A new week brings more new plants. This week I planted sage and basal. I also planted some mint rhizomes. This grow laterally in the ground, which I think is really fascinating. I also planted sunflowers, marigolds, a venus flytrap, and a pitcher plant. I got the venus fly trap and pitcher plant outside of class this weekend. Dom and I both went to lowes and found that tropical plants were 75% off! I couldn't pass up a bargain like that. Dom couldn't either. Normally, carnivores plants wouldn't be able to survive in such cold weather conditions, but greenhouses trap the sunlight inside of them and allow plants to survive despite the weather outside.
Carnivores plants are astounding to me because of how much they have had to evolve in order to survive. In a venus flytrap, if the prey is unable to escape, it will continue to stimulate the inner surface of the lobes. This causes a further growth response that forces the edges of the lobes together, eventually sealing the trap hermetically and forming a 'stomach' in which digestion occurs. Digestion is catalysed by enzymes secreted by glands in the lobes. A plant that can digest! It baffles me. Venus fly traps were forced to evolve into what they are today because they live in areas that have little soil and the soil lacks nutrients (such as nitrogen). Their carnivorous traps were evolutionarily selected to allow these organisms to survive these harsh environments.
Recently, I read a CNN article about a carnivores plant that eats rats! Its a giant pitcher plant that botanists discovered on Mount Victoria in Palawan, central Philippines. After I read it I was reminded of a play I saw called Little Shop of Horrors. If you haven't heard of it it's about a plant that lives in a barber shop and survives off of human blood. It's a really amazing play, but it makes me think about how humans, including myself, so often forget that we are not necessarily the most threatening creatures on this planet. There are so many living organisms out there, many of them even undiscovered. Anyways, here is a link to the article: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/08/18/meat.eating.plant/ AND here are some photos:



A venus flytrap or Dionaea muscipula.



Nepenthes northiana, the meat-eating pitcher plant

Oh yes! I forgot to mention how all my plants are doing. My vegetable garden has finally sprouted. I have five bean plants that have reached over four inches! I saw their cotyledons emerge, saw their first true leaves grow, and saw the cotyledons shrivel away. It's really spectacular; seeing a progression of time through watching these plants. My plants for this class are also doing well. I haven't been to my apartment in a few days so I'm saying this possibly in blind faith, but when I was there a few days ago they were looking nice and perky. I think it will be time to replant them very soon. I would like to get a really nice hanging basket for them, but I lack the porch I also desire to hand them on. Maybe I can make a nice indoor hanging basket of my own. I think that's enough for plant updates. I will leave you with some nature pictures that caught my attention this week:

Trees











Rivers