Archive for the Clippings department

Scientists say there are over 60,000 tree species in the world

May 3, 2017 • Leave a Comment

NPR:

Wondering how many kinds of trees there are? There’s now a database that can answer that.

Scientists from the U.K.-based Botanic Gardens Conservation International say they have compiled the first-ever comprehensive list of all known tree species, totaling 60,065 different kinds.

The database includes information about where each species is found geographically. More than half of those species are only found in one country, the researchers wrote in the Journal of Sustainable Forestry. And many of them are threatened with extinction.

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Detroit school horticulture program receives national award

April 18, 2017 • 2 Comments

The Charles Drew Transition Center has become a national model for methodology and programs developed to educate special education students in the areas of Horticulture Science.

The Charles R. Drew Horticulture Program has been named the recipient of a 2017 Magna Award, sponsored by the National School Board Association. This award recognizes the Drew Horticulture Program as one of five innovative programs nationwide recognized for outstanding content, student involvement, and impact on school culture and local community.

For more than 20 years, the Magna Awards has been a national recognition program that honors innovative programs that advance student learning. Drew’s Horticulture Program was chosen for this highly prestigious award from among more than 2,650 applicants submitted from across the country.

Detroit’s Bandhu Gardens sells harvest and shares Bangladeshi food culture

March 18, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Bandhu Gardens recently cooked bitter melon (pictured) in a recent cooking class. (Photo: https://www.instagram.com/bandhu_gardens/) — Bandhu Gardens recently cooked bitter melon (pictured) in a recent cooking class. (Photo courtesy: @bandhu_gardens)

NPR:

One hundred seeds: That’s the number Minara Begum needs to plant in her Detroit backyard in order to grow enough vegetables such as squash, taro root and amaranth greens to feed her family for the year.

She learned to cook and garden at a young age in Bangladesh. In the two years since she moved to the U.S., she’s grown traditional South Asian crops to feed her family — and whoever visits — on any given day. There’s always a pot, or several, on the stove.

For Begum, this is a way of life. But through Bandhu Gardens, in Detroit, Begum and her neighbors are able to leverage their culinary skills into an entrepreneurial venture.

Bandhu Gardens sells surplus vegetables that are grown in the backyards of about six families to a handful of popular area restaurants. Last year they sold 120 pounds of greens, beans and peppers and 25 pounds of squash to restaurant accounts.

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Michigan prepares quarantine due to invasive hemlock tree pest

March 3, 2017 • Leave a Comment

A recent outbreak of the pest within the state has prompted new legislation which will restrict the movement of hemlock products within Michigan in an effort to control this invasive pest.
Over the last several years, in reaction to the outbreak of hemlock wooly adelgid in forest stands across the eastern U.S., Michigan banned the shipment of hemlock trees and wood with bark into the state. However, a recent outbreak of the pest within the state has prompted new legislation which will restrict movement within Michigan in an effort to control this invasive pest.

The exotic hemlock wooly adelgid insect was first identified in the eastern U.S. in early 1950s. It has systematically spread throughout the Appalachian region and is devastating the forest by the thousands. In an effort to help protect the estimated 170 million trees in Michigan, a ban or quarantine on bringing hemlock nursery stock and wood products with attached bark into the state has been in place for some time and was last revised in 2014.

Plant amaryllis bulbs now for winter color after the holidays

December 20, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Plan and plant ahead to give your home some winter cheer after the holidays—plant an amaryllis bulb. The bulb contains everything it needs to produce large, showy flowers that will brighten your winter days. All you need to do is plant the bulb using seven easy steps, water sparingly, then sit back and watch the growth. Click here to see the seven steps in a simple, one-minute video.

Japanese knotweed spreads throughout Michigan

October 6, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Detroit Free Press:

A pretty, invasive plant that flowers in late summer and early fall is spreading throughout Michigan. And it’s so prolific and tough, it can grow through sidewalks, driveways and building foundations.

Japanese knotweed, native to East Asia, has become such a pervasive invader in Great Britain that those with it on their property can have trouble getting a mortgage or home insurance. It’s not to that point in Michigan — and concerned ecologists want to keep it that way.
The law prohibits bringing the plant into the state or moving it around within Michigan.

The shrub-like plant features a hollow, bamboo-like stem and broad leaves in a zigzag pattern up the shoot. It grows up to 10 feet in height. In Michigan, the plant blooms small, creamy white flowers in August and September. Its root network and rhizomes — a stem that grows horizontally under the ground — can grow up to 65 feet away from the weed, shooting up additional plants along its path.

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Vacant Detroit buildings breed indoor farms

August 16, 2016 • Leave a Comment

The Detroit News:

Entrepreneurs are taking advantage of inexpensive former warehouses and factories in Detroit and transforming them for agricultural use to produce local foods.

There’s a growing movement of using vacant buildings and spaces to produce lettuce, basil and kale, and even experiment with fish farming — year-round.

And the city is considering regulations that could expand indoor agriculture even more.

“Fifteen, 20 years from now, we want people to say, ‘Of course they grow kale in that building,’ ” said Ron Reynolds, co-founder of Green Collar Foods Ltd. It built its first indoor-farming research hub in Eastern Market’s Shed 5 in 2015.

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The story behind the buzz of bumblebees

August 5, 2016 • Leave a Comment

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Michigan biological control facility produces wasps for battle against Emerald Ash Borer

July 21, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Great Lake Echo:

Experts used to say the number of ash trees lost in Michigan was tens of millions.

Now they say hundreds of millions, according to Deb McCullough, a professor in Michigan State University’s entomology and forestry departments. Still, there’s hope for the ash’s survival.

“In a nutshell, what I found is that [ash] seems to be holding on quite well,” said Dan Kashian, who studies ash tree regeneration.

The mortality varies among species, but now the devastation has become an international epidemic, McCullough said. While some patches are worse than others, it’s hard to find a lot of live ash trees in Lower Michigan and much of the eastern and central Upper Peninsula.

The culprit is the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, an exotic Asian beetle discovered in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002. Adult beetles are metallic green and about 1/2-inch long. They hitched rides on ship and plane cargo originating from Asia and movint to Detroit.

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American Dahlia Society selects best dahlia of the past 50 years

June 18, 2016 • Leave a Comment

The American Dahlia Society recently announced that ‘Edna C’ has been selected as the “Best Dahlia of the Past 50 Years.” The designation is part of the society’s centennial celebration. The selection criteria included popularity, dahlia show success, and variety longevity. The runner-up was ‘Hamari Accord,’ a yellow medium semi-cactus. ‘Inland Dynasty,’ a yellow giant cactus dahlia, finished in third place. ‘Edna C’ is a large yellow dahlia that creates a “bouffant” effect. Originated in 1968, ‘Edna C’ has been widely grown and successful in dahlia shows throughout North America. Back in 1964, the variety ‘Jersey’s Beauty’ was acclaimed by the American Dahlia Society as the best dahlia during the society’s first 50 years.

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