Nature Bats Last

Nature Bats Last

Ever so often you encounter a book that is not only a pleasure to read but one that resonates within your mental framework. And how much better it is when you discover the author has written over a dozen books in a similar vein. My attraction to the writings of Mr. Pyle began with the purchase at a thrift store of Mariposa Road: The First Butterfly Big Year, a book documenting his quest to locate as many of the 800 or so butterflies found in the United States in one calendar year. His entertaining, fluid prose about a pursuit that could easily become mundane, guaranteed it didn’t. I was hooked.

Robert Michael Pyle resides in the Willapa Hills of southwest Washington where he has lived since the seventies, I think, anyway, a considerable length of time. During those years he has written effusively about the natural environment and history of this much overlooked section of the state. He is best known for his study and work with lepidoptera, and is indeed the author, or co-author, of several butterfly guides. He is also a poet, and this sensitivity is reflected in his prose. I could go on and on but, for a change, won’t.

The primary reason for this post is to encourage those of you with a passionate attraction and appreciation of the natural world, especially the northwest, to take a look. I’m not sure which book to recommend, but if your interests tend toward forests, logging, and forest management, or lack thereof, then perhaps Wintergreen: Rambles in a Ravaged Land might be the place to start. The book is a little dated, not in spirit, but in time. It was written in 1986, and I like to think many things have improved since then. If nothing else, the next time you are in a library or bookstore take a few minutes to read the next to last chapter, And the Coyotes Will Lift a Leg.

In Praise of The Beatles

In Praise of The Beatles

The Beatles, the musical group, not the beetles that comprise the order coleoptera (which I would rather comment on), need no endorsement from the likes of me, but, for reasons I will make clear in a moment I have gained an appreciation of them, and their music I did not have prior to today. It was always easy listening background music to me - there seemed to be little if anything to excite or offend anyone. That they were the physic sought by young people of the sixties, and a great many that could no longer be considered young, is without question.

Last Thursday I purchased a CD from a thrift store titled “Beatles 1’, a collection of 27 of their songs that climbed the popularity chart to number one. Until today I tended to relegate their music to the ‘teeny-bopper’, pop culture genre, and have always preferred grittier offerings from The Rolling Stones and other groups. I still do, but, I now recognize that beneath and beyond the “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah” and all the other wonderful, catchy phrases there was/is something more substantial.

So, on a dull, drizzly day as I repotted Edelweiss ‘Matterhorn’, various Iris, Lilies, and too many Pulsatilla vulgaris (Heiler hybrids) I slipped ‘The Beatles 1’ disk into my CD player. The songs are arranged chronologically for the most part and I was amazed, when I glanced at the ‘liner notes’ (I’m obviously an old LP player) that all the songs were recorded during the 1960’s! That’s 50 years ago, isn’t it? Can’t be, my math must be wrong. The sun is in retrograde motion. I can’t be that old. The songs can’t be that old. It’s like something from the movie ‘Brazil” - “They’ve gone metric’.

Damn, except for a few of the earlier offerings which seemed to target the pre-teen audience, I find the music enchanting, meaningful, and likely to still be quite relevant, especially to young people struggling to make sense of their world, many years from now, Those halcyon years when I aspired to be a Paperback Writer living peacefully in a Norwegian Wood While My Guitar Gently Wept. 

Regardless, this is now, and forever, but as I load an old pirated tape of rare, early ‘Pink Floyd’ into my cassette deck and continue with the transplanting I tip my moth-eaten, Venice West Cafe, black beret to John, Paul, George, and Ringo, and praise the goodwill and celebration of life their music engenders everywhere.

Let It Be, Let it Be.

It Got My Attention

It got my attention

In case you haven’t noticed I am not a religious person, spiritual yes, and a staunch believer in the power of the individual, but not a believer in supernatural beings, unless accepted as such. As a result I often, without malice, and with a certain amount of amiableness, invoke the names of a variety of the thousands of Gods mankind has created, in a less than positive manner. So, what happened this morning reminded of an episode from The Adventures of Superman (aired in the 1950’s). Perry White was the editor of The Daily Planet, the newspaper Clark Kent and Lois Lane worked for. Well, it seems Perry was quite fond of saying “Great Caesars Ghost’ in moments of trial or tribulation. Eventually Caesar [they never specified which one] grew tired of Mr. White invoking his name in such a manner, and so often, and paid the newspaper editor a visit, with the usual expected consequences.

This morning, on my way to grub out a Darlow’s Enigma rose and an errant Trumpet Vine, I realized I had forgotten my large mattock and unconsciously said something like “Kiss the Buttocks of Thor”, and shook my paw at the sky. As I turned to fetch the missing tool I was suddenly struck dumb by noise and light and fell to the ground. I know not how long I lay on the grass but when I managed to open my eyes I found this tremendous lightning bolt firmly implanted in the ground next to me. It had fortunately missed the Corylus Avellana contorta, [Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick], but I swear I smelled brimstone and the ‘lightning bolt’ was hot.

In the future I shall direct my blasphemies, and shake my ragged fist against Rong Yaoling, a Chinese God of Thunder. or perhaps Gao Hui, the Chinese Thunder King, or, better yet, the North American Thunderbird. Or is this perhaps a talon from the mythic bird?

Missouri Sundrop, What’s Not to Like?

Missouri (Ozark) Sundrop, What’s Not to Like?

Oenothera macrocarpa, also still known as O. missouriensis. Large, bright, four-petaled, canary-yellow (RHS 002A), 3-4” flowers that open new blooms from early summer until felled by frost. A hardy perennial that will bloom the first year from seed. I’ve only grown it for two years so the jury is sequestered, attempting to establish its invasiveness. Many members of this family are invasive, but those tend to be species that also spread via underground runners. Commonly referred to as a member of the evening primrose clan it is of course not a primrose, and it blooms, like most plants, during daylight hours. Native to much of the midwest and eastern states. Prefers full sun (though many of ours do quite well in considerable shade, though perhaps not as floriferous), and a quick-draining soil. Easy from seed. Many of our plants came from a seed capsule I picked early last spring. It was a sodden seed pod but when I opened it I found many of the seeds had already germinated and I simply transferred them to pots to continue their development. So far it is a bright, trouble-free addition to the landscape.

The original plant, now about 2' x 3' but all stems emanating from one root.

The Effects of Glyphosate on Bamboo

The Effects of Glyphosate on Bamboo

vive la difference (?)

Let me start by saying I am not a fan of using synthetic compounds to control either animals, plants, or insects, but out of necessity I have occasionally resorted to what I consider the judicial use of a glyphosate (Roundup) on certain persistent and unwanted plants, namely certain bamboo species - the runners. When painted full strength on freshly cut culms the bamboo will usually die, or at least that portion directly connected to the point of application, within a week or two.

Now to something I find interesting.

Many years ago I was given a pot of Phyllostachys nuda by a friend. I divided the pot and proudly established two luxurious groves. Twenty years later their culms were rising ten to fifteen feet away from the mother plant, and the network of rhizomes they left in their wake was/is astonishing. Digging, even with mechanical aid was ultimately futile so I resorted to the use of Roundup. It worked, though every year I still have to stifle occasional new growth to keep it within bounds.

Now let me change direction momentarily.

About five years ago I noticed two beautiful twenty foot canes with very short, dense leaves towering above one of the nuda groves. I thought perhaps I was in possession of a new cultivar, a rare ’sport’ that would make me famous and rich. I thought that if I could only propagate these particular canes I could make a fortune, pay off my student loan, and move to the south of France. Of course I did nothing except admire them, and wonder how they had developed.

Move ahead a year or two

and I am strolling through the Los Angeles County arboretum when I suddenly see ahead of me a line of bamboo exactly like those that had appeared in my grove. I studied them for some time, allowing what little gray matter I have left, to analyze and perhaps deduce a connection, if one existed. Slowly it dawned on me as I connected the dots. This bamboo was adjacent to an asphalt pathway, though separated from it by several feet of barren ground, and I quickly realized that to prevent the bamboo from spreading into the pathway they were most likely using a powerful herbicide to keep the running bamboo in check - likely ‘Roundup’ or Glyphosate equivalent.

Back to the present.

I have a grove of Phyllostachys Atrovaginata, the incense bamboo, and it too has proven to be a ‘thug’. I keep it in bounds by painting ‘Roundup’ full strength on the new culms (after they have been harvested), and if the rhizome is not completely killed it seems the surviving canes produce vegetation not unlike that of Acer palmatum 'Shishigashira' the Lion's Head Japanese Maple.

Normal growth

Under the Influence

I wonder, if one could determine the correct amount, the precise concentration necessary, and the frequency of application to produce this genetic aberration, without killing the plant, I can envision only a profitable future, or at least a learned paper on the mechanisms involved leading to some esoteric advanced degree in horticultural science.

Respecting the Balance

Respecting the Balance

My wife found this caterpillar on one of the garden paths yesterday and it reminded me of why I do my best not to destroy the nests of hornets, yellow-jackets, wasps, etc. unless they are located in a ‘high-traffic’ area, like under the top of a picnic table around knee level, or beside the back door, I leave them alone. I am rarely stung, though my last encounter, two years ago, with a well-developed nest of bald-faced hornets who had built a sizable nest in a rhododendron I had decided to prune, almost made me change my mind. All in all members of the order Hymenoptera are extremely beneficial as predators against other insects, many of which do considerable damage to our vegetables and ornamental plants . This caterpillar, which I first thought to be the larval stage of the Luna moth, better known as a tomato hornworm (several tomatoes plants are nearby) is on reflection more likely that of Antheraea polyphemus, the Polyphemus moth. [What markings are visible seem wrong, and the shade of green too light.] All our tomato plants proved to be caterpillar free. Or is it perhaps the larva of a five-spotted Hawk moth, Manduca quinquemaculata

Regardless, the hornet(?), left side of the pictures, seems to have things under control.

Postscript

I went out this morning to make a detailed study and found the entire caterpillar gone!

Mendelian Magic

Why you may not look like your Brother or Sister

I’m too old to debate anyone on anything, especially something as sensitive as genetics, though my beliefs exceed the tensile strength of tungsten.

Genetics is a wonderful thing. Genes, gametes, Chromosomes, and all that jazz. Hybridization, natural or contrived.

Each year I collect and germinate seed from several hundred plants and this includes our many barberries. Seed from berberis thunbergii ‘Orange Rocket’. collected in 2016 germinated and grew well in 2017.  This year, as they leafed out, I could not help but notice obvious differences. Same seed parent, but at least four with obvious colour differences.