You want your terracotta planter to look like it has seen many Tuscan summers. Terracotta is un-glazed, typically brownish – red earthenware from Italy. What you most likely have is a brand new ( no signs of Tuscan Summers ) shiny Terracotta planter. Well here is a trick that will help age your pot beautifully. […]
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A rose by any other name
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet – Wikipedia Juliet: O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?Deny thy father and refuse thy name;Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,And I’ll no longer be a Capulet Romeo: [Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? Juliet: ‘Tis […]
VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
This is true of people – but also APPLES! – oh and potatoes too! Oh and everyone at Plant Specialists as well! Genetic Variation is why people (and apples!) are so individual – offspring aren’t duplicates of their parents. It enables a broader gene expression available to use in any new or different environment they […]
PLASMOLYSIS Hmmm… Plasmy whaty ! Normal cells are in a state that is called ‘turgid’ – that is, they are pretty full of water and hence there is enough pressure against the cell wall for the cell membranes to keep their shape. If the plant does not receive water in time it wilts, which is […]
Cocktail garden
Its drink o’clock! Lets talk growing for your bar ! I always stared in awe when walking into a bar ( now that is a fond memory of the past ! ) and there would be massive mason jars lined up behind Mo (the barman – hey Mo ! )All lit up so that you […]
ALLELOPATHY
Many years ago we noticed how when planting sweet potato vine into containers (a summer display) all the hibiscus alsoplanted with it would stop flowering soon after. We also noticed how some annuals didn’t do well in pots with marigolds.We were curious and decided to investigate. ( think Sherlock Holmes ) We discovered that some […]
Gremolata ( a scrummy Italian sauce)
This year in the middle of Covid a friends apartment burnt down – and her and her daughter came to stay at my house. One night they cooked dinner and made Gremolata. Oh my goodness I was addicted. I immediately cleared a planter in the garden and filled it with Italian flat leaf parsley. If […]
Dominance
Stop! – this is not about bondage – its about Genetic Expression ! Plants have two sets of chromosomes in their cells, each containing many genes in a sequence along its length. The ones in the same locations (facing each other) on both chromosomes control an expression. We call them alleles. Many times these are […]
Global Seed Vault
Svalbard Global Seed VaultThe world’s largest secure seed storage can be found in the permafrost close to Longyearbyen. The Global Seed Vault is not open for visitors, but you can join organized trips with guides that will take you close to the entrance. About the seed vault The seed vault was established so that gene […]
