Global warming legacy???

I’ve been trying not to blog about politics but every now and then I succumb to the odd irresistible headline. Today’s NYT science blog, Dot Earth, headlines with this jewel that nearly made me choke on my tea: “President Appears to Seek a Warming Legacy.” (registration might be required for the NYT.)

Wait, wait….as in GLOBAL warming? Doesn’t he already have a global warming legacy? As the president who approached global warming discussions with hostility and distrust, as the world leader who backed out of the Kyoto Protocol, as the president who forced his government agencies to suppress science supporting climate change, as the president who said in a 2002 speech in Trenton, New Jersey: “We need an energy bill that encourages consumption” ?

THAT global warming legacy? Har har har HAR!!! I guess he’s gotten worried that his “Iraq legacy” isn’t looking so good so he’s going to try to be remembered for a positive “global warming legacy,” if that’s possible with less than a year left in his tenure. God help us all!!

EFG Most Wanted: Queen of the Prairie

There’s something I love about Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra), but I can’t quite put my finger on it. An often wild and unruly-looking member of the Rosaceae (rose) family, the Queen has airy pink sprays reminiscent of cotton candy and ferny-looking leaves. The native North American plant can be found throughout eastern Canada, the northeastern and central US, and as far south as North Carolina and Missouri.

Skunk cabbage

Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is staring to leafing out in wetland areas so I know that spring is really here. Pretty soon, the ground in swampy areas will go from brown to green almost overnight as the skunk cabbage leaves unfurl.

Skunk cabbage leaves are pretty cool–big & wide, deeply veinated–but it’s the blooms that get most of the attention. It’s the first plant to flower in many areas. Skunk cabbage blooms before it leafs, as early as February even in cold areas. Its dark red spathe covers its spadix like a hood, similar to a jack-in-the-pulpit.

Tree of the month: sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

Though I technically missed March, my tree of the month for March is the sugar maple (Acer saccharum). March is maple sugaring month here in New England–maple syrup being one of the main reasons that the sugar maple is worthy of being named tree of the month.

Seed & plant finding tool from Mother Earth News

I just learned about the Plant and Seed Finder from Mother Earth News. It’s a Google-based search tool for 150+ online plant and seed catalogs–simply type in the specific name of the plant or seed you’re looking for and you can quickly find all the different online suppliers. Very handy indeed this time of year.

Finally, spring

Happy spring!

I’m in North Carolina visiting family, so please excuse these short posts.  More regular blogging by the end of March.

Variegated leaf porn

Whenever I put the word “porn” on my blog I get lots of hits. I need all the help I can get, so as a sort of follow-up to my post on the science behind variegated leaves, here’s some variegated leaf porn from Roger Williams Park Botanical Conservancy in Providence.

Science lesson: variegation

Variegation is when plant foliage, stems, or flowers have more than one color. It’s most often found in leaves. The most common leaf variegation colors are white, cream and yellow, but there are many others, including pinks and purples.

Cats can also be variegated, but I’ll leave that phenomena for the pet bloggers to explain.

Caterpillar food plants

I’ve been reading a bit lately about butterflies and how to attract them to your yard and garden. It’s important to plant flowers whose nectar attract butterflies, but don’t forget the larvae (caterpillars). Many butterfly (and moth) caterpillars only eat specific plants. The best known example is the monarch butterfly caterpillar, which eats only the sap from Asclepias species, or milkweeds, including butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) and swamp milkweed (A. incarnata).

(Author’s note: At this point let me acknowledge that it is a cheap ploy on my part to publish butterfly photos with this post. I should be posting caterpillar photos, but really….who wants to see those.)

Second incarnation

Remember how I was making fun of the amaryllis’s puny leaves? Look at them now that the blooms are gone….which, by the way, was kind of depressing to watch. As Curt put it, the flowers were really beautiful but they died a horrible death.

Now, however, I feel like the amaryllis is in its second incarnation. A little more boring, perhaps, than when it was in all its finery, but still inspiring as winter ever so s-l-o-o-o-o-w-l-y creeps to a close.

My favorite gardening tool, the soil knife

I was thinking about garden tools because as part of your blogger profile, Blotanical asks about your favorites when you sign up. This made me think about how much I really do love my soil knife.

I’m not doing an advertisement for anyone, so I won’t say the brand, though you can probably see the logo if you have good eyes. I think that everyone who isn’t using an old steak knife probably has this same tool!

Weekend photoblogging: big snowstorm!

It’s really coming down outside.

Tree of the month: khejari (Prosopis cineraria)

A reader asked about a tree in the Great Indian (or Thar) Desert in Rajasthan, India. Khejari (Prosopis cineraria), also called kandi, khejri, jand, and ghaf, among many others, is found mainly in the dry and arid deserts of India, where annual rainfall is 10-20 inches. Khejari are found on plains and in ravines, rarely in the hills. In these areas, there can be wild temperature extremes, ranging from 104-114 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade to less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, when frosts are not uncommon.

Image courtesy of Dr. Erick C.M. Fernandes, Cornell University

New tropical butterfly garden at the Smithsonian

Yet another reason to plan a road trip to Washington, DC. I haven’t been in at least 15 years, and I’ve been meaning to go visit the museums. Now there’s one more to add to the list: the Smithsonian is opening a $3million butterfly exhibit! The exhibit “Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution” features a 1,200 square foot tropical butterfly garden with approximately 400 butterflies. In the exhibit’s main hall, visitors learn about the co-evolution of butterflies and plants.

Excellent blogs

Diane at Alberta Postcards was kind enough to give me an Excellent Blog Award. Mind Sieve came up with the idea to give this award to other blogs that you like, and if you’re awarded you have to pass it on, etc. Diane blogs about nature, gardening, writing, and poetry, among other things….plus you’ll really enjoy her photos (for ex., check out this post about the color blue.) Thanks Diane!

I have been derelict in my blogging responsibilities lately. I keep up with the blogs I read almost exclusively through aggregator sites like Bloglines, Blotanical, and Nature Blog Network. They give me a snapshot of the headlines, articles, and photos on many blogs without having to click through to all the blogs at different times. Because of this and time constraints I’ve all but given up commenting on blogs. But, I do have a list of blogs where I “lurk” or visit via a feed or other aggregator. These are the ones I give the Excellent Blog Award to.

In alphabetical order: