teosinte

plant morphology is a puzzler at times...at least for me...the top photo is of one of my last sightings of new growth perennial teosinte ( zea diploperennis ) from the perennial garden project's last season in 2014...the second photo is of a plant in my back yard right now that is supposed to be the annual strain zea mays parvaglumis...and the third is another plant germinated from the same batch od seeds...i am not especially surprised at the resemblance between the perrenial and annual plants in the first two photos...they are related...but the difference between the two plants form the same seed batch has me wondering..it looks far more like northern tepehuan teosinte which i still have seed for..but that is in the freezer and i have not thawed any since i put ti there...not surprising to find plants from the same strain with different appearances...no two potato plant look exactly alike either...but the difference between these two is startling..look at the tillers on the plant in the middle photo and the relative lack of them on the third plant...it is early in the season...appearances could change...we'll see.

inside the pgp I

the exotics ( for me anyway ) have me geeked again...the mashua has appeared in the pgp ( although not in the community garden yet ) and now the challenge is to maintain it and get it to set tubers...a member of the nasturtium family it should be sprouting red blooms before the season is over and edible tubers if the day length doesn't throw it off...the zea diploperennis has sent up multiple shoots in both stand so i am hoping we are set for another season of corny looking plants...i am surprised at a fourth season after such a harsh winter but the shoots are there and i am geeked...more on these beauties as the develop.

campus gardens spring to life (TEOSINTE!)

there are three annual teosinte plants up in the pgp ( two are in the top two photos ) and i planted a few more plus i am hoping 9 but not expecting ) to see plants from the seeds generated by last year's growth...but a few, evenly spaced plants would be great...even more gratifying, the bottom two photos are of new growth on the stand of perennial teosinte ( zea diploperennis ) i planted in 2011...survived the reasonably harsh winter and returning for a fourth season in the garden...i was concerned about this plant's future and the sprouts are good news..i will be unmulching the second, newer stand this coming weekend...the newer stand tried to flower late last season and while i think it unlikely because of day length issues, if nothing else. i would like to see that come to fruition this year...flowering or not the maize ancestor is back again.

zea diploperennis

this stand of perennial teosinte sprang to life in 2011 and has wintered over the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 winters...but they were reasonably mild compared to this past winter...i mulched them heavily with the usual compost and straw...but they are a sub-tropical grass and i am unsure of their tolerance...i left the compost pretty much in place and i left the newer stand covered...if and when this stand comes to life the other will be opened...if this one doesn't i will be waiting until after tha last average frost date...we'll see soon enough.

mulching teosinte

one autumn job that makes me uneasy is the annual mulching of the perennial teosinte in the pgp...mostly because i am not sure if it will return in the spring...it is a long way from home and in a climate that is not hospitable to its needs either in day length or climate...it is a resilient plant however and indicative, and this is supposition on my part since i am no expert and my only credentials are empirical, of the genetic traits inherited by its descendant maize that have allowed that plant to expand its range well beyond its native range...i have had the good fortune of having the older stand of teosinte return for three seasons now and, along with the two plants in the stand i planted this past spring, i am hoping for a robust return again in 2014...it will be dropping well below freezing here in the next week and the plants were obviously dying back for the season so i waded in with lops and created a hole in the garden...i mulched the roots heavily with compost and straw, covering them with the traditional black landscaping fabric...i will be going back to campus in a few hours here to do the asparagus and wrap up the 2013 season in the pgp...after a season devoted to wheat grass from kansas ( some of which will remain...some of which will not ) i foresee some changes in the spring...the stand of wheat grass in the background of the fourth photo has spread wll beyond its original bed and its days are numbered i think...research tells me that limited stands of wheat grass are not really viable beyond six years and that stand has just finished its fourth...i have collected yield data from it and there will be wheat grass elsewhere to study so i think there will be some spuds there in 2014...it has been three years now since there was a potato patch out there and the time is ripe...the plan is yukon golds grown form locally produced seed tubers...no such thing as too many potatoes...more on the asparagus mulch later today.

teosinte in the pgp

i was at the perennial garden today and i was taking some photos of the grasshoppers that have turned up when i was startled to see what looked like a flower emerging from a stalk of teosinte...closer examination confirmed this to be so and turned up two more flowers for a total of three...these are on plants in the newer stand that was established this season from a different accession than the original stand..the older stand has never produced flowers much less seeds...and i am afraid these flowers will not fulfill their purpose...it is very late in the season and while i am geeked at their appearance i know no seed will follow...geeked and bummed at once...more photos for as long as the season lets these develop...cool...

grass in general

the hopi blue at the pgp is doing fine as well as the teosinte ( top two photos )...so are the chinese yams . asparagus, and intermediate wheat grass in the middle photo...a second terminal spear has appeared on the gamagrass and there are other terminal stems forming in both clumps of grass ( bottom two photos )...slow but relentless colonizers the gamagrass was difficult to germinate...only three of thirty seeds planted in the fall of 2009...they are native to northwest indiana and have proven to be a hardy plant...obviously they have found what they need even if they are somewhat difficult...the weather has cooled and some of the plants ( particularly the maize ) seem confused but the grasses are coming along in the garden.

still not done with zea

top photo hopi blue maize in the community garden...the second photo is of northern tepehuan teosinte in the same bed...the thurd photo is hopi blue in the pgp and the fourth is zea dipoloperennis about three feet away...think these morphology comparisons are here to stay

shoots

a short progression of growth in my favorite grass.

asparagus II

made a stop at campus to day to do a few things and see what was up...to start with three more asparagus spears...so there are four that have appeared in the last few days...one less concern in the gardens...the teosinte that's up from seed weathered the cold overnight and is doing fine..at least one more maize ancestor on campus...the wheat grass continues to thrive and spread so there is movement...just not enough to suit the gardener...nature is having me work on my patience and on the whole things are greening up...the community garden is quiet except for the cherry tree which is beginning to leaf...the red nordlands haven't made an appearance yet...either in the community garden or in my backyard...temperatures are due to warm a bit over the next few days...that may get things going a bit more quickly...i will watch and wait.

earth day...still impatient

the zea diploperennis beds that pulled through the winter of 2011-2012 to have a second season in the garden appear to be inert...i haven't given up on them yet but i am concerned about them ( and my asparagus...where is it? should be up by now and isn't...getting a bit edgy there )...but that is definitely zea diplopersnnis up form seed...one seedling is clearly identifiable and there is a second on the way...the "wild an weedy ancestor" of maize is up and running and i am always geeked by that...meanwhile in my back yard several dozen turnip plants have cropped up and so there will be root crops this spring...the yema de huevos government potatoes got a bit blackened by the frost of the past weekend but they are resilient and are already showing new green growth beneath the frostbitten leaves...no worries there...still no potatoes up anywhere..or beets...and the only jerusalem artichokes are rouges in the pgp and the one i transplanted home...i am grinding my teeth and wandering in circles waiting for movement on a garden-wide scale in at least three places and the mixed bag of results so far has me somewhat disquieted...a couple of spuds and a spear of asparagus would do me good.

impatience rewarded?

...perhaps because there is movement...am i mistaken or is that a shoot of zea diploperennis i see coming up form one of the seeds i planted a few weeks ago> i believe it is so chalk up a reward...the kansas wheat grass is booming along already and will soon be spreading out into the garden...i will need to bag the seedheads when the emerge to deter the starlings and allow a reasonable assessment of yield for lee de haan at the land institute...i found anither rouge jerusalem artichoke and will be removing it to the safety of my backyard this coming week...the pgp is greening up and i am geeked at the thought of teosinte growing with maize again this year...a quick trip to the community garden shows me that it is still early days...no potatoes up yet, but that will change soon...need to get out there with some tools to do some clearing in the beds soon...the asparagus is a total failure...not to worry...we will be growing more maize there this season than i had originally planned and i will "naturalize" some asparagus berries form the hawthorn garden in the autumn...perennials are on their way to the community.