The Variegated Thumb

Last week I spent two days at the Myriad Botanical Gardens as a volunteer, and it was great.  There’s really not a better working environment than to be surrounded by tropical plants all day long.

The first day I spent working with the Education Coordinator, who is also in charge of taking care of the Bonsai trees.  The Myriad Gardens’ Bonsai trees are kept in the propagation room, outside of the public view, until there is a special occasion to show them.  This room is packed with hundreds of orchids, which are moved into public view as they come into bloom.  The Bonsai were donated by a grower more than 20 years ago and have been maintained by the same person at the Myriad Gardens since then.

Pruned and wired bonsai tree (Ficus sp.)

Having never really worked with Bonsai before, I was given a 5 minute introduction and a pair of pruners.  I forgot to take my camera the first day I worked, so the only  pictures I have are after my pruning work.

Several bonsai trees after being pruned and wired. The small-leaf Ficus tree in the center has had two branches anchored with wire to the roots, to create two areas of low growth.

I went to work, hacking away at four different Bonsai trees: three Ficus (two different species) and one small-leaved Schefflera.  We pruned both the growing shoots and the root ball, before repotting them with new soil and replacing them on the growing benches.  I also had the opportunity to work with the growth angles of several branches, wrapping them in wire and reorienting the growth or weighing the branches down by anchoring wire to the base.

Wired branches to redirect growth

Before the trees were donated to the Myriad, some of them had been neglected due to the owner’s poor health.  Some of the trunks had been wrapped in wire that was not removed soon enough and left scars in the trunks.  Although the trunks have been healing, the scars are still apparent after 20 years.

A branch anchored to the roots for lower growth. Scars are apparent on the main trunk on the right side of the image.

It will be exciting to see how full these trees become as a result of my pruning and to see how they respond to the wiring.  Unfortunately, this May the gardens will be closing its doors for a year, to go about extensive reconstruction.  Many of the plants (including most or all of the Bonsai) will be sold in a plant sale this Spring.  This might give me the opportunity to buy one of the trees I have been working on.  But the prices might be a little prohibitive, too.

The Carrion Plant (Stapelia gigantea) is a rather inconspicuous plant when not in bloom.  This lanky, hanging succulent thrives in dry conditions.

The Carrion Plant (Stapelia gigantea)

However, the large bud that forms on a happy plant will alert you that something is about to happen.

Stapelia gigantea bud

These buds open to form a huge flower that looks a lot like a starfish.  You might wonder about the name, and don’t worry, I’m going to tell you.  This plant is called “Carrion Plant” because of the pungent smell that attracts flies to pollinate the blooms.  I came across this plant blooming at the Myriad Gardens last weekend as I was weeding.  I had actually walked by the plant about 10 times before I noticed it.  Thankfully I had to weed on the ground where the bloom happened to be laying or I would have never noticed.

Stapelia gigantea bloom

I was surprised to find that the strong smell I heard about was very localized.  It was only apparent when I put my nose very close to the bloom (within an inch of the center).  I imagine there is probably a point in the life of the bloom where the smell is more prevalent, in order to lure in flies that happen to be flying more than an inch away from the bloom.  Either that or flies have much better noses than I do.

We have received more than our normal share of winter precipitation this year.  I have spent my whole life in the same town, and I don’t really recall having more than 1 decent snow storm each winter.  This winter, we received a pretty good snowfall on Christmas Eve, measuring 8 inches in the middle of our front yard (away from any drifts).

Christmas Eve blizzard

Then we received an ice storm followed by 6 inches of snow last week.

Very thick icicle hanging from my greenhouse this week

In between those two snow storms our temperatures dipped down below 10 degrees Fahrenheit on three consecutive nights (6F, 6F, 8F).  We’re not really used to these temperatures, but I was thinking about our USDA hardiness zone.  I am located in zone 7a, which is rated for winter temperatures between 0 and 5 F.  This is one of those winters that makes our hardiness zone rating seem appropriate.  I would say that in the average winter, our minimum temperature is probably somewhere around 15 degrees F, but the USDA zones aren’t set up by average minimum temperatures.  You don’t want to plant a tree and expect it to survive in your zone only in the years that are above average.  You want it to survive 50 years or more.  So the USDA zones are set up by using long-term historical climatic minimum temperatures.

I discussed in a previous post how the hardiness zones only tell a small part of the story, but I would like to mention that again here.  The hardiness zones only tell you whether a plant can brave your winter minimum temperatures, not whether they will be happy with your amount of moisture or sunlight or long, hot summer days.  Some efforts have been made to construct other zone maps for variables like humidity and heat index.  Once these maps have been constructed and distributed to plant people, nurseries will need to start to label their plants, in order for them to be useful.  I know that there are a number of plants which can survive our winters, but would not like our heat waves when the temperatures can be above 100 degrees F for a week solid in the middle of the summer.

Hopefully these new maps will be circulated soon and start getting used.  It might seem like a lot of numbers to keep up with, but I can envision a 3 map system, where you just always remember you are a “7-5-8″ or something like that.  If the order is kept the same (cold hardiness, heat index, humidity), it will make this new system user friendly and could help a lot of new gardeners.

My neighbor across the street gave me four cuttings of her large Beefsteak Begonia (Begonia ‘Erythrophylla’) for me to root.  Begonias are generally pretty easy to root from leaf cuttings.  These cuttings took about a month to produce a nice set of roots.

Roots began to form after just about a week in water

The beefsteak Begonia has very large, waxy and thick leaves.  They are dark green on top and purple underneath.

Underside of the Begonia leaves

The petioles are rough with small hairs.  It is a very attractive plant, that is usually pretty dense with leaves that droop down to the soil surface, or over the edge of the pot.  You couldn’t even see the pot buried  underneath my neighbor’s plant.  I’m hoping to have as much luck with my cuttings.

I’m happy to announce that the MidAmerica chapter of the International Aroid Society (IAS) will be having their second meeting at the Missouri Botanical Gardens (MOBOT) in St. Louis, Missouri on April 24th.  The MOBOT has one of the largest research collections of Aroids in the world, the largest herbarium, beautiful outdoor gardens and the world famous Climatron tropical conservatory.  The MOBOT is one of the largest botanical gardens in the country and well respected by other botanical gardens worldwide.

All plant enthusiasts are invited to attend the events of April 24.  You don’t have to be a member of the IAS or even know what an Aroid is.  (If you like plants, then you probably know a bunch of different plants from the Aroid family, but just didn’t know they were related.)

We have a full day of activities planned, but you can just attend half, if you would like.  Here are a couple of highlights:

• Dr. Thomas Croat will be giving two formal presentations on his research with Aroids and will also be leading tours of the herbarium, greenhouses and the MOBOT grounds.
• Joep Moonen will be in town from French Guiana and will be talking about the Aroids of South America and particularly the collection of the Roberto Burle Marx estate.
• Steve Lucas will be talking about how he maintains a tropical rainforest in northwest Arkansas.
• Steve Marak will talk about growing temperate Aroids outdoors in our climate.
• We will also have a plant trade.  Bring cuttings or plants you would like to share with others, if you have any.  If not, you just might be going home with something anyway.

This is a meeting you will not want to miss!  If you are in the area, be there!  If you are within 6 hours of driving, I would encourage you to consider driving over for a long weekend in St. Louis and see some of the other things St. Louis has to offer.

It’s going to be a great meeting.  Here’s the tentative agenda:

Opening Gathering:
8:30-9:30 AM. Coffee

Opening: 9:30 AM A review of Systematic work with Araceae in the New World. Thomas B. Croat, Missouri Botanical Garden

10:15 AM Coffee break

10:45 AM     A preview of the Philodendron from some arid areas of Brazil and a visit to the Burle Marx Collection in Brazil, Joep Moonen, Emerald Jungle Village, French Guiana.

11:15 AM    Missouri Botanical Gardens Grounds Tour. This tour will concentrate on some of the grounds near the Ridgway Center since at least some of us will return there for lunch.

12:15 PM    Lunch break

Opening of Afternoon session:
1:00 PM     An introduction to aroid genera, Thomas B. Croat, Missouri Botanical Garden

1:45 PM    Cultivating tropical plants efficiently in a temperate environment, Steve Lucas, Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

2:15 PM     Cultivating Aroids outdoors in a temperate area.  Steve Marak, Springdale, Arkansas

2:30 PM    Coffee break and plant swap and give away

3:00 PM     Tour of Missouri Botanical Garden Aroid Collection

3:45 PM      Tour of Research complex at Lehmann Building herbarium. This will include seeing the world’s largest collection of herbarium specimens, demonstrations on the use of Lucid, a session at the CATE Araceae site at Kew and an explanation of Croat’s research efforts with revisionary and floristic studies.

4:30 PM         Refreshments

5:00 PM         Adjournment for dinner (any who would like to meet at a restaurant)

If you think you might be able to come, I would appreciate an RSVP so we can have the right amount of space and refreshments.

Stay update by visiting the MidAmerica chapter website.