Update: Pollen movie is called "Wings of Life"

Remember that movie about pollinators I mentioned? Well it turns out "Pollen" is called "Wings of Life" in the US and went straight to DVD/blu-ray. I feel like they're shafting the plants by sending them straight to DVD. After all, plants and pollinators are vital to the rest of the living world. The movie is narrated by Meryl Streep. I saw a commercial for it on Monday (Earth Day) and I thought they said, "available on DVD and blu-ray, only today" and I was all like, "gasp! only today!" but they actually said, "own it today." Lol.

Love for thistles

Most people hate thistles, if they have any feelings about them at all. Thistles are prickly, don't look like much when they aren't flowering, and though they do flower in pretty colors, they are definitely under-appreciated. Eeyore eats thistles, and he's the most depressed storybook character ever.

I was pleased to see that Scotland is honoring thistles big time. The mascot for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is a thistle. See it for yourself here. The Duchess of Cambridge recently got to meet him, too! A 12 year-old created him and her design got picked in a contest to design the mascot. He is an "adventurous and patriotic" thistle, which I think is just lovely.

Out of my control

Dealing with nature's wily ways is one of the challenges of being an ecologist. I am supposed to be leaving for Panama in two weeks, for a short and efficient trip to set up an experiment. In this experiment, I will plant baby mangroves and see if they can survive and grow in places they don't usually grow. To be able to do this, however, I need propagules (aka seeds). This year Panama has had some crazy weather, and had so much rain the canal was closed in December due to flooding. So the trees might not be producing propagules at the same time they usually do, meaning when I go there won't be any seeds. Of course it would be a waste for me to fly down there if there is nothing for me to plant, but if I push the trip back I risk missing the fruits. I'm anxiously awaiting news from my acquaintances in Panama who are checking the status of the trees...

Plants are so cool

This picture is of some chamomile seeds I planted three days ago. This is what they looked like this morning:

This is what they looked like this afternoon. They are all sprouting so fast! Similarly, these are some California wildflower seeds I planted three days ago, photo was taken this morning. You can barely see the hypocotyl of one pushing up through the soil.

And eight hours later, what do I have? A whole bunch of seedlings! Now the wait to see what species they are...

A little ditty

Here is a little song I made up, in a sort of Winnie-the-Pooh fashion (he is very fond of making up little tunes).

(Sung to the tune of "Dreidel dreidel dreidel")
Data data data
I got you out of plants
And when you're nice and analyzed,
I'll do a little dance. Hey!

Pests

I have an aphid infestation. So far, it is not too bad in the sense that they have not taken over EVERY plant, but they seem to be targeting the black mangroves and the rare tea mangrove. NOT GOOD. Plant-eating aphids = my enemies, particularly when they are my research plants. Gardeners have tricks like spraying them with a hose (didn't work) and spraying them with soapy water or even pesticides, but I don't want to apply that stuff and inadvertently mess with my seedlings' growth. Enter the biological control: ladybugs. Garden stores sell ladybugs as a natural pest control. There are a bunch of different species of ladybugs (which are really beetles, for you non-entomologists out there), and some eat aphids and some eat leaves and some eat mildew or bacteria, so I am just assuming that the garden store sells the kind that eat aphids. However, it turns out that garden stores around here don't sell aphids. It is actually easier for me to order them online from Home Depot and have them shipped, because the closest ladybug store is an hour's drive away. So in a few days, I will release ladybugs onto my plants and hope they get the job done. In the meantime, I will be crushing aphids with my fingers, unless a hurricane gets to them first.