By Wes Porter ——Bio and Archives--August 3, 2019
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Plant are extraordinary living things. They can recognize sounds and touch – and don’t like some of them. They seem to be able to remember. They communicate with one another. They even become numb under the effects of .anesthetics. But let’s not get too anthropomorphic. This is emotional language. From Prince Charles on down, many people believe their plants respond to being talked to. But those same people obviously appreciate their plants to the extent of taking care of them. So their plants respond. So perhaps we had better forget about plant neurobiology, suggests research appearing in the journal Trends in Plant Science.
Diversion No. 1
A pair of lovelorn male peacocks are terrorizing a village by ‘screaming’ at night and destroying gardens as they desperately search for mates. Residents in Picket Twenty near Andover, Hampshire, England have complained to the local council about the two male peacocks, named Albert and Bertie who have been keeping them up at night, according to The Daily Mail.
If you have yet to experience the damage peacocks and peahens can create or the sound of their calls – you’re not missing much. From Britain to British Columbia, California to Australia and points between, they are kept as exotic pets. Inevitable some escape or are released into the wild. Feeding on anything from seeds, grubs and insects on up to mice, lizards and other small animals they are happy to check out gardens for such nosh. This rarely pleases proud gardeners – or those less enthused over their yards. Strangely, since they are rarely legally protected, at an average of five to six kilograms they resemble a small to medium turkey. And, according to font of kitchen knowledge, Larousse Gastronomique, the paon may be roasted in the same manner.
Diversion No. 2
Rice is grown in Asia, Africa, the southern United States – and if Ontario FangZheng Agriculture Enterprise has its way – one day across Chatham-Kent, revealed CBC News. On Friday, the company held an open house to celebrate the successful planting of its first-ever experimental crop of medium-grain rice, grown on a hectare of land, on a roughly 29-hectare farm located off Queen’s Line on Drake Road.
The most senior member of the garden club claims that he can remember a summer so dry that the trees pulled up their roots and chased after the dogs. Be that as it may, watering the garden during such dry periods should be carried out once every three days, leaving the sprinkler on for an hour at a time. The best time to do this is in the early hours of the morning. Timers are available for attaching to the outdoor faucet while a few sprinklers come already equipped. Container plantings will require watering once, perhaps even twice daily in hot weather.
Diversion No. 3
Is raw onion in salad the work of the devil? Brit Sarah Vine in argues The Daily Mail that onions in modern salads ruin lunch, She says no one likes the ingredient because it’s smelly, indigestible and extremely anti-social. Burp. Pardon.
Even at the hottest time of the year, gardening chores continue. Dead-heading and weeding are two very necessary examples. Tempting as it may be to do this in the cool few hours or so following dawn, this may spread disease if the plants are wet with dew or rain. Pathogenic fungi and bacteria are easily transferred by brushing against infected foliage or blossoms.
Diversion No. 4
In the latest gruesome nature news, scientists have discovered new details on a fungus that compels its cicada hosts to mate long after their genitals have gone and their bodies turned into what one researcher colourfully describes as ‘flying salt shakers of death,’ writes Mike Mcrae in Science Alert. The fungus is called Massospora cicadina and contains chemicals similar to those found in hallucinogenic mushrooms. Its effects read like an abstinence campaign for cicadas. But it also appears that it affects the sex-crazed cicadas by sending them on one heck of a drug trip. Males try to mate with everything they encounter, although the fungus has consumed their genitals and butts. The research was published in Fungal Ecology.
Planting trees to absorb carbon could beat the climate crisis it has been widely reported in popular media. But how many trees, what area would they cover and where? It is going to take about a trillion new trees planted on 0.9 billion hectares suitable for reforestation in Central and South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. None of this need be agricultural or residential land. The trees would absorb around 205 gigatonnes of carbon – which would be enough to give us another 20 years to fight climate change.
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Days –
3 International Beer Day
3 Grab Some Nuts Day
3 National Watermelon Day
4 National Mustard Day
8 Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbour’s Porch Day
10 St Laurence martyr, died, patron of vintners
11 Presidential Joke Day (really!)
17 Chinese Valentine’s Day
18 National Honeybee Awareness Day
19 National Potato Day
20 World Mosquito Day
20 St Philibert abbot, died c.685; filbert nuts ripen about this day
28 Race Your Mouse Day
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Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.