Collecting and saving seed

Collecting and growing seed is a cheap way to get new plants. It’s also easier than you might think and few activities bring more pleasure than raising your own flowers at home.

The key to seed saving is to emulate nature as far as possible. Collect your seeds just before the plant is about to shed them. This doesn't involve hanging around decaying plants and waiting for seed heads to pop, but just keeping an eye on things.

As the plant begins to dry and turn brown, the seeds will be ripening so you should place a paper bag over the top of a flower head, cut the stem and invert the whole thing.

Tie the bag at the top before putting it somewhere to dry – hung from a the roof of a garage with good ventilation, for example. Check the bag after a few weeks and you should find seeds in the bottom of the bag. If not, you can give them a helping hand by rubbing or shaking the seeds out of the dry pods or seed heads.

Read more here.

How much are plants helping us fight climate change?

New research suggests climate models don't give plants enough credit for absorbing excess carbon dioxide from the air. But is the discrepancy enough to make a difference in global climate change?

Earth's plant life may soak up more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than previously thought, according to a new study. And since CO2 emissions from burned fossil fuels are also the main driver of man-made climate change, that raises an obvious question: Are trees saving the world from us?

It's widely known that plants need CO2 for photosynthesis, but the study's authors say current computer models of Earth's climate underestimate how much CO2 is absorbed by vegetation overall. That's because most climate models don't factor in the way CO2 diffuses inside a leaf's mesophyll tissue, causing the models to misjudge plants' global CO2 intake by as much as 16 percent.

More photosynthesis is good, but can a 16 percent discrepancy slow down climate change? Some news coverage and commentary has suggested it might, raising the possibility trees and other land plants could buy us more time to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Yet several prominent scientists — including a co-author of the new study — tell MNN such interpretations are mostly hot air.

"No, it would not reduce the urgency of reducing emissions," says Lianhong Gu, an environmental scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory who helped produce the study. "The climate change associated with fossil fuel use is much bigger than the response of plants to CO2."

Read more: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/blogs/how-much-are-plants-helping-us-fight-climate-change

Plantify plants and service – Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Plantify.co.uk is the premier plant specialist shop in the UK and they pride themselves on selling substantial British-grown plants in their natural season that will thrive in your garden.

They have probably the largest range of plants for sale in the UK, with over 3000 varieties in stock at any one time. The bulk of plants are available in 2 or 3 liter containers, which means that you get a plant with a substantial root ball that will quickly establish and develop into the perfect specimen.

All their plants are 'grown hard' and are overwintered in the UK and while Plantify do sell plants all year they will never force a plant out of its natural season.

Each plant is labeled, so even if the plant is not in flower, you will be able to ensure that the correct plant is placed for you to enjoy when it comes into bloom.

Plantify's unique packing system and fast courier delivery ensures that plants will arrive in the best condition (and the protected inner packaging makes it easy to gift). Delivery times are about five working days from order, though my plants arrived there very next day.

The soil in the containers, in which the plants arrived, was covered with a thick layer of “bark” mulch and in addition to that the entire pot (not the plant) was wrapped in plastic material. The moisture retention thus is second to none and plants will stay moist for a long time this way.

My plants, Rosmarinus officinalis 'Tuscan Blue' (Rosemary) and Convolvulus cneorum aka Silverbush, the two which I had asked to receive for this review, and Callistemon 'Inferno' aka Bottlebrush, which the PR agent for the company chose for me as a third specimen, arrived, as said, in less than 24 hours, and in extremely good order. Had I gotten them from a garden center myself and got them home, even in a car, which I do not possess, they would have certainly gotten damaged, even if only slightly. They did not coming by carrier from Plantify.

The plants are very strong specimen the kind one rarely sees in any garden center and the Rosemary was (and still is) in fact in flower.

The Silverbush and the Rosemary will still be OK for a while even in the pot in which they came while the Bottlebrush I should be re-potting into a larger container very soon indeed (when it stops raining for a while).

If the specimen plants received and the packaging are, which I believe so, the standard then using plantify.co.uk to source plants is a great way to go. No hassle traveling to and fro the garden center and plants arrive unharmed.

Verdict: 5 out of 5 for plants, delivery and packaging.

© 2013