🌿 Discover the Perfect Plants for Your Space! 🌿 Explore our handpicked collection of cycads, aloes, seeds, and more to transform your garden or landscape. Shop Now Identifying Aloe arenicola Picture this: you’re trekking through the coastal dunes of South Africa, the sun warming your face, and the wind whipping through the sparse vegetation. Suddenly, […]
Aloe arenicola: The Sand Aloe – Coastal Succulent Read More »
Santa Fe Botanic emailed me recently and asked how to define and categorize some plants into their database, which I grew, and which Lauren Springer used in the memorial garden for David Salman. These are the “Aloinopsis hybrids” gleaned from friends and then re-grown and bred myself for some years.
Answering the question leads to a brain-twisting philosophical discussion I wanted to share with you that I’ve been mulling on for the last year.
What are the “Aloinopsis hybrid” plants?
” Well, it’s a complicated answer:
Indeed, there are tons of plants in the Americas whose distribution suggests (or screams) that humans were a key “dispersal agent” in moved them around, and they naturalized. I’ve recently been on a reading bender learning that there are wild/domestic potatoes to the southwestern US, even in Colorado!
There are agaves that grow around ruins in Arizona which are not related to the nearby wild ones, and one awesome researcher, Wendy Hodgson, put in the massive effort for years to sort out their genetics to find that the plants were essentially “heirloom” veggies carried up by early Americans from modern day Mexico and went feral when they quit being cultivated in Arizona. For natural-history geeks like me who love to have living specimens in our gardens with such stories, unfortunately those agave are probably not quite hardy up here in Colorado…
But back to the Aloinopsis/Mesembs:
John Stireman wrote an authoritative article for International Rock Gardener on it, here. (His garden of them, above. )The annual NARGS seed exchange, which I think is still going at the moment for a few weeks, would be the best source of hybrid seed, coming from John and his brother.
I had only heard the word “landrace” in the context of heirloom/heritage domestic animal breeds, so I was mindblown to learn There is a book on the powerful, practical and under-documented subject of Landrace Veggies. Landracing has supplied all of humanity’s food until recently “for centuries by illiterate farmers…” (paraphrasing the book). Thanks to the author, who gave me some seeds, I’m one small link in a chain that is creating a landrace of hardy pistachios. In a few years, I’ll be looking for a client who is interested in such things to carry the torch and plant a small orchard of the seedlings I am growing.
For me, I found it easy to extrapolate from this lovely, fun, quirky little book to apply the idea to flowers, natives, et cetera. For years now I have been using landracing, as a rule, in my wildflower meadow seed projects. For some plants, it’s been the secret to success. After all, what is today, and this new year, but just a fine line between the past and the future?
What are hybrid Aloinopsis, really, and what is a landrace? Read More »
Visitas: 16By: Salvador Meza In today’s interconnected world, the aquaculture industry stands at the crossroads of tradition and innovation. Companies that have cemented their leadership in the analog world through years of hard work, excellence, and meaningful contributions risk losing that position in the digital realm if they fail to adapt. This article delves into […]
The post The Importance of Sharing Leadership Content for Companies in the Global Aquaculture Industry appeared first on Aquaculture Magazine.
As people have shaped the natural world, so wildlife – from mahoganies to magpies – has had to evolve to survive
From the highest mountains to the depths of the ocean, humanity’s influence has touched every part of planet Earth. Many plants and animals are evolving in response, adapting to a human-dominated world. One notable example came during the Industrial Revolution, when the peppered moth turned from black and white to entirely black after soot darkened its habitat. The black moths were camouflaged against the soot-covered trees, surviving to pass on their genes to the next generation.
As human influence has expanded, so too have the strange adaptations forced on the natural world. We asked researchers around the world for similar changes they have noticed in the 21st century.
Shrinking trees and tuskless elephants: the strange ways species are adapting to humans Read More »
🌿 Discover the Perfect Plants for Your Space! 🌿 Explore our handpicked collection of cycads, aloes, seeds, and more to transform your garden or landscape. Shop Now Identifying Aloe paedogona Let’s dive into the fascinating world of Aloe paedogona, a unique succulent hailing from the island nation of Madagascar. One of the first things you’ll
Aloe paedogona: The Slippery Aloe – Unique Texture Read More »
🌿 Discover the Perfect Plants for Your Space! 🌿 Explore our handpicked collection of cycads, aloes, seeds, and more to transform your garden or landscape. Shop Now Taxonomy and Description Aloe tormentorii, also dramatically known as the Tormentor’s Aloe, holds a unique place in the world of succulents. Its scientific classification places it within the
Aloe tormentorii: The Tormentor’s Aloe – Mauritius Endemic Read More »
I went to Santorini a few years ago and they talked about how planting their tomatoes in the mineral rich lava rock helps add flavor and helps retain water since they hold water in their pores. They get little rain and the rock holds water. They often find the roots wrapped tightly around rock which helps break it down as well. Has anyone added lava rock not specifically for drainage or weed/pest control and more to add minerals or help with water retention during a drought?
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Lava rock in garden beds Read More »
Not sure if anyone has done this or posted about this but I had a thought that I am not sure will even work. Has anyone attempted to integrate an Ondol or radiant heat type system with a rocket mass heater? My thought would be to have the exhaust from the stove wind throughout the concrete foundation of the house (with clean out ports at a few ends of the house), then go up the side through a tall chimney. This might be a far fetched idea, but to use the whole foundation of the house as the mass I feel like would be very effective.
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🌿 Discover the Perfect Plants for Your Space! 🌿 Explore our handpicked collection of cycads, aloes, seeds, and more to transform your garden or landscape. Shop Now Description and Identification Aloe forbesii, a captivating endemic aloe to the island of Socotra, stands out amongst the diverse flora of this unique location. This succulent, a member
Aloe forbesii: Forbes’ Aloe – Socotra Island Species Read More »
🌿 Discover the Perfect Plants for Your Space! 🌿 Explore our handpicked collection of cycads, aloes, seeds, and more to transform your garden or landscape. Shop Now Taxonomy and Description Aloe welmelensis, also known as the Welmel Aloe, stands out as a truly unique member of the succulent world. Its classification within the Aloe genus
Aloe welmelensis: The Welmel Aloe – Ethiopian Endemic Read More »
