Rhododendron 'Birat Red' is a somewhat mysterious vireya collected more than 50 years ago in a remote region of Papua New Guinea by an Anglican missionary with a botany degree from Cambridge. No one seems to know if it is a natural hybrid or undescribed species. 🌱 🌴

I was quite pleased with myself for working Iron Maiden into the final paper of an undergrad class on Alexander the Great.

I’ve removed my repost of the AI modified version. Sorry about that.

Trading my ALDI shopping cart for a stranger’s quarter, instead of walking the cart all the way to the corral, is an oddly satisfying little social interaction.

Just a little neighborhood cooperation here: Our winter honeysuckle is absolutely teeming with the neighbors’ bees. 🌱 1 of 3

So cool. Imagine digging a well and having fish randomly appear in it from deep underground.

Heading down to the pond. Looking for some action. #herps

Supermarket mango is the Red Delicious of mangoes.

Nepenthes burbidgeae x platychila is one of my favorite primary hybrids, too. I love N. burbidgeae but have trouble growing it long-term. N. platychila genes give the hybrid some heat tolerance, and it retains some of the color and character of N. burbidgeae. 🌱 🌴

Update on N. veitchii (m) bario (giant x squat) EP: this plant is producing near upper pitchers on the main vine and has two nice sized basal plants.

GOOD FOR HIM people.com/farmer-86-re...

Sinningia bullata. The inflorescences and undersides of the leaves have more wool than is possessed by some perfectly acceptable sheep. 🌱 🌴 1/2

Youngest offspring: “I want to see Eomer and Gimli arguing about who is fairer, Galadriel or Arwen, but Galadriel and Arwen are frog-elves from the Hobbit cartoon.”

Queen of the Abyss flowering again. It packs all of its annual growing into about 6 weeks in early spring. The foliage persists into late autumn, but it doesn’t appear to be _doing_ anything. 🌴 🌱

Truth.

Latest blog post: Almost everything I know about growing vireyas in a climate that sucks for vireyas. 🌱 🌴

Rainy and 45 F (7 C) tonight. Perfect weather for the spotted salamanders to emerge from their burrows in our backyard and cross the lane towards their breeding pool. #herps 1/4

Rainy and 45 F (7 C) tonight. Perfect weather for the spotted salamanders to emerge from their burrows in our backyard and cross the lane towards their breeding pool. #herps 1/4

I’m old fashioned, so I never gave up buying CDs and then ripping them for my phone’s music library. But most important, if you decide the music sucks, you can hang the shiny CD from some monofilament and scare squirrels in your garden.

First crocuses of the year! I forgot to label these guys, but I think they are Crocus chrysanthus ‘Panda’. 🌱

Just a wee babby Nepenthes clipeata. Leaves are not yet peltate, but the newest are showing tendencies in that direction. 🌱 🌴

Solas in Raleigh this evening! It’s always fun to watch Winifred Horan’s bow disintegrate during the fast songs.

My all-time favorite Olympics moment was when Ester Ledecka, a snowboarder who was racing on borrowed skis, could not believe she had won gold in the Super G. Her reaction was so wonderful.

Good stuff in this thread. One of the things we did for our kids was sign them up for a cooking class one summer. They grew up seeing us cook every evening, but it was still valuable to have someone systematically teach them basic techniques.

Flowering today! Columnea raymondii, an epiphytic gesneriad from Costa Rica. 🌴 🌱

Rhododendron ‘Pennywhistle’ flowering again, right on schedule. R. bagobonum seems to be very dominant in vireya hybrids, consistently producing small orange flowers with very heavy substance. 🌱 🌴

Eldest Offspring completed the Krispy Kreme Challenge this morning. 5 mile run, a dozen doughnuts, just over 1 hour. *sniff* So Proud. Those Olympic skiers have nothing on this.

That splendid sign-off of the Queen Mother’s – “Tinkety tonk old fruit, & down with the Nazis” – celebrates its 85th anniversary today

I sit at the table like a people but do not receive people food. Is a #Caturday injustice!

#WeekEforEponymous #AlphabetChallenge The Eno River Goddess in the Hillsborough Handmade Parade. The river is named for the Eno Native Americans who once lived in this area.

The Nepenthes maxima x alata that I got last summer is growing really well and making bigger and bigger pitchers, despite the short winter days. Just an all-round good hybrid. Based on its vigor, I suspect the “alata” parent was actually the species now called N. graciliflora. 🌴 🌱

Today I'd like to honor the memory of my mentor and friend, Roger Tsien, born 1952 February 1. Today would have been Roger's 74th birthday. Most know Roger for his 2008 Chemistry Nobel Prize with Shimomura and Chalfie. Roger made GFP into the versatile imaging method it is now.

This is simultaneously the most anxiety-inducing and most satisfying weather for a greenhouse owner. If the heater fails at night, everything will die, but with the sun reflecting off the snow today, it’s 29 C and 75% humidity inside. Looks, feels, and smells like a tropical vacation. 🌱 🌴

I never noticed before that the old chimney in the woods has a date written in the mortar on the back. It was only century from construction to almost complete dissolution. In this climate, the woods will eat a house very quickly once it is abandoned.

Finally got some snow. It’s been coming down pretty hard for several hours. All the prep for the Ice Storm That Wasn’t last weekend will come in handy now.

It’s cold and grey and icy this morning, so reposting some old photos with brighter colors.

Seychelles Pitcher Plant and Bilimb Marron https://www.wikiart.org/en/marianne-north/seychelles-pitcher-plant-and-bilimb-marron-1883

Rhododendron ‘Lava Drops’, a miniature vireya. The cross is (‘Hot Tropic’ x R. saxifragoides)F2 🌴 🌱

Sad. I loved browsing through the Glasshouse Works catalog back in the day. Still have a Pachypodium windsorii I bought from them in the mid 90s.

Well, I think we are as ready as we can be for this storm. Have firewood, have propane. Cars parked close to the house, as far from trees as possible. Hoping no trees drop on roof or greenhouse. This is bringing back unpleasant memories of 2002. Ice storm in the forest is not fun.

Tariffs on the UK are going to raise the cost of my Marmite habit, aren’t they?

Blog post with more detailed information about the Trichopilia suavis. 🌱 🌴

Trichopilia suavis flowers in my greenhouse this cold evening. I’ve been growing this plant for about 5 years, but this is the first time I have successfully bloomed it. So, Yay! 🌱 🌴 #orchids

That’s some mighty fine color this evening.

Feed me! Upper pitcher of Nepenthes ‘Lady Luck’ (N. ampullaria x ventricosa). A very common hybrid but usually seen in smaller sizes. It needs to vine for several feet before producing the funnel-shaped upper pitchers. 🌱 🌴

The Eno. You’re not going to have much luck in a boat, but you can wade in it or walk along its banks, and find a bunch of really interesting creatures under its rocks.

Christmas rose (Helleborus niger). The neighbors’ honeybees are busy on an unseasonably warm day. 🌱

A few shiitakes this morning.

Noticed a cool gecko on the wall outside, ran to see, collided with door, gave self a concussion.

Dendrobium lindleyi flowering a little early this year. I keep it outside in autumn until the first frost is forecast, then hang it about 8ft high in the greenhouse with absolutely no water until it flowers. 🌱 🌴 #orchids