Claude Thompson – Page 25

Rare double bloom of corpse flowers draws crowds to Chicago Botanic Garden

Corpse flower in bloom in Glencoe

Something smells in suburban Glencoe.

GLENCOE, Ill. – A rare double dose of putrid is drawing visitors to the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe this week.

Not one, but two rare corpse flowers are blooming in the same week.

“This is something I’ve only ever seen growing in documentary footage,” said one incredulous visitor. “Yeah, it feels like a movie prop.”

Fans of felonious fumes are flocking to the Plant Science Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden for a rare double helping of the world’s most noxious plant.

The corpse flower named “Sumatra” began blooming on Friday, and an even bigger corpse flower, more than seven feet tall named “Spike” is set to bloom later this week.

“The Titan Arum is the world’s largest unbranched inflorescence,” said Chicago Botanic Garden Horticulturist Johanna Hutchins. “So as you can see, the flower itself is just massive, it’s very tall.”

Scientifically named Amorphophallus Titanum, these monsters from Sumatra take over 10 years to flower. And when they do, it’s memorable, releasing a horrific scent designed to attract pollinating insects that feast on rotting flesh and vegetation.

“All of them have kind of slightly different smells,” said Hutchins. “None of them are pleasant. Sometimes they smell like rotten vegetables, like stinky, rotten fish, like decaying animals.”

Visitors ogling the two giant plants discerned different smells.

“It smells awful. It smells like rubber or something,” said one man.

A young girl visiting with her grandparents said it smells “like dead people.”

The smell is most offensive within 24 to 36 hours after the flower opens, which means while Sumatra is winding down, Spike is about to unleash his full foulness.

“So as soon as you hear word that it’s starting to open, if you want the full experience, that’s when you should come out,” said Hutchins.

And if you want to know when Spike blooms later this week, the Botanic Garden has a WebCam trained on Spike for the blessed event.

“I’m probably going to try to come back for day one of that one,” said one visitor.

The Botanic Garden has 18 of the strange creatures, which bloom randomly every few years. When they do, horticulturalists cut a square window in the plant to collect the pollen, which is banked and traded with other institutions to keep the corpse flower from going belly up.

Source: fox32chicago.com

Roses will bloom abundantly if easy 5 minute gardening job is done this summer

How to deadhead roses in June

All you need to do is look for roses with wilted and faded metals or the flowerhead might have completely lost all their petals.

Identify these roses as they are ones that need to be deadheaded, then look for the first set of five healthy leaves below the spent flowers as this is where new growth will emerge.

Lauresa said: “To deadhead, instead of cutting each individual flower, look a little further down for the first set of five leaves.

“Cut right above that using a right angle and clean sharp scissors or shears.

“Sometimes that means cutting off a healthy flower, another reason to wait for a lot of dead flowers. Keep up the good work, and less than five minutes later that rose bush will already look much better.”

Once you have deadheaded the blooms, make sure to clean up and properly dispose of any petals as they can attract pests.

It is also recommended to take a little more time to generally maintain the roses to keep them healthy, which means checking for signs of disease, pests and cleaning up weeds.

Lauresa said: “Take an extra five minutes to weed a bit and clear away the dead heads for an added face-lift.”

It tends to be best to deadhead roses early in the morning or late in the evening when the temperature is much cooler and there is less chance of the plant being stressed.

Make sure roses are also being watered deeply at least once a week, getting at least six hours of sun a day and being fed the right fertiliser, as this will also prolong their flowering time to keep your garden looking incredible this summer.

Source: express.co.uk

International Practical Forum on intensive vegetable growing: greenhouse production

Related News

Ukrainian greenhouse industry today is going through a period of transformation which opens many opportunities for local farmers, international suppliers and investors in the sector.
The International Practical Forum “Intensive Vegetable Growing: earning in Greenhouse sector” is an important event in Ukraine, which will take place on June 19 in Lviv.

The greenhouse industry today is going through a period of transformation: loss of a significant part of greenhouse production due to occupation on the South of Ukraine, relocation of the business in the Western, Northern and Central regions, restructure of the market – big share of the imported vegetables and growing domestic consumption etc all, these factors open opportunities for investors and new comers. Farms of different levels can do well in the greenhouse business — both small farmers, medium-sized companies, and agricultural holdings. In addition, the greenhouse is an effective subsidiary business in the structure of an active business.

How to build a modern greenhouse business will be the main topic of the International Practical Forum “Intensive vegetable growing: greenhouse sector”.

The organizers – the magazine “Gardening in Ukrainian” and the AgroTimes portal.

A large number of speakers are expected at the forum, including international-level consultants and experts. They will tell the audience of the forum how to enter the market of greenhouse vegetables and earn there and be successful. High-level specialists will reveal the nuances of greenhouse technologies — the construction of greenhouse structures of various levels (from film to high-tech and hydroponics), irrigation and heating, and agricultural techniques for growing vegetables and fruits in closed soil. Representatives of B2B companies will talk about modern tunnels, seedlings, plant nutrition and protection products. Market and marketing experts will provide a complete picture of the demand for closed soil products and tell how to sell it.

Among the topics that will be considered by the forum are also:

modern agricultural technologies for growing vegetables

• how to create alternative heating

• how to get a grant

• how to successfully work with retail.

If you produce something of quality, you can become successful in any field, and the greenhouse business today has a special potential for this.

The event is for the farmers, vegetable growers, gardeners, berry growers, and representatives of multidisciplinary companies who plan to develop the direction of closed soil.

Source: agroberichtenbuitenland.nl

Source: hortidaily.com