We have quite a bit of land, most of which, say 25-30 acres is forest. There isn't too much variety, so I was pretty excited to discover an Eastern Red Cedar during one of our(me and my pup Luci) hikes. They are beautiful native evergreen trees, with lush, dense growth. Many people used to use them for Christmas trees.
I thought I'd try my hand at propagating some cuttings. It would not only be nice to introduce some more native variety into the ecosystem of the forest, but putting some up near the house gardens would be so lovely.
Here is what I did:
1. I cut several branch ends off, maybe about 5" each. I placed them into a bag with a damp paper towel. As soon as I got back home, I put them all into a glass of ice water.
2. I went outside and gathered materials to make a starting mix. Different types of sand, a little peat moss, some forest floor and some coir from the potting supplies. You want to create a mix that is loose and drains easily, and not susceptible to mold. Perlite and vermiculite would also have been suitable additions.
3. I filled up a drainage tray with about 2" of this mixture, then fitted that into a waterproof tray. I took each cutting out, one by one, making a fresh, angled cut, dipping it into a solution of apple cider vinegar and water, then planting into the sand mix.
4. I brought the tray into our greenroom and placed the tray onto a warming mat, and fitted a plastic cloche over to keep the cuttings humid. I keep grow lights on during the day, and give them a good misting at night when I unplug the lights.
It has been two weeks, so in a couple more I will gently tug on each cutting to see if they have successfully developed roots.
Vanessa virginiences, or American Lady on Liatrus Spicata, or Button Snakewort.
Both Native
There are a lot of expressions that we hear now and then; most we think we know the origin of, some we don't. For the most part we just don't ponder the origin of commonplace expressions because they are... common. The first thing I discovered when beginning to read this little gem of a book, was not only hadn't I considered where many common sayings come from, but my preconceived idea of their origin was actually wrong! Kinda embarrassing, but guessing I may not be alone in this. I thought it would be of value then to share some tidbits from this book. Audio format is nice, as you can multitask while listening to this. This is my first attempt at recording reading a book, so any constructive criticism is welcome!
There are a lot of expressions that we hear now and then; most we think we know the origin of, some we don't. For the most part we just don't ponder the origin of commonplace expressions because they are... common. The first thing I discovered when beginning to read this little gem of a book, was not only hadn't I considered where many common sayings come from, but my preconceived idea of their origin was actually wrong! Kinda embarrassing, but guessing I may not be alone in this. I thought it would be of value then to share some tidbits from this book. Audio format is nice, as you can multitask while listening to this. This is my first attempt at recording reading a book, so any constructive criticism is welcome!
There are a lot of expressions that we hear now and then; most we think we know the origin of, some we don't. For the most part we just don't ponder the origin of commonplace expressions because they are... common. The first thing I discovered when beginning to read this little gem of a book, was not only hadn't I considered where many common sayings come from, but my preconceived idea of their origin was actually wrong! Kinda embarrassing, but guessing I may not be alone in this. I thought it would be of value then to share some tidbits from this book. Audio format is nice, as you can multitask while listening to this. This is my first attempt at recording reading a book, so any constructive criticism is welcome!
Cool! I've never noticed galls on staghorn sumac. Location: SE NH.
Melaphis rhois on Rhus typhina
https://bygl.osu.edu/node/1112
Happy garden with all the heat, humidity, and occasional rain.
I made a yummy zucchini chocolate bread for my sister's visit. Going to air fry some of what I just picked.
