slugs, snails and the box tree caterpillar.

Andy Salisbury, a principal entomologist at the RHS, said the pests and diseases that gardeners commonly face on their plots have fluctuated over the last 25 years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56366107

 

[CaaC (John)+]

Quote

Bee-ware of Australia’s most dangerous animal

Snakes, spiders, ticks, jellyfish – Australia is home to a lot of dangerous critters. But the animal that sends the most people to the hospital every year due to a venomous sting or bite is in fact the humble bee.

A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) found that in 2017–18, 3500 Australians were hospitalised due to contact with a venomous animal or plant – with a quarter of these due to bee stings.

“The majority of hospitalisations for bee stings were due to allergic reactions, with bees and wasps responsible for 12 of the 19 deaths related to venomous bites and stings in 2017–18,” explains James Harrison from AIHW and Flinders University in Adelaide.

Spider bites, on the other hand, accounted for 19% of cases (half of which were caused by redbacks) and venomous snakes accounted for 17%. The remaining seven of 19 deaths during this period were due to snake bites.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, as Harrison notes, “residents of the very remote regions of Australia had the highest rate of hospitalisations (49 cases per 100,000) while the lowest rate was observed for residents of the major cities of Australia (9 cases per 100,000)”.

Plants set themselves a “bedtime” alarm

Australian and UK scientists have discovered that plants possess a metabolic signal that acts like a bedtime alarm, adjusting the plant’s circadian rhythm to ensure it has enough energy to survive through the night.

When exposed to sunlight, plants create sugars through photosynthesis and then store them for use through the night. This new study, published in PNAS, suggests the metabolic “alarm” signal could tell the plant how much sugar is available at dusk so it knows how to adjust the metabolism in the evening.

The researchers figured this out by looking at seedlings and finding a specific set of genes that are active in the evening, including genes that are key to a plant’s circadian clock. The genes are regulated by a molecule called superoxide – and when the team inhibited its production, they observed that it also inhibited the effect of sugar on the circadian clock genes in the evening.

“Distinguishing the effects of light and sugars in photosynthetic cells is challenging,” says co-author Ian Graham from the University of York in the UK.

“Our data suggest a new role for superoxide as a rhythmic sugar-related signal which acts in the evening and affects circadian gene expression and growth.”

https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/plants/you-may-have-missed-7/

 

[Carnivore Chris]

Some nice Cactus:-

[Toinho]

Trying to get my front lawn under control, weeded the garden beds with the roses in and agapanthus the other day, bit of effort my front garden - back is mainly self containable as in I don’t have to do much except clear to leaves and branches, and mow the lawn. Big space, great for when the girls get older. However, I have two patches of own at the front and the front front lawn has a different type of grass which has taken over and literally grows the fastest I’ve ever seen any grass grow ever. Mowed it a few days ago and it’s borderline mental already - except one patch I need to revive. Fun times. 

[Carnivore Chris]

@MUFC