Dot-com Address

MasteringHorticulture.com

Yes, Mastering Horticulture now has a dot-com address.  Basically, the old one remains but this easier-to-remember  address points to the same website.   

Thanks to my husband who thought of getting this domain name for me. :)

Regretful but Joyful

It has been almost two weeks since Mastering Horticulture was updated.  There was a severe lack time on my part; gardening was pushed in the back burner.  My daughter graduated from high school and we had relatives and friends who came share our joys.  It was a reunion of many relatives.  As everyone would know, before any serious celebration can happen preparation has to be done.  Most of my time was spent in making sure that the there was enough food for several days, towels and bed sheets were washed,  the chandeliers were dusted (I missed some cobwebs) and the baseboards were cleaned.

Regrets.  The garden was not spruced up.  And it happened that our guests came and some of them stayed for a couple of days.  As usual, people came into the house, walked towards the kitchen and out into the patio without even stopping by the living room.  People seem to be attracted to the backyard.  There must be something there that pulls them out from the house.  I cringe as I watch them, from inside the house setting the table, see all the weedy parts of the yard, the yellowish unfertilized tomatoes, the roses that needed dead-heading and the annual plants that I was planning to plant.  I regretted that I did not have the chance to make the garden look spiffy. :(

 

 

Thoughts.  So I thought...  What are gardens anyway?  A garden is like a canvass where one plays the role of an artist or creator.  A design is made either on a piece of paper or in the mind.  We translate our desire things grow and position them accordingly.  We even manipulate the way they behave and control the resources that they get.  Sometimes we are generous to some plants and hold back on some.  We protect the plants from harm as much as we can and pluck out the caterpillars that threaten them.   Unlike a still art, a garden involves life - and life involves change.  A true garden is a work in progress.  It is a relationship between the three key players:  the gardener, the plants, and the environment.  Unless it is made of plastic and silk plants, a garden is never finished.  It continues to progress and progress require maintenance. 

 

Conclusion.  The garden looks the way it looks because of the interaction of the three key players.  For example, the roses (plants) bloomed and I (gardener) was supposed to have deadheaded them but it rained (environment) when I had scheduled to do it.  My regret was borne by my twisted idea about a garden and my role as a gardener.  I imagine that a garden should always be picture-perfect like those in magazines.  However, those are highly choreographed and I do not have the time to do that.  I was too busy with real life - celebrating my daughter's graduation...

Regardless of my own regrets, the family has a great time! 

 

I thank all the relatives and friends who came to celebrate with us.  My daughter will be continuing her education at UC Irvine... Now I am back in circulation! 

Music for Plant Growth

Hydrangea mycrophylla  in early spring.

Is there a relationship between your singing and plant growth?  When we praise owners of beautiful plants they would gladly whisper to us as if it is a precious secret, "I sing to them every day."  Well, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London is supposed to been helping bring this myth to a scientific level by performing live to plants [*]. 

Do I believe that music make plants grow better?  No.  The plant that is sitting in the family room where music is played all day is no better than the one that is in the bathroom where no music is played except for an intermittent humming by my husband.
 
Do I believe that a gardener singing in the garden would help the plants grow better?  Maybe.  Let me explain.  When a gardener is singing in his garden he is close to the plants.  He observes the things that are going on and he can respond to such observations accordingly.  On the other hand, when a gardener is singing in the garden and is focused on his music book for the right note, then that singing does not have any effect on plant growth.  In other words, it is the action-initiating proximity, and not the reverberating sound waves, that make the difference.  That is my practical explanation of the matter. 

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was supposed to have been commissioned by QVC (a shopping channel) to perform to the plants [*].   With that I guess that the effort was not so scientific in nature as much as it is commercial.  The plants that were present at the concert are now for sale along with the CDs that contain all the classical music played at that performance.   By the way, what type of music do your plants listen to?   I wonder if the type of music makes the difference.   That would be another study.  :)

_____________________
[*]  Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Performs to Plants

Music in the garden is good for the gardener but not good enough to make his plants grow better.  Plants need the gardener's attention more than music.

Breathing Plants



Fig. 1  Recovering ferns.  



Plants are not breathing organisms.* But why do some of us treat them as if they are hamsters or cats? We just can't throw plants away even if we don't need them anymore.  So we put them in a new but less conducive shelter in hope of future adoption.  Well, these plants (Fig.1) are like those.  They are no longer good for that corner in the garden but I still want to keep them.  They have been uprooted and planted in small containers.  The recovery will be slow but one day they will be lush once more and who knows, someone might be interested to have them. 



Fig. 2  Saved Schlumbergera stem now blooming.  



There are plants everywhere in my garden that are not supposed to be there.  Spider plants, Christmas cacti (Fig. 2), and mints are growing in small pots here and there.  Why I keep them is still a question.  Could it be that my subconscious belief tells me that these plants are breathing - that to get rid of them could be murderous?  I refuse to admit that I am in fact a hoarder of plants.



_________

*One might argue that plants also breathe through their stomata - but that's not breathing because there are no lungs involved.  It's called gas exchange. :)

Save your plants only if you know that they will be useful to you or someone else in this lifetime. 

Arizona

Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) plant against the sunset.  Photo from Wikipedia

In the wake of the tragedy that has beset Arizona last Saturday, I present to you the state flower of the Grand Canyon State - the Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea)!

Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) flowers.   Photo from Wikipedia

Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) in bloom. Photo from Wikipedia

Because we care...

Learn about this plant: 

Desert Tropicals

Wikipedia

Desert USA

New Year's Wish

To all my friends in the gardening world Happy New Year! 

May your seeds sprout after you have planted them.

May sunshine and bees greet your flowers.

May the fruits of your trees and vegetables be many and worm-free.

May rain fall on your garden when the soil is dry and when you are too busy to water.

May sunshine cause the water to evaporate quickly when you over-water your plants.

May the weeds be choked by the strong roots of your favorite plants

And wither by the majestic shade of their canopies.

May you have time to smell, eat, and appreciate the yield of your labor

And have your friends and neighbors join you in the joyous consumption of blessings

And may you find time to journal for posterity.

Finally, may all the life found in your garden remind you of the magnificence of the Almighty Creator!

~ o ~

I'm not a poet and I know it!  :) 

I'm Back from the Philippines

Typical rain in the Philippines.

Some of you might have noticed my recent lack of "blogtivity".  The reason is simple - with my family, I traveled to the Philippines.  Originally I planned to take a laptop with me however in a desire to travel lightly; my husband thought that an iPhone was sufficient.   I found out later on that writing on a touch screen is ineffective for gardener's fingers like mine.  Then I though that I could also post pictures knowing that they can speak louder than words...but sometimes life is not all that simple.   Two of the three small cameras we brought stopped working when we got to Cagayan, the northern-most province of the Philippines.  It was raining so hard that moisture must have penetrated the casing of the cameras.   The only one that remained functional was the one that was stored it in a ziploc bag.   

The Philippines has a Tropical Marine climate as influenced by the sea.  It is always hot with always high atmospheric humidity.  There are only two climates namely wet and dry seasons.  Although it is expected to rain every month, some months (June to November) are extremely rainy due to the monsoon winds.   The rest of the months (December - May) are characterized by lower precipitation due to the dry trade winds.  

Did you know?

1.  The English word "boondocks," comes from the Tagalog word "bundok", meaning "mountain.

2.  The Philippines is composed of 7,107 islands.  Some of them cannot be seen during high tide. :)

3.  The Philippines was a colony of Spain for 300+ years (1521-1898). 

4.  The Filipinos were first introduced to the English language by the British invaders in 1762.

5.   Today English language is taught in schools starting from third grade.  It is the official medium of instruction in high school and college.

6.  The Philippines has the same land area as Arizona.

7.  The Philippines has a population of 91 million.

White sand in Santa Ana, Cagayan.

 Just to give you a glimpse of the place where I was during the last two weeks...

and greetings to you all!

Sunday Afternoon in the Patio

With a cup of steaming coffee in my hand I sat in the patio doing what I like to do best - to admire the greenery laid against the cloud-softened skies.  My eyes darted from one plant to another as I paid curious attention to their diverse characteristics and behavior.  Then I noticed something else that was worth watching at that particular moment.   There must have been at least ten American Robins (Turdus migratorius) around me.

After having sat there quietly for sometime, the Robins have decided that I am a garden fixture.  They did what they wanted to do around me.   They were busy doing the things that I did not do this year which is to harvest the grapes.  They'd fly to get some grapes and then come lower and mark the next fruit to pick.  It was quiet an amazing sight to see them strategize their flights to get one grape.

Figuring out the angle of next flight.

Determining the position of the next target.

 Looking for bugs as a short break for the neck.

Getting ready to dart.

A smarter bird gets closer to the target.

Acrobtic harvesting of grapes.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

My Apprentice of Fifteen Years

Then:  Fascinated by colorful flowers.

In the yard of our old house, was my kids' garden.   This is unlike any other garden; it is a small patch of dirt where my they kept themselves entertained while I did my own gardening.   Here, my son planted and watered flowers that he and his sister had picked.  Believe it or not those flowers stay fresh if watered the way my kids did.  Sometimes I replaced the flowers when they wilted...but then I realized that I was fooling my kids and myself.  So I began to teach them about plants.  We started by identifying the poisonous plants in the garden.  

Today my son Brahms turned fifteen.  Hooray!  Not only has he advanced chronologically, but also horticulturally.   As a smart and hard-working sophomore, his busy schedule includes extra curricular activities like Robotics, Chess Club, Christian Youth Band, and AWANA (leader-in-training), etc.  However, in the midst of all these he finds time to do some gardening.  

 

Now:  Amazed by some tropical vegetables.

For fifteen years now he has watched me tend a garden.  I think he made up his mind - that gardening is indeed a good thing.  There is a sense of joy that emanates from the knowledge that this son of mine is going to know how to raise plants for food and beautiful surroundings.  

Like plants, gardeners clone themselves by training someone to do the same.

~~Happy birthday, my son!~~

Grapes

Vitis vinifera 'Cabernet Souvignon'

"Men are like a fine wine. They all start out like grapes, and it's our job to stomp on them and keep them in the dark until they mature into something you'd want to have dinner with." ~  (Unknown female)

Happy September everyone!

Big Tomato

A tomato from my garden.

When you blog you are sure to stir curiosity within your community.  Recently I've stepped into Blotanical  - "the city of botanist who blog".  Some of my new acquaintances have been wondering where in California I garden.   I though that an answer that would stick is appropriate for this question.

My tiny garden is located near The Big Tomato.   Sacramento is The Big Tomato!  It is in this area where more tomatoes are produced than anywhere else in the world.   Now imagine driving thirty five minutes east of Sacramento - and you'll hit El Dorado Hills.  That's where I garden.

 

Tomatoes:  A common summer-sight on the freeways around Sacramento.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

California: World Class Agricultural State

During the last five days, I've been away from my normal gardening.   We (my family) are on a college tour visiting different universities to help my daughter make a choice where to study.  My garden is left at the mercy of my dependable automatic irrigation system.  I'm hoping that no animal would chew on the drip lines as they have done in the past.  

This trip has provided me a great opportunity to observe places and plant life away from my own garden.  From Central California, we've traveled southward - through the fertile San Joaquin Valley; up through the Mojave Desert; and all the way down to the coastal towns of San Diego County.  The diversity of vegetation in the different parts of the state is very interesting and I can't wait to share some of my observations with you.  (Unfortunately we forgot to bring the right cable that would allow me to download all the pictures.)  So far here are some of the agricultural towns we've passed through:

Gilroy, The garlic capital of the world
Castroville, The Artichoke capital of the world. 
Stockton, The Asparagus Capital of the World
Salinas, The Lettuce Capital of the World
Watsonville,  The Strawberry Capital of the World
Lodi, The Tokay Grape Capital of the World
Sacramento, The Almond Capital of the World
To be continued...

Truly, California is highly a world class agricultural state.

Hort Art - Garden Poem

This plaque was given to me by my mother-in-law a while back.  It has been in one corner of my garden ever since.  What I didn't know is that the verse written on it is adapted from an old poem by Dorothy Frances Gurney. 

As I looked at this beautiful poem, it does not talk about the gardens that we grow in our backyards at all but rather the garden that God intended and designed for mankind. The garden described in the first stanza refers to the Garden of Eden where God placed Adam.  It was a peaceful place very close to heaven.  Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be defiled by sin - God's garden is off limits to sinful man.  But that was not the end of it.  God provided a way for mankind to be forgiven so that they could go back to His Garden.    The garden in the last stanza speaks of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was crucified - the crucifixion that opens the gates for us, Adam's children, to enter the Garden once more. 

Read the poem for yourself and see what you can get out of it.

God's Garden

THE Lord God planted a garden

In the first white days of the world,

And He set there an angel warden

In a garment of light enfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven,

That the hawk might nest with the wren,

For there in the cool of the even

God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden-closes

With their shade and their sun-flecked sod

And their lilies and bowers of roses,

Were laid by the hand of God.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,--

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

For He broke it for us in a garden

Under the olive-trees

Where the angel of strength was the warden

And the soul of the world found ease.

~Dorothy Frances Gurney ~

Weed Eating Tree...

This sign caught my attention as I was walking to Starbucks one day.   I know what's being advertized here...but doesn't it sounds like there is a tree and a yard that eat weeds?  What do you think?