links for 2010-02-27

• Southern Plant Diagnostic Network Newsletters
  (tags: plants agriculture invasives invasiveplants plantpathology plantdisease ipm)

A Blog You Really Should Follow – The Garden Professors

If you are interested in gardening (why else are you here?) and the science behind gardening, The Garden Professors is exactly what you want. They – a group of horticulture professors from several states – post frequent and highly interesting articles. This past week has covered every thing from possible hazards of compost tea to the LD50 of coffee to a review of a classic organic gardening book. Every Friday there is a puzzle – usually on what went wrong with a plant. If you’re looking for a challenge, try these out.

links for 2010-02-26

• What If You Already Used BPA? BPA Protection: Spinach and Soy | Dr Greene.com
  block BPA damage, even in the face of significant exposure, by giving pregnant animals extra folate (found mostly in green leafy vegetables – foliage – such as spinach) or extra genistein (found mostly in legumes such as soy).
  (tags: bpa food spinach soy foodsafety)
• New research: synthetic nitrogen destroys soil carbon, undermines soil health | The N2 Dilemma: Is America Fertilizing Disaster? | Grist
  (tags: soil agriculture fertilizer food sustainability economics farming organic nitrogen)

New Tree & Shrub Fact Sheets

I have 3 new fact sheets up at my workplace website. Take a look:

Fringetree

Sweetshrub

Fatsia

Pretty pictures too.   And yes, this does mean it’s time for me to pay attention to this blog again. I’ve neglected it for far too long.

links for 2010-02-25

• CBHL Home Page – Welcome [Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries]
  (tags: libraries horticulture botany library garden botanical reference)

Bookmarks for 2009-11-19 – Bees

• Alternative Pollinators: Native Bees
  “This publication discusses using solitary or native bees as pollinators. Some of the larger groups of bees are discussed, including alkali bees, leafcutter bees, alfalfa leafcutter bees, bumblebees, sweat bees, squash bees, digger bees, orchard mason bees, shaggy fuzzyfoot bees, and hornfaced bees. Information is also presented on how to attract and conserve populations of wild bees for pollination purposes. There is also a list of suppliers of native bees and bee equipment.”
  (tags: gardening sustainability farming bees alternative pollinators pollination insects natives beneficialinsects entomology)
• Colony collapse disorder – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Colony collapse disorder (CCD) or sometimes honey bee depopulation syndrome (HBDS)[1] is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear.
  (tags: bees wikipedia entomology ecology biology science sustainability insects pollinators pollination disease beneficialinsects)
• USDA-ARS Bee Labs – eXtension
  The USDA-ARS sponsors five bee research labs at:
  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  Beltsville, Maryland
  Logan, Utah
  Tucsan, Arizona.
  Weslaco, Texas
  Each lab is listed below with its home-page, mission, and a link to associated research summaries.
  (tags: usda bees insects beneficialinsects research entomology pollinators pollinations)
• Conserving Pollinators: A Primer for Gardeners – eXtension
  Bees and other pollinators are important to our environment, providing essential services for the production of more than two-thirds of the world’s crop species. ,,,
  But, pollinators are in trouble.
  (tags: gardening gardens bees pollination pollinators fruit horticulture entomology)

In one week, this is where I’ll be!

Thanksgiving in the FL Panhandle. Yeah…..

But, isn’t the grandmother who’s supposed to live in FL, not the daughter and granddaughter?