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Amaryllis in August?
Last week, my husband came in from the sideyard where I store my unused plant pots and asked, “Did you know your amaryllis is blooming?” I responded, “What amaryllis?”
Sure enough—I have a beautiful amaryllis blooming in August! What a treat!
Each year I buy an amaryllis bulb for the holidays. Even though I know that amaryllis bulbs can bloom again, my approach to post-bloom care is haphazard at best. When the plant is done blooming, I put it outside and water it for a few weeks or months until it dies back completely. Sometimes I don’t water it at all. Either way, eventually I set the bulb aside and forget about it completely. Occasionally, a bulb will bloom again in late fall or around the holidays. But in August?! Apparently I started the dormant period a bit early this year. Anyway, it was a delightful surprise!
If you are interested in the correct way to make an amaryllis bloom again (including deciding when you want the plant to bloom) you can find a fact sheet on the United States National Arboretum’s website at http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/AmaryllisBloom.html.
Now, I’m off to check on my other amaryllis bulbs!
The August Amaryllis. (photo by Erin Mahaney)
Tiger by the Tail? Not This Time!
Don't look now, but a garden spider almost grabbed a tiger by the tail. The tiger? That would be the Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio...
Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, nectars on a zinnia, unaware of the danger lurking below. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of garden spider tucked beneath the petals. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tomato Festival
This past Sunday my family and I attended the Fairfield Tomato Festival that was held downtown. We go almost every year and enjoy fun times surrounding all things "tomato". At least the name of the festival would have you think it was about all things "tomato".
Although the festival is named after tomatoes, to our disappointment it did not contain much about tomatoes at all. The topic has so much potential that it is sad that the organizer didn't have more than one tomato grower there. They could have hosted contests on almost anything from home made ketchup, barbeque sauce, salsa, tomato juice, bruschetta, pico de gallo to marinara sauce. Unfortunately there was little actual tomato content at the Tomato Festival which better resembled a peddler's fair or carnival. Tomatoes seemed to be an after-thought as there were flea market vendors as far as the eye could see and an entire block of carnival rides but only 1 tent of tomatoes from a single farm. From a gardener's perspective it was quite a disappointment that the festival was not more tomato-centric.
Next year it should be renamed "A Summertime Street Fair" or they really should add more tomato related displays to a "Tomato Festival".
Tomato alley. (photo by Ed Walbolt)
It Was Not to Bee
The drama unfolds slowly. The crafty praying mantis that's perched atop a zinnia raises its spiked, grasping forelegs and silently waits for...
Unsuspecting honey bee lands on a zinnia occupied by a praying mantis lying in wait. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee crawls toward the center of the zinnia, unaware of the predator. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The honey bee sinks down into the zinnia and is about to forage, as the mantid lies perfectly still. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Danger! The praying mantis strikes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A near miss! The honey bee escapes and buzzes off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A 'multi-million dollar food fight' heats up, plus other recent news coverage
The reporters called the proposition a "multi-million dollar food fight."
"All of the data that's come out from the American Medical Association and National Academy of Sciences have all agreed that the food products on the market today that are genetically engineered are safe," Van Eenennaam told the reporter
Polls show the 'Yes on Proposition 37' campaign is "way ahead" of those who oppose the initiative, "but there's a long way to go until November," the reporter said.
Vision still pays dividends after 150 years
Sacramento Bee editorial
The Sacramento Bee editorial staff called the 1862 Congress of the United States one of the most productive in American history. One of the reason was it's passage of the Morrill Land-Grant College Act July 2, 1862. The act created the world's best system of public colleges and universities for people of modest means, the editorial said. Previously most Americans had no access to higher education. California took up the land-grant offer in 1864 and the University of California was born – at Berkeley – in 1868. Later, the University Farm would become UC Davis. The Citrus Experiment Station would become UC Riverside.
Building a better, tastier tomato
Lauren Sommer, QUEST Northern California, KQED
Lauren Sommer interviewed Ann Powell, associate researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, about her finding that the gene that creates "green shoulders" in tomatoes influences the amount of sugar in the ripe fruit. Powell says now that they know about this gene, plant breeders could put it back in commercial varieties.
Bees need a hand, especially in drought
Debbie Arrington, Sacramento Bee
In honor of National Honeybee Day, the Sacramento Bee paid homage to the indispensable pollinator with information about the challenges it faces. Colony collapse disorder, drought and urbanization take their toll. There was some good news: "Bees got through the winter a little better," said Eric Mussen, UC Cooperative Extension specialist, apiculture. "This spring, we saw bigger, earlier and more swarms." However, nationwide, the hot dry summer has made it a tough year for honey production.
