Saturday Gardening And Puttering Thread, October 12 [KT]

Hello, gardeners and putterers! As we say "Adios" to summer, we also have some items today on preparing for fall and winter. And things to eat.

Above, another orchid photographed by Don in Kansas at a recent orchid show. This one is a Habenaria hybrid. The genus is sometimes called "rein orchids" or "bog orchids". Fascinating form. Follow the link for a variety of fun photos you can examine in detail, including photos of the smallest orchids (REALLY small) and some panoramas.

Over-wintering tender plants

My cousin in Utah has taken her geraniums to the unheated basement for the winter a little early this year. They receive light from a west-facing window. She waters them about once every three weeks:

Operation enduring geranium! Today versus Yesterday.

We've had such cold temperatures I had to bring them in early. More cold forecast for this week.

If you live in a cold-winter climate, have you ever thought about doing something like this with Lantana, Abutilon, Anisodontea, Fuchsia, Heliotrope, or Rosemary? Basic instructions at the link. Also useful for those living where some of the plants listed are root-hardy, but you have, say, a rosemary topiary or lantana standard.

The Edible Garden

Have you thought about planting garlic? There's a fairly comprehensive video at the link. And here's a recent written summary.

Chile peppers

S. Lynn sent in a photo of some Thai chiles a while ago. Don't know if she uses them green or ripe.

Gordon sent in a photo that looks more like New Mexico than Minnesota:

The one furthest is Arapaho Cayenne. The nearer are just plain cayenne.

I would be interested to learn how S. Lynn and Gordon use their chiles. I have never grown chiles for drying. Here's a piece on Eleven Mexican dried chiles (and how to use them).

Dried whole chiles are big in supermarkets around this time of year in our town. Some of the varieties sold you can find in nurseries in spring to grow yourself, and others you would have to start from seed. I use two kinds (red and black) to make pozole. "Chile California", which is popular as a dried chile around here, is basically the familiar Anaheim Chile.

Have you ever cooked with a puree made from dried (not powdered) chiles? The supermarket was out of radishes during pozole/menudo season, so I cut up a turnip from the garden for this photo of Michoacan-style pozole.

Inside the world's only Chile Pepper Research Institute:

New article, but we've talked about this place before. This institute was started by the guy who is credited with introducing Mexican-American style chiles, on the mild side. Others have taken his work in new directions.

The pepper world is a little different from Garcia's day, though. For one thing, people are entranced by furiously hot peppers. In 2007, NMSU announced that Bosland had analyzed a tremendously spicy pepper: the bhut jolokia, from the Assam region of India. It was unexpected. Bosland had been burned ("pun intended," he says) before by claims that this or that pepper was the world's hottest. But to his surprise, the bhut jolokia's heat surpassed a million Scoville units: the hottest ever recorded at the time. The pepper received a Guinness World record for the hottest chile ever discovered, though several peppers have now surpassed it. Bosland himself notes that the pepper is now widely known by its English name, ghost pepper, "because it was so hot you gave up the ghost." Yet he insists that there's more to chile taste beyond heat. "Most people think of the heat, the hotness," Bosland says. "We know there's more than 300 compounds that give so many different flavors."

Debunking myths about chile peppers:

a chile's main spicy kick is not held in the seeds, as many people believe. Instead, it's typically in the filmy placental tissue, which sometimes rubs off on the seeds, making them spicy.

Another myth Bosland debunks is that vibrant ornamental peppers are poisonous. They're not, though they aren't specifically grown to be eaten. NMSU has released many ornamental chile varieties over the years, even in shades of shocking pastel purple. (Bosland says ornamental chile breeding is a fun pastime; plus, it's good practice for students.) One series of ornamental peppers is named for holidays: an orange-and-black variety called "Halloween," the jester-colored "April Fool's," and even a green-and-brown "Earth Day." According to Bosland, the names of these NMSU-bred peppers are an elaborate in-joke. Until the 1950s, red-and-green ornamental pepper bushes were given as Christmas gifts. But the popularity of the poinsettia flower displaced Christmas ornamental peppers almost completely. As a tongue-in-cheek revenge, "we took all of the other holidays,". . . .

NuMex Halloween, NuMex April Fool's Day

NuMex Twilight

Can't take the heat? Halloween bell peppers with black bean dip.

Last week

I was glad to see comments on winter radishes and cooking with radishes. Never heard of a Dragon Radish before. There's also a pod radish called Dragon's Tail. Sounds like it isn't as hot as some pod radishes. Anybody else have experiences to share with pod radishes? I have broken open some tough, but still green, radish pods to eat the immature seeds inside. On big Diakon radish varieties. One of those garden nibbles.

There was also some discussion of Wooly Bears, which are looking for places to spend the winter this time of year.

This brings us to identifying caterpillars.

Fun and interesting little piece, but for real identification, we need to some advice from Hank Curmudgeon.

So I told KT that I would write a "paragraph" about DIY insect identification. Damn Valu-Rite! What the hell was I thinking...one paragraph, ha! Being a lifelong amateur entomologist I have found three resources to be invaluable when identifying insects in North America. First, everyone interested in the subject should own a personal copy of the "Kaufman Field Guide To North American Insects" by Kenn Kaufman. This book will probably help you with about 80% of your backyard identification needs. If you want to save a little money keep an eye out for used copies which can often be had for about half the price.

The second resource, and of the three resources I'm listing here probably the hardest to use, is Bug Guide at https://bugguide.net . You can use Bug Guide in one of two ways. First off think of it like an insect mugshot photo book that you can browse through until you find your suspect. The problem is that the site uses standard insect taxonomy to organize its pages and, unless you've studied Entomology, you're going to quickly find yourself lost amongst the 1,000,000+ entries on the site. The second way to use Bug Guide is to submit a photo for identification and your fellow Bug Guide users will reach a consensus on what you've got. The site comes with a few catches. First you must register in order to post a photo. Second they have a very detailed form you must submit with the photograph so as to provide the most information about the subject in the image since their site is truly science-based which means detailed record-keeping. They will also happily reject images that are simply not clear enough to ascertain 100% positive identification.

The third insect identification resource was something I recently stumbled onto at Reddit, https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisbug/ . Again, registration is required before you can post or even view the page. However registration is easy and anonymous nicknames are the norm on Reddit. Amazingly enough I've actually witnessed posts about exotic insects from all around the earth positively identified in under a minute from the time of the original posting! The downsides with this site are that there's quite a bit of repetition in the posts ("OMG! Is this a bedbug/black widow/roach?!?!) and many of the photos are of horrendous quality.

I did say I was only going to write one paragraph, right? Well since this is the fourth I will explain how I use all three resources thus ending this insanity. Say I'm in my garden and I see an insect I can't immediately ID. Back away slowly so as not to scare the insect (seriously), once clear skedaddle to the house and grab your camera or an excellent quality smart phone that can take good close-ups, your Kaufman Guide plus a pencil and notepad. Go back to the area while approaching slowly, again so as to not scare the insect off, and immediately try to get as many photographs of it as you can from various angles. Pro Tip: If someone's with you have them remain behind to keep an eye on the insect so you don't lose sight of it. Take your photos first so once the insect takes off you already have the images captured, don't rely on your memory alone! Then take notes of the time of day, the weather and temperature, what kind of plant the insect was on, what it was doing and any other information you think pertinent. Besides improving your own knowledge base of local insects Bug Guide requests this info when you submit an image.

Then, while still in the immediate area, pull out your Kaufman Guide and try to identify the insect. Should you not get a positive ID from your field guide the next step is to submit it to Reddit's "What's This Bug" page and wait about 15 minutes for your answer to pop up. Typically the responses at Reddit will include a link to BugGuide.net so you can pop over there and get your scientific details if you choose to. If you submitted good photos and you get no satisfactory replies at Reddit then try Bug Guide. Eventually they will ID your submission but it be could take several days.

Please note that I don't use the comments system here at AoS HQ so, if you want to contact me to talk insects, engineering, guns, pizza, explosives, why I'm a "Certified Curmudgeon", trains and railroads or 3D printing, please do so via the garden thread email address and KT can forward it to me.

Happy hunting!

Hank Curmudgeon

Certified Curmudgeon, ASoC

IKIA (Insufferable Know It All)

You're the bee's knees, Hank. Thanks.

Science

Ragweed and fall allergies.

BAD weed.

Carnivorous plants and more

Halloween is coming. Today, a couple of carnivorous plants from our outdoor carnivorous plant expert, Tony Litwin, plus some indoor carnivorous plants at a botanical garden, sent in by Sharon. Interesting plant forms.

Tony Litwin sent the following information and photos earlier this year:

The carnivorous Bromeliad is Brocchinia Reducta and comes from South America. It is considered a tank Bromeliad and right now its tank is full of liquid Lovebugs which smell to really bad. There are two other carnivorous Bromeliads found in nature, one of which comes from Southern Florida and the other from South America as well.

Below, a Venus Flytrap plus a tiny seedling Sarracenia leucophylla viridescens (an all-green pitcher plant with no red on either the plant or the flower) plus a Drosera filiformis filiformis. Someday, maybe we will see the pitcher plant full-grown.

The largest of American Sundews is Drosera Filiformis Tracyii, while the smallest is Drosera Brevefolia which I don't have. Sundews are known for their dew like droplets which make the plants sparkle and the largest American Sundew, Drosera Filiformis Tracyii, has caught and digested such large prey as small Treefrogs and Lizards as well as insects.

Sharon sent the following in September. Maybe Tony can help identify the carnivorous plants. We'll post more later:

Went to a Carnivorous plant show at one of my favorite places: Tower Hill Botanic Gardens. The plants were gorgeous and so photogenic.

I think I see a lurker.

Outside I could not believe how much color for September in New England do couldn't resist sending a few I took outside.

These gardens are so amazing because you never see anything that is dead. It is like elves come in at night and clear out the everything that has gone by and voila, it is a whole new garden the next day. It is such a lovely peaceful place and so happy it is only 10 minutes from my house. In the winter, they have an Orangerie filled with tropical plants with little tables set inside little groves of plants so you sit in the warmth and watch the snow fall outside.

They have these little fairy gardens in the gift shop I would love to do for my grandaughter but she's not even 3 yet so not old enough to appreciate it yet. That would make an interesting garden story. The little miniature garden implements are adorable.

Thanks, Sharon. Anybody want to identify the plants below? Don't look much like New England natives to me.

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at g mail dot com

Include your nic unless you want to remain a lurker.

posted by Open Blogger at 12:45 PM

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