POPLAR cont’d.

engineered food stuffs and the science has been kicked out the window. In this case, I think we’ re opening the door needlessly to a potential biohazard. The trees are being planted without any peer reviewed studies. There are no controlled studies that have been completed and there’s pretty much no oversight on the poplar’ s since they are unregulated and being sold to private landowners.

As with the push for electric vehicles, we’ re so stuck on the environmental savings that we’re ignoring the environmental cost. With electric vehicles it’s the batteries and what’s involved to create them as well as charging up the cars using normal electric grids. These trees could revert back and then we have even more environmental areas overrun by another invader.

Let’s do the science right before we unleash something into the environment that we might not be able to contain.

Holidays

May is:

America’s Wetlands Month

Gardening for Wildlife Month

Gifts from the Garden Month

National Wildflower Week 1st 7th

National Public Gardens Week 12th 21st

Dandelion Day 5th –6th

Herb Day 6th

National Public Gardens Day 12th

World Bee Day 20th

Learn About Composting Day 29th

You can read about these trees at the following: Fighting Climate Change With Genetically Modified Trees (sciencefriday.com)

Genetically modified trees arrive in U.S. forestsMarketplace

To fight climate change, a biotech firm has genetically engineered a very peppy poplar | Science | AAAS

1e768b0849a88eb8e1a4784b664ccaf91942.pdf (semanticscholar.org)

Genetically Modified Trees Are Taking Root to Capture Carbon | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine

Start-up Hopes 'Super' Poplar Trees Will Suck Up More CO2 - Scientific American

June is:

Perennial Gardening Month

National Papaya Month

National Pollinator Month

National Rose Month

Sorghum Month

National Pollinator Week 19th 25th

National Olive Day 1st

International Rose Day 23rd

National Onion Day 27th

Luna(tic) was a bit upset to discover that my lunch was not in the lunch box when she decided to sit in it. I’ll give her an ‘E’ for effort. She’s also decided that voices coming out of the handheld device (i.e.: telephone) are an indication that someone is in peril and needs to be rescued out of said device. Makes for interesting telephone conversations.

Now this all got me to thinking. How often do we parrot the phrase, “Right plant, right place.” Many, many times right? Well, here’s a cat in a lunchbox. Not the right place. But, as far as she was concerned it was very much the place she wanted to be at the time.

We deal with clients that are the same way. This recent freeze that took out so many tropical trees...clients are calling and asking how to save them. Or they are calling and asking what tropicals will survive a freeze. As far as they are concerned, they want those citrus trees and there are times when nothing you say is going to change their mind.

It’s sort of easy to remove a cat from a lunchbox

by Marg Stewart

but not so easy to convince someone that Queen Palms are not a good idea to grow in Crestview. And what about Luna(tic)’s idea that a human must be in peril because they are trapped in a box? How often do we hear something and believe it to be true when it isn’t. Hopefully, we ’re secure enough to admit the error of our thinking. But sometimes those beliefs don’t get set aside so easily. Things are done a certain way because that’s how they’ve always been done and you’re going to be hard pressed to change their minds just because you say so.

In these situations, it’s best to approach with caution lest the claws come out. Be gentle but firm and utilize bribery when necessary. A handful of treats goes a long way to convince a cat to vacate the lunchbox.

You’re always going to have cats that sit in lunchboxes and folks who think that they can grow tropical plants in where we’re likely to get freezing temperatures. The best you can do is gently explain the science, avoid the claws, and suggest a different box they might like instead. Doesn’t mean it will always work out but at least you know you tried.

So now I’m off to remove a cat from a crockpot. I have a bag of treats and I’ m not afraid to use them.