#plants

#plants

Recovery from the Hermit's Peak-Calf Canyon Fire has been daunting, with residents waiting for disaster relief payments while floods contaminate drinking water downstream.

Aquaponics systems utilize one gallon of water to produce a kilogram of leafy greens, compared to over 30 gallons in traditional farming, showcasing remarkable efficiency.

The industrious buzz of bees tackling the dregs of cherry blossom was lawnmower-loud, accompanied by back off peeps from blackbirds nesting in the ivy.

A study by researchers at the University of California Berkeley has found that ethanol is surprisingly common in floral nectar, the sugary fuel that keeps pollinators alive. Yeast feeding on those sugars produces trace amounts of alcohol, and in this study, it showed up in 26 of the 29 plant species sampled.

Crushed clean, dry eggshells, when scattered over the soil, are intended to stop adult gnats from laying eggs and potentially add natural fertilizer. However, they merely sit on the surface, collecting dust, while the gnats remain attracted to the damp compost.

Grafting is the method through which two different plants from the same species or genus are joined together to grow as one. The resulting plant benefits from the qualities of the two different original plants.

Research consistently shows that access to green space can significantly boost wellbeing, with studies linking time spent in gardens and parks to lower cortisol levels, improved mood, and sharper cognitive function.

Fungi are some of the most important things in the world. They feed 90% of terrestrial plants. Without them, there is no life on the Earth.

Around a third of UK gardeners use pesticides, and our studies found that house sparrow numbers, for example, were nearly 40% lower in gardens where the pesticide metaldehyde was used. By reducing pesticide use, you can actively encourage birds back into your outdoor spaces, as they rely on invertebrates such as slugs and snails as natural prey.

I killed seven houseplants before I discovered the secret: I was literally loving them to death. Every morning, I'd check on them with my watering can in hand, convinced that more water meant more love. Turns out, some plants thrive when you basically ignore them. In fact, there's one particular plant that actually prefers when you forget it exists for weeks at a time.

For Staller, foraging is a "precious" and "simple" activity that one can do to connect with nature. They can experience a sense of mindfulness from gathering together, looking for food and then cooking the bounty, she said. "We are returning to the most basic part of being a human, which is eating food and celebrating it," Staller said. "It's a lost artform."

Starting plants from seed extends your relationship with the garden, gives you more control over seed sourcing, and saves real money compared to buying nursery starts, sometimes as much as 90% per plant.

It was previously thought that tropical regions where temperatures fluctuate less over the course of the year would not be so affected by the climate crisis in terms of the timing of flowering. This hypothesis has been proved wrong, said the lead researcher Skylar Graves from the University of Colorado Boulder, who added that nowhere on Earth is unaffected by climate change.

You know that moment when you realize you've become a serial plant killer? Mine came last winter when I stood in my kitchen, staring at yet another crispy basil plant that had gone from vibrant green to sad brown in what felt like days. This was attempt number four, and I'd done everything the little care tag suggested. Watered it regularly (but not too much!), kept it on my brightest windowsill, even talked to it occasionally while making morning coffee.

Garden angelica, Angelica archangelica, belongs to the Apiaceae family, the same botanical group as carrots, celery, fennel, and parsley. Like its relatives, it produces a large, distinctively umbrella-shaped inflorescence, or flower cluster, called umbels. In its first year, the plant forms a lower mound of bright green leaves. In the second, a thick, hollow stem shoots upward and unfurls the broad green flower heads that resemble wild carrot or Queen Anne's Lace.

To an unimaginable eye, a seed looks inert. Yet they are packed with genetic information and biological processes poised to unfold. All it takes is the right configuration of signals and stimuli from the environment to let them know it's time to dare to grow.