Bamboo diary: Sowing Phyllostachys edulis

On Monday (29.8.2011) I sowed seeds of Phyllostachys edulis. I bought them a year ago, from some German on-line company that sells seeds of rare plants. I would had sowed them before, but I was in a student residence hall during the week, so I wasn’t at home enough, to keep an eye on them, if they would had sprouted. So now I have almost finished my studying, and I’ll be staying home for at least a year, and it’s perfect timing for me to grow bamboo. Yes, I know I’m very, very late with these seeds and their germination rate is probably 0%, but still I had to try.

Seeds of Phyllostachy edulis. 6 of them were too dry.

I used the same technique I used with Fargesia nitida,which I sowed the other day. I’ve had 36 seeds and 6 of them were completely dry. I potted 15 as they were and the other 15 with those 6 dry ones, I soaked them in water through the night and sowed them the next day (30.8.2011). The 6 dry ones didn’t get better, so I threw them away. And now, I'm waiting again. It’s probably just gambling with luck anyway.

So, read you next time!

Uroš   

Pool frog and Yellow-bellied toad photos

These are few photos of a pool frogs (Rana kl. esculenta) and Yellow-bellied toad (Bombina bombina)  that I took the other day when I was at my girlfriends. They were both still babies, but already looked as adults. I really like frogs so I want to take a photo of as many as I can. 

(click on photo for better quality)

So read you later.

Uroš      

Bamboo diary: Fargesia nitida seeds

Today I have sowed my first bamboo seeds of Fargesia nitida. I brought them form Scotland, from Castle Kennedy Gardens, to be exact (on 29.6.2011). I got them totally by coincidence, when I went to see the gardens. The dying bamboo was visible from far away, and I knew it at that very moment, that this had to be a flowering bamboo. First I took some photos of it’s flowers and habitus, then I took some samples for herbarium, for my collection and after, I also took some flowers, which were already producing seeds, so I was hoping that I would get some seeds from them.

Flowers were already produceing seeds.

Dying clumps with last leafs.

I put them in a paper bag with silca gel, so that it wouldn’t get rotten or moldy . They were stored like that til now. Because the germination rate of bamboo seed falls rapidly, I just hope that I was not to late. I got 10 seeds out of 20 collected flowers. Their size was around 5 mm.

Bamboo seeds look like grain.

To sown them I have used a technique from David Crompton book Ornamental Bamboos.

So let’s see what I have done:

First I put peat-based light compost and filled the pots so, that compost was 2,5cm under the upper edge of the pot. I used mix of two bought composts for seedlings (Brill and Valentin). Then I sprayed the compost with water, so I could put the seed on a wet base.

So, I put 3 or 2 seeds per pot, covered them with 1 cm of compost and sprayed the compost again. I placed the pots in a room with a constantly warm temperature (20°C+), and is very bright, but not a direct sunlight.

Now I’m hoping for the best, which is that at the least 2 or 3 seeds will sprout. Based on the theory by Ted Jordan Meredith (Bamboo for Gardens), it should be from 2 to 3 weeks. I’ll keep you posted.

So, read you next time.

Uroš

Logan Botanic Garden

Royal Botanical Garden Edinburg – Logan Botanic Garden is the place, where I spend half of my spring and summer this year. I was her between 24. May and 25. July, to be exact. Yes, I’m still in Logan, but my time here is running out. But before I leave, I still have a few days to spend in this beautiful garden. 

Me and three of my schoolmates came here for practical internship, because we have to have done 300 hours of practical education as part of studies to finish the college. And we thought, why not going abroad, if we get the chance. We had applied for some scholarship at ERASMUS and luckily we got it, so there were no obstacles left.  And we started our journey on 18th of May 2011.

We flew from Brnik airport to London and spent a few days there. I don’t like London much. It’s to crowded for me, and we spent too much money there, at least I have. After a few days of museums and galleries and, of course, fibulas Kew botanic garden (note to self: remember to write about it next time), we’ve moved on, from London to Glasgow, and from there we took a train to Stranraer, where the curator of Logan Botanic garden picked us up and brought us to where we are now. 

We’ve been placed in a cottage (you can see it at the end of the slideshow). And the air here is so clean and soft. 
 When the curator gave us the first tour of the garden, it was rather weary quick tour, my first impression was: I’m not in Scotland anymore!

I have seen pictures of it, on their official web site, but I couldn’t imagine, that it would be so different from the others gardens on this island.

The garden is practically in the middle of nowhere. One of our girls was just terrified by the thought, that there is nothing around there.  For me all of it together was just Paradise, two months of peace and relaxation. 

Working here was quite easy and relaxing. And the team of workers here is just fabulous. Oh, but these two months have passed as if in a blink of an eye.

Let me first tell you some facts about the garden:

Logan Botanic Garden got its name after the Logan Estate, because the garden itself used to be a part of it. The owners of Logan Estate were the McDouall family, for more than 700 years. The estate was passed on from generation to generation, until brothers Kenneth and Douglas McDouall became their owners. They became famous gardeners inspired by their mother Agnes, for which they believe was the first who planted Eucalyptus species on the estate.

The brothers had travelled to warm countries, for collecting plants. They also established many of the main structural plantings, which still remain similar today. 

To shorten the history part:

1         Kenneth McDouall died in 1945, the estate was passed on to his cousin Sir Ninian Buchan-Hepburn

2        in 1949 the gardens and house were passed on Mr. R. Olaf Hambro, who restored the gardens after war

3        in 1960 gardens were looked after by a Trust, until its founds became exhausted and the house along with the garden is given to the nation

4        in November 1969 the house and the biggest part of the garden became private again, but the Walled Garden and surrounding became part of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburg

Today we can find plants from South and Central America, South Africa, Atlantic Islands, Australia and New Zealand.

Together there is around 1,800 species here, just on 24-acre site. 120 of them are threatened in wild.

Here you will find plants, which other European botanical gardens can only keep in greenhouses. And it’s all because of the microclimate, which is unique in this part of Scotland, provided by Gulf Stream, also known as Atlantic convel.

I the garden, they also have a Logan Discovery centre, where you can explore the world of plants and where you can also find out about the work of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

In the Walled garden, the most interesting thing to me, is Cordyline Avenuse. It’s planted with cabbage palms or Coryline australis, that were planted there in 1980. And the Tree Fern Grove

(Dicksonia antartica) is over 150 years old. In woodland part of the garden, I liked to walk under Brazilian rhubarb. But my favourite place was, of curse, the bamboo bed, where I collected my first bamboo seeds of Chusquea culeou. But that is another story :D  

Now, just check the pictures out, and you will see why I was so surprised.

On Monday we are leaving this place. But I will return one day, for sure!

So read you next time!

Introduction

So, I’m starting with my blog for, which time now? Second, third or even forth time?  The problem is, that I just can’t stick with it. But hopefully, I’ll try to keep up with this one.

As you have already seen, on my profile text, I’ll write mostly about bamboo, books and wild life. Why bamboo and wild life? Well let us start at the beginning.

I am a gardener. I liked plants even when I was a little. And so I went, and I completed school for this profession. Actually my profession title is horticultural technician. And right now I am in college, studying for Horticultural Engineer at School of Horticulture and Visual Arts Celje. So there is where my passion for plants and working with them, grew even stronger. Gardening is not just something that I would do for living, it is also my biggest hobby. But two certain topics in this big world of horticulture are still, above others, my favourite. Bamboo, which I fell in love with, because of a novel book. And wildlife, because I think, you can get much more out of a garden if you have wildlife in it. It’s just more complete! 

What will you read here about bamboo? Mostly my new discoveries about this plant, my observations of the bamboo plants I have at home, and so on and on. Actually, I decided to write a bamboo journal about my plants, so why not share this with you guys? 

What will you read here about wildlife? Oh, I just love animals! Right now I’m finnishing my college and for my diploma, I have chosen wildlife in gardens. What will the exact title on my diploma be, I don’t know jet. But I will keep you posted. Oh, (just) right now, I can show you some photos of the Peregrine Falcon, of which I took pictures on cliffs in Portpatric (Scotland). 

What will you read here about books? All sorts of stuff. I really didn’t like reading until I was 15. But then it just opened up to me, and this is one of my passions. 

And now would probably be the appropriate moment to tell you something about myself. But I won't bother you with that. You’ll get to know me :D

So read you next time!

Uros

PS.: I love anime also!