HAPPY EARTH DAY!
Showing posts with label Earth Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth Day. Show all posts
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Earth Day #42
Friday, April 22, 2011
Earth Day 2011: Asclepius and Asclepias
In ancient Greek religion, Asclepius was the god of medicine and healing. He represented the healing aspect of the medical arts and he had five daughters who were goddesses of five of those arts: Hygieia (Hygiene), Iaso (Medicine), Aceso (Healing), Aglaea (Healthy Glow), and Panacea (Universal Remedy). These names have come down to us through history and philology and we still honor them in today's language.
We don't know whether there was ever a historical Asclepius, although some historians speculate that there was and that the mythological character is based on him. Whatever the truth of the matter, the mythological character was and is well-known to students of the classics, of which Carl Linnaeus was one.
You may remember Linnaeus from your high school biology class. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Taxonomy" because he was the genius who came up with the system for giving scientific names to plants and animals. His system has stood the test of 300 years time and is still in use today.
When Linnaeus was casting about for a name for the milkweed genus, he was aware that these plants have many uses in folk medicine, and so what better source for a name for them than a derivative of the name of the ancient god of medicine? Thus the milkweed became Asclepias.
There are over 140 known species in the genus, Asclepias, but the one that is most often grown in our gardens is A. curassavica or tropical milkweed.
One of the tropical milkweeds blooming in my garden this spring.
The native milkweed that I grew up seeing around our yard and along roadways and in fields was a bushy plant with bright orange flowers. This is A. tuberosa. I have a couple of those in my garden, but they don't really grow as well here as the tropical milkweed does. They were slow to return after winter and are now about 3-4 inches high but are a long way from blooming.
The major interest of gardeners in milkweed today is not for its folk medicinal qualities but for its value to butterflies. Milkweed is well-known as the host plant for some species of much-loved and highly desirable butterflies, namely the Monarch and the Queen.
Hungry Monarch caterpillars munch their way through a tropical milkweed plant. Even if the plant loses all its leaves to the caterpillars, it will come back and grow new leaves.
The Queen caterpillar likes milkweed equally as well as the Monarch and, as you can see, looks very similar, except that it has a third set of antennae in the middle of its body.
Here, in shadow, you can discern that third set even more clearly.
Habitat gardeners, and, indeed, just about all gardeners, love butterflies and so we happily plant the host plants that we know they need to nurture and develop their caterpillars, even though we realize those plants are going to be eaten up. A raggedy looking milkweed plant in a perennial border is a sign of success to a gardener. (Wish I could claim that about some of my other raggedy looking plants!)
As Monarchs, as well as other butterflies, have suffered setbacks in recent years because of natural events and human-caused catastrophes, gardeners throughout the country have responded by planting more and more milkweed. By now, there is a well-defined trail that Monarchs can follow through gardens right across North America, from the mountains of Mexico to the plains of Canada.
On this Earth Day 2011, I celebrate all those gardeners who care enough to plant milkweed, even though it may not be the prettiest plant in the garden and it may go through its life with leaves full of holes. It is a plant that lives up to the root of its name - a god of medicine and healing. It has the capacity to help heal the environment and to heal the gardener's spirit as we happily watch those caterpillars destroying our plants and know the beauty that is to come.
Queen butterfly on milkweed.
The Monarch.
We don't know whether there was ever a historical Asclepius, although some historians speculate that there was and that the mythological character is based on him. Whatever the truth of the matter, the mythological character was and is well-known to students of the classics, of which Carl Linnaeus was one.
You may remember Linnaeus from your high school biology class. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Taxonomy" because he was the genius who came up with the system for giving scientific names to plants and animals. His system has stood the test of 300 years time and is still in use today.
When Linnaeus was casting about for a name for the milkweed genus, he was aware that these plants have many uses in folk medicine, and so what better source for a name for them than a derivative of the name of the ancient god of medicine? Thus the milkweed became Asclepias.
There are over 140 known species in the genus, Asclepias, but the one that is most often grown in our gardens is A. curassavica or tropical milkweed.
One of the tropical milkweeds blooming in my garden this spring.
The native milkweed that I grew up seeing around our yard and along roadways and in fields was a bushy plant with bright orange flowers. This is A. tuberosa. I have a couple of those in my garden, but they don't really grow as well here as the tropical milkweed does. They were slow to return after winter and are now about 3-4 inches high but are a long way from blooming.
The major interest of gardeners in milkweed today is not for its folk medicinal qualities but for its value to butterflies. Milkweed is well-known as the host plant for some species of much-loved and highly desirable butterflies, namely the Monarch and the Queen.
Hungry Monarch caterpillars munch their way through a tropical milkweed plant. Even if the plant loses all its leaves to the caterpillars, it will come back and grow new leaves.
The Queen caterpillar likes milkweed equally as well as the Monarch and, as you can see, looks very similar, except that it has a third set of antennae in the middle of its body.
Here, in shadow, you can discern that third set even more clearly.
Habitat gardeners, and, indeed, just about all gardeners, love butterflies and so we happily plant the host plants that we know they need to nurture and develop their caterpillars, even though we realize those plants are going to be eaten up. A raggedy looking milkweed plant in a perennial border is a sign of success to a gardener. (Wish I could claim that about some of my other raggedy looking plants!)
As Monarchs, as well as other butterflies, have suffered setbacks in recent years because of natural events and human-caused catastrophes, gardeners throughout the country have responded by planting more and more milkweed. By now, there is a well-defined trail that Monarchs can follow through gardens right across North America, from the mountains of Mexico to the plains of Canada.
On this Earth Day 2011, I celebrate all those gardeners who care enough to plant milkweed, even though it may not be the prettiest plant in the garden and it may go through its life with leaves full of holes. It is a plant that lives up to the root of its name - a god of medicine and healing. It has the capacity to help heal the environment and to heal the gardener's spirit as we happily watch those caterpillars destroying our plants and know the beauty that is to come.
Queen butterfly on milkweed.
The Monarch.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Happy Earth Day! Or how to save the planet in ten easy steps.
Happy Earth Day!
In the spirit of the day, here are ten ways that gardeners can save our planet:
1. Eschew chemicals. Too many of the chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used by gardeners and farmers wind up in our water supply to the detriment of the environment and of our health. Everything that you use a chemical for has an environmentally safe and effective organic counterpart. Find out what they are and use them.
2. Use native plants in your landscape whenever feasible. These tough plants are acclimated to anything that Mother Nature is likely to throw at them here; moreover, they have evolved with our native wildlife and are more likely to be utilized by them.
3. Invite helpful wildlife into your garden. One way, of course, is to plant native plants, but wildlife need three things to survive: food, water, and shelter. If you can provide those things, your yard will soon be teeming with bees, butterflies, birds, spiders, lizards, frogs, toads, and, yes, even snakes. They are all the gardener's friends.
4. Harvest rainwater. As water becomes a scarcer commodity in our environment, it is important that we not let this valuable resource go to waste. Rain barrels, bog gardens, and other features that trap and use rain are becoming more popular, as well they should. Climb onto the bandwagon!
5. Use plants that require less water. Practice xeric gardening and water plants only when needed.
6. Use drip irrigation where possible. If you have a sprinkler system, for heaven's sake, use common sense about it. How wasteful it is to have sprinklers watering the sidewalks or to have them running during a rainstorm!
7. Grow at least some of your own food. Even if it is only one pepper or tomato plant, there is nothing that tastes better than food you have grown yourself. Plus, you have the advantage of controlling what goes into the production of that food, and growing it will give you an enhanced respect for the Earth and her processes.
8. Recycle whenever possible. Don't add unnecessarily to the piles of trash which must be disposed of. Start a compost pile and compost everything that you can. Find new uses for old or found objects. Many times, these can be used in the garden in various ways, even as garden ornaments.
9. Mulch. A thick layer of mulch is one of the nicest things you can do for your plants and for the Earth. It conserves moisture, ameliorates extremes in temperatures, and gradually add nutrients to the soil - which is the best way to add nutrients to the soil.
10. Support local growers, farmers' markets, and other local gardening organizations. And spread the word and the enthusiasm about gardening whenever you get the chance, particularly with young people. It has been said that kids today suffer from "Nature Deficit Disorder." There are few more effective cures for that malady than to get them interested and involved in gardening.
Lastly, think globally but act locally. Do your bit on your own little patch of the Earth and you'll be helping to save the planet.
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