Skip to main content

Posts

When Plants Fight Back

By Andrew Scott, Horticulturist for The Gardens on Spring Creek This is the second installment of a two-part feature on plant defenses. Read Part I online at North Forty News . Caffeine, nicotine, morphine, cocaine ... sounds like the ingredients label on an old-timey cold medicine, right? These molecules are actually all alkaloids, some of the most common chemical deterrents deployed by plants. As the adage goes, the dose makes the poison. While people can (and do) ingest these alkaloids for their psychoactive effects, they prove to be much more deadly to a small insect that weighs all but a few tenths of a milligram.  The sap of opium poppies ( Papaver somniferum ) contains morphine, a potent sedative (via Daniel Prudek , Hodder Education Magazines)   Still, alkaloids have a strongly bitter taste, which animals have learned to associate with the toxic effects they can have. Eating green potatoes isn’t likely to kill you, but solanine, the alkaloid that triggers this change...
Recent posts

Blooming Blurbs: Silly Lilies

Blooming Blurbs: Silly Lilies By Finn Beckman If I ask you to think of a lily , w hat do you think of? Maybe daylilies and their short- lived but vibrant flowers, or maybe your mind wanders into the water to think of water lilies and frogs hopping from pad to pad. There are many plants that use the name lily but taxonomically speaking , t he lily family is smaller than you might assume. In fact, it doesn't even include the two plants mentioned above. But do not fret! In this week’s blooming blurb, we are going to take a trip around The Gardens to clarify what is and what isn’t truly a lily.  Our first stop is the Daylily Garden,  located on the west side of the visitor center building on our grounds .  Hemerocallis cvs . , or daylilies , are native to China and Japan . Growing up to 2.5'  tall and across , most prefer full sun to part shade. Although they may resemble true lilies , Hemerocallis have several differences that set them in the Asph...

Blooming Blurbs: Funky Flowers

  by Ben Stickland This week, we are exploring The Gardens and looking at plants with funky and unique flowers! Different shapes, textures and colors are a great way to add interest and drama to a garden, and we will be highlighting how these cool plants can do just that. Round-headed Garlic ( Allium   sphaerocephalon) Round-headed garlic, sometimes called drumstick allium, is a perennial flowering bulb in the Amaryllidaceae (onion/amaryllis family). It is native to Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, and is well-adapted to the high and dry conditions of the Colorado garden. Drumstick allium sports slender gray-green leaves and will send out a 2-3 foot flower stalk in early summer. It is notable for being one of the last Allium species in the garden to bloom, reaching it’s peak in early July in Fort Collins. Unlike other Alliums , the flower is egg shaped and has a unique bicolor effect as the flowers change from light green to a deep magenta. Drumstick alliums prefe...

Putting Together the Perfect Pot

Putting Together the Perfect Pot   By Andrew Scott, The Gardens on Spring Creek Horticulturist   Annuals really are the perfect foray into gardening. There are thousands of variet ies to choose from, they’re relatively inexpensive , and if you don’t like the design you made this year, you can always try something new next year or just plant another pot . It’s that first poin t that can give folks analysis paralysis though : if there are thousands of varieties to chose from, how can you know if yo u’re picking the right one s ?  First of all , rel ax — the y’re flowe r s, they’re all good . Second, these thousands of varieties can be set into just three categories that each have a unique role to play in annual design. Whet her I’m putting together the pots in our Welcome Garden or planting the annual display beds on the Color Walk and Everitt Pavilion Stage terraces, al l I hav e to keep in mind are thrillers, fillers , and spillers .  Thr...