Good day, gardeners! I hope this newsletter finds you healthy and well. As promised, plant•ed has a slightly new look but still has the same great content! Please let me know if you see any glaring issues or if there's formatting problems.
Here's some knowledge and inspiration I wanted to share with you this week.
I continue to reflect on what I learned visiting the Philly area, and today I share some of the great plants and ideas from Longwood Gardens and Stoneleigh.
Preston Montague shared lessons from a volunteer grassland on Izel Plants. I, too, find inspiration from these perennial-dominated ecosystems in winter.
Our fall foliage is peaking here a bit later than normal in east Texas. If you need a refresher on where the colors come from, this post from Daniel Murphy can help you sort your pigments out.
Did you know that hickory syrup exists? I bought a bottle years ago when visiting Monticello in Virginia and enjoyed using it in the kitchen. I had forgotten about it until I read this article on Modern Farmer about one of the couples behind it. While it's made from hickory-bark extract, it's still a novel product for pancakes.
I learned that seeds can have stomata! Stomata are the pores on the undersides of leaves that allow for gas exchange, but I've never thought about them being on seed before. My colleague Dr. Allison Justice posted that she had observed stomata on seed under a scanning electron microscope. Then, I started digging and found an article that said they had been observed on seed in 23 different families.
As always, thanks for welcoming me into your inbox each week to share what I’m learning about plants.
Cheers, and keep growing!
Dr. Jared
P.S. I’m super proud of my wife for having her monarch butterfly pattern pillows for sale on Target! She's had the goal for one of her designs to be licensed with a major company this year, and I'm happy that happened for her. Maybe it's an idea if you're still looking for a gift for your pollinator pals. ;-)