DEER May 28, 2011
Posted by thenaturalist in Animals, Natural World, Plants.add a comment
Deer numbers have ballooned from fewer than 500,000 nationwide in the early 1900s to a current 25-30 million. Paul Curtis, an extension wildlife specialist at Cornell says, “New houses out in rural areas have become deer sanctuaries. Most subdivisions become no-hunting zones. That makes for subsidized grazing.” Deer bring automobile accidents, Lyme disease, and extensive wildflower and forest losses. “They can really do a job on hardwood seedlings browsed during the winter months,” Curtis said. “Trillium and several kinds of Lady’s Slippers (orchids) are particularly sensitive to deer grazing.” Ruth Clausen, author of the new book 50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants (Timber Press), says no plant is deer-proof, but the animals are selective feeders and will ignore certain plants if offered alternatives. (Dean Fosdick, AP, “Fawn over deer? Not likely if you’re a gardener,” Burlington Free Press, May 28, 2011)
WORLD’S OLDEST POTTED PLANT REPOTTED July 30, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Interesting, Plants, Records.add a comment
On July 29, 2009, what is believed to be the world’s oldest potted plant, a 234-year old cycad, was repotted at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London. A 13-foot-high lifting gantry was brought in to hoist the plant, with the help of several garden workers, to maneuver it into its new pot. This is the first time that Kew Gardens has repotted the ancient cycad, Encephalartos altensteninli, which was collected by Kew’s first plant hunter, Francis Masson, from the Eastern Cape region of South Africa in the early 1770s. (Caption under a photo taken by Matt Dunham, AP, 7/30/2009)
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