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Epimedium with short flower spikes and large spider-type flowers

July 15, 2018

This article in the Epimedium series catalogs Epimedium species by their plant form and flower types in order to help you select the best plants for your site. There are too many Epimediums to list in a single article so check out the others in the series to see other categories such as white Epimediums or large Epimediums. The next group are evergreen epimediums that have large flowers in pink to white, but are borne on short flower stalks. Epimedium brachyrrhizum, first described from China in 1997 is similar to another species, Epimedium leptorrhizum (Zone 5-8) that has been known since 1938. Both have spreading rhizomes with Epimedium brachyrrhizum possessing a thicker rhizome, spreading considerably slower. For us E. leptorrhizum never exceeds 6″ in height, while E. brachyrrhizum typically reaches 1′ tall. Both evergreen species are topped in early spring with very short flower spikes of 8-12 flowers ranging from pink to lavender, and occasionally white. E. brachyrrhizum (Zone 5-8) is represented in the trade by two hard to find cultivars Epimedium ‘Elfin Magic’, and soon, the white flowered PDN selection Epimedium ‘Little Angels’. The foliage of E. brachyrrhizum turns a nice shade of lavender in the winter. Epimedium ogisui(1993) (Zone 6-9) is a similar spreading evergreen species with near horizontal spikes of large white flowers. The Chinese Epimedium epsteinii (Zone 5b-8), also named in 1997, is a similar evergreen species with short, but spreading rhizomes and short flowers spikes, sporting up to 12 large bicolored inflorescences of purple cups and spurs, backed by a white outer sepal. Plants in this group make superb groundcovers, often with attractive red mottled foliage. Some of the most showy epimediums are those with large flowers on long spikes. The evergreen Epimedium acuminatum (Zone 5-8) from limestone cliffs in the Southern Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan leads this list along with its hybrid, Epimedium x omeiense (acuminatum x fangii). E. x omeiense is fairly new to cultivation, first flowering in cultivation in 1982 (W. Stearn 2002). In our studies, the primary easily visible difference is that Epimedium acuminatum has smaller, narrower leaves and is shorter in stature, 12″ tall for E. acuminatum, compared to 24″ tall for E. x omeiense. E. acuminatum flowers with 18″ long arching spikes, each adorned with up to 50 large flowers composed of long dark purple spurs, highlighted by pale lavender inner sepals. The flowers are so large, the spikes can become quite heavy, so much that their tips nearly touch the ground. For this reason, I recommend both E. acuminatum and E. x omeiense be planted atop a berm, so the flowers can be better enjoyed. Both E. acuminatum and E. x omeiense are prized for their long-pointed and wonderfully mahogany mottled leaves. Compared to the tight clumping species, this is a reasonably good spreading species. Heronswood’s E. acuminatum ‘Ruby Star’ (white sepals, lavender spurs, and a purple cup), and Darrell Probst’s E. acuminatum ‘Night Mistress’ (pink spurs, purple spurs, and a purple cup) are the two easiest to find clones on the market. Mikinori Ogisu=s wild collected clone of E. x omeiense released as Epimedium ‘Stormcloud’, Dan Hinkley’s ‘Myriad Years’ (white sepals, light lavender spurs and a purple cup), and the Japanese ‘Akane’ Epimedium are the easiest to find in the market.

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What Are The Characteristics That Describe Organic Hydroponics

July 9, 2018

One of the advantages with organic hydroponics is that nobody can say that the plants aren’t ecological. Many people claim that even if the plants aren’t treated with chemicals they are given artificial nutriments and minerals and these substitutes can’t do good. So organic hydroponics is the solution that very few dislike.

Organic hydroponics has many advantages but some problems either, it depends primary on how you see the problem. Mention should be made that in some places hydroponics vegetables are considered organic in some others they are not.

What are the main characteristics that describe organic hydroponics?

One problem regarding organic hydroponics is that after some time the mixture of natural nutriments and minerals will be attacked by microorganisms that can transform the solution into something harmful to the plants. On the other hand the synthetic solution doesn’t have this problem but suffers from another. If you place the wrong amount of chemicals in your mixture, there is nothing you can do afterwards, and the crops are lost.

Organic hydroponics on the other hand works gently and even if you make some mistakes nothing irreparable will happen. Growing plants with organic hydroponics is actually easier and healthier, most of the hydroponics growing are associated with pH and ppm problems, once you remove the source of the problem (the chemicals) you won’t have to worry too much about your plants.

When using organic hydroponics you combine the benefits from classical soil methods and from hydroponics agriculture as well; thus you will eliminate the annoying aspect of having a perfect mixture of chemicals or else risk losing your crops. If you make an objective analysis you realize that organic hydroponics is the closest you will get to traditional crops.

The only real problem is that in places like Antarctica or other extreme areas where hydroponics is fantastic, organic hydroponics is not always a valid option, because organic nutriments aren’t so easy to preserve when compared to their chemical competitors.

This method applies best in regions that have a good soil providing natural nutriments as supply for an organic hydroponics farm but the crops won’t compete against similar soil plants that grow in the region. They are rather aimed against import products that come at a higher price.

Why is organic hydroponics preferred by most ecologists?

We can compare organic hydroponics to raising a child using just synthetic food, synthetic minerals and nutrients or any other similar mixture and never give him or her fresh fruit and vegetables. How would that be like? The same thing stands true for the plants that grow only with chemicals, they can’t possibly be compared to soil-grown or organic hydroponics similar products. This is in fact the main objection ecologists have against traditional hydroponics, and it continues to be reinforced regularly.

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Kitchen Food Dehydrators – A History Steeped In Piracy

July 5, 2018

How do you feed a world that is becoming increasingly hungry? This is not a new question and one that according to the Food Preservation Team from the Department of Nutritional Science at the University of Missouri has been plaguing food engineers for decades if not centuries. According to their research achieving this grand goal cheaply and efficiently on a global scale is the challenge. Food preservation through dehydration may hold the key to feeding masses of hungry people. While the future of food dehydration may be stellar, its history over the last several centuries may hold some surprises.

Food drying or dehydrating is believed to be one of the oldest methods of food preservation throughout human history. It allowed hunter-gatherer societies to successfully travel, explore and hunt for different food sources. The development of agriculture was the single, major factor that made it possible for mankind to settle in permanent communities and transition from hunter-gatherer nomadic tribes. How to save or preserve these foods for a later date is a whole separate study. Research has showed that the first ancient stable, settled, civilization arose in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the Middle East. The uncovering of dried fruits, grains and dried, salt preserved fish and meat are traced back to over seven thousand years to these first ancient civilizations. Farming eliminated the constant need to search for food and allowed populations to grow through the production of a more stable food source. There are neither volumes of recorded history nor any one source of collected material on food dehydration. However very recent Middle Eastern archeological digs have un-earthed food samples which research determined to have been dried foods originating in ancient Jericho over 4000 years ago. In addition, Old Testament Biblical scholars have been able to isolate bits and pieces of scripture which mention the preservation methods of sun-drying and smoking foods over a hot fire as a means of feeding their people.

For centuries, much of the European diet depended on dried cod, known as salt cod or bacalhau (with salt) or stockfish (without). It formed the main protein source for the slaves on the West Indian plantations and was major economic force within the trade routes of the day. The next mention of food drying doesnt emerge again until around 1630. At about this time in history a band of French mavericks began appearing up and down the Yucatan peninsula and Caribbean islands. They were known as the buccaneers. The term buccaneer was actually derived from the Caribbean Arawak word buccan which is referencing a wooden frame for smoking meat. The meat of preference at the time was the plentiful, slow moving manatee or sea cow. From this became derived in French the word boucane and hence the name boucanier for French hunters who used their wooden frames to smoke meat from feral cattle and pigs on Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). History of course tells us the rest of the story about the buccaneers. English settlers occupying Jamaica began to spread the name buccaneers with the meaning of ruthless pirates when in reality it was referring to their ability to dry meat. The name became universally adopted later in 1684 when the first English translation of Alexandre Exquemelins book The Buccaneers of America was published.

Along with an amazingly colorful history which includes ancient roots and ruthless piracy, food dehydration is even today on the forefront of cutting edge food engineering and preservation. Todays food dehydrator is a surprisingly simple capsule of modern technology and historical know how. Todays typical kitchen food dehydrator has electronically generated air flow along with micro-processor governed temperature control. In place of the wood frame on the beach is an amazingly compact, ergonomically designed piece of history that fits snuggly on a kitchen counter. With multiple level trays, even air flow and constant temperature control a person can dehydrate a large volume of fresh fruits, veggies and meats literally over night. The simplicity, efficiency and very low cost of the modern food dehydrator is once again taking center stage in the complex world of food preservation and engineering. Developing nations and countries that have endured natural disasters are re-discovering the practicalities of food dehydration to feed their hungry masses. The buccaneers of yester-year had no idea how their simple practice of meat drying on the beach would become a modern means of feeding a hungry world.

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Echinacea purpurea cultivars Part I

June 29, 2018

The best Echinacea cultivars for sale today are the E. purpurea cultivars. There are too many to list in a single article so this article series breaks them up alphabetically. E. purpurea are the hardiest and most adaptable of all of the Echinacea, and they are great-as long as you like purple.

Echinacea purpurea ‘Alba’: White flowered form of the purple coneflower (Sun to light shade, Zone 3-8)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Avalanche’ PP 18,597: The best compact, single white-flowered coneflower in our trials. This Arie Bloom hybrid makes a tight clump, adorned in summer with 20″ spikes of large, white, horizontally-held petals…quite nice! (Zone 4-9)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Bright Star’ (syn: Echinacea purpurea ‘Leuchstern’): This superb seed strain of our native coneflower is a bit taller than most (to 3-4′) and has a slightly larger and more horizontally held rosy purple petals. The small winter rosettes give rise in mid summer to see thru spikes of large pinkish daisies…great for naturalizing! (Zone 3-8)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Cotton Candy’ PPAF: Large, pink, pompon flowers.

Echinacea purpurea ‘Crimson Star’: Crimson-lavender petals.

Echinacea purpurea ‘Cygnet White’: This is a new and outstanding dwarf, white flowered selection of the 1998 Perennial Plant of the Year. In midsummer, the small rosettes of foliage send up flowering stems that are topped with stunning white coneflowers… best when used in a mass planting or blended into a perennial border. (Sun to light shade, Zone 3-8)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Fatal Attraction’ PP 18,429: This new selection of our US native Echinacea purpurea is from Piet Oudolf’s famed garden in Holland. Echinacea ‘Fatal Attraction’ is unique because of the 26″ tall sturdy wine black stems that hold the intense pink flowers…a favorite of garden visitors. Flowering begins in late June…be patient. (Zone 3-9)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Fragrant Angel’ PP 16,054, PVR: This sturdy new coneflower from Terra Nova Nurseries is the white counterpart of Echinacea ‘Ruby Giant’ and the best white coneflower we have ever grown. The giant 4-5″ heads of pure white petals, around a contrasting orange cone, are also deliciously fragrant. Since these are clonally reproduced, each plant is identical for a more uniform planting. (Zone 3-9)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Green Envy’: When Mark Veeder first showed me a photo of his new Echinacea purpurea seedling, I thought for sure this was an April Fool’s Photoshop TM creation. Only after growing and photographing the plant myself, can I say for sure, it is truly this unique. The 20″ tall stems are topped, starting in mid-June, with large 4.5″ wide flowers composed of a dark cone with a green center. Surrounding the cone, are long petals that are pink toward the cone changing to lime-green toward the downward recurving tips. Echinacea ‘Green Envy’ is so weird, gardeners will either love or hate it…we love it! (Zone 4-9)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Kim’s Knee High’ PP 12,242: From Tony’s college classmate Kim Hawks, former owner of Niche Gardens, comes a new dwarf selection of the wonderful native purple coneflower. This compact selection is the first coneflower to be vegetatively propagated, ensuring that every plant is identical…no seed-grown variation as long as you remove the old seed heads. Starting in mid-June (NC), each flower head has rigidly reflexed, rosy-pink petals that give a truly unique look to this selection. Purple coneflower is extremely drought-tolerant, although it does favor improved garden conditions. Plant a drift, sit back with drink in hand, and wait for the butterflies! (Zone 3-9)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Kim’s Mop Head’ PP 13,560: We are delighted to be able to offer the wonderful white flowered companion to Echinacea ‘Kim’s Knee High’. This mutation of Echinacea ‘Kim’s Knee High’, discovered at Sunny Border Nursery in Connecticut, has the same wonderful compact habit with perfectly symmetrical downward arching heads of fringed-white petals…what a great garden plant. Echinacea ‘Kim’s Mop Head’ looks great when planted in a mass in a flower bed or border. (Zone 3-9)

Echinacea purpurea ‘Kim’s Red Knee High’ PP 20,411: A mutation of Echinacea ‘Kim’s Knee High’, discovered at Connecticut’s Sunny Border Nursery in 2005. Echinacea ‘Kim’s Red Knee High’ has the same vigorous growth, short habit and attractively reflexed petals of its parent. The name red, however, is problematic…another example of male color-blindness and why you never ask men to describe a color. The color is actually a richer, darker pink than the parent, but nothing close to red. (Zone 4-9)

Although they are not the latest and greatest cultivars, Echinacea purpurea cultivars are still the best.

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The reason why Are Oakley Sunglasses So Expensive

June 25, 2018

When it comes to the purchase of a new set of Oakley sunglasses, many consumers can’t help but experience some sticker shock. Still, even the most frugal shoppers admit that you simply do sometimes get what you purchase. With Oakley, what you get is an image that you just can’t put a price tag upon. For some it’s worth a few extra dollars to be in front of the curve in terms of style as well as elegance.

It’s Oakley

To put this simply, Oakley sunglasses are expensive simply because… they’re Oakley of course. There are some brands which are so ingrained in our culture which their name alone increases their worth. Rolls Royce does it for vehicles. Harley Davidson does it for motorbikes. In the design world, any accessory that carries the Oakley logo will probably be more costly. This is based about the company’s stellar reputation and nothing otherwise. While some may scoff at this idea others understand that Oakley has a reputation for grounds.

Exclusivity

One of the great things regarding purchasing Oakley sunglasses is the fact that you’ll be joining an exclusive club. Unlike another brands, you won’t see Oakley users on every street corner. Oakley, such as any premium brand, is more exclusive than its lesser valued counterparts since they are made in lower volume. Also, they are rarely discounted. This keeps them in the hands of only those people who are interested in quality and style, not really value. Let’s be honest, if everyone could purchase a set of real Oakley sunglasses for cheap, everyone might have a pair. That’s not what this brand is all about.

It’s worth it

Rich, poor, or even middle class, everyone likes a discount. However, as we said before, sometimes you receive what you pay for. That’s the important thing to bear in mind when buying Oakley sunglasses. Knowing that you’re wearing a premium brand, you can be confident that you will look and feel good. If they are important to you then the extra cash is worth it. Simply put, how could you put a price on feeling great? You’ll also know that you are purchasing a product that is instantly in design. There’s no worry about looking awesome in Oakley. For this brand there is no such thing as out of design. Oakley determines what’s in style or even not.

In closing, there’s no doubt that Oakley sunglasses really are a little pricier than some other title brands. However, there’s also no doubt that Oakley has been among the premier design brands for decades. The difference is with Oakley you know that you’re getting something that is not just trendy but a real trend setter. Is all of this worthwhile? That’s a question only you may decide. But before you do therefore, it may be a good idea to add up the buying price of all the pairs of sunglasses you’ve discarded and wonder when the money would’ve been better spent on a single pair of Oakley’s.

Make a hot fashion statement come may 1st with Oakley sunglasses. Now obtainable online at best prices, your and improved look is only a click away. The place to shop for cheap Oakley sunglasses may be the Foakleysale.com online store. Right here, you will find a great number of sunglasses for every family member.

It’s Your decision Now!

Check out more reviews in the Cheap Oakley sunglasses and pick out your personal Oakley sunglasses today!

The Author of this article is an expert on the latest trends pertaining to sunglasses. He has written many informative articles on various sunglasses brands and products such as Foakleys, Fake Oakleys and Cheap Oakley sunglasses.

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