Pushing spring

forced bulbs

I’ve never really done much with bulb forcing, save for buying pots of force bulbs in full bud from our student horticulture club. I realize now (duh!) that I’ve been missing out on a lot.

Buying the forced bulbs when they are about to bloom is great. But now I realize that I’ve missed out on what I like most about bulbs: Watching for the first signs of green poking up. The logarithmic growth stage where you swear you can see them growing. The appearance of the flower buds. And the first sign of color peeking out from the flower bud.

You miss all that fun when you buy a pot just as they’re blooming.

This vase my old buddy Steve gave me for my 50th last year is perfect for forcing bulbs with a little fish gravel and water.

forced bulbs

The big bud on that narcissus in the tea pot popped open while I was at work today.

forced bulbs

The albutilon hidden away with the other plants that are supposed to be in semi-dormancy keeps popping out flowers, along with the begonia. They look good in the blue bowl.

blooms in blue bowl

Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait at Ithaca College

Photographer Chris Jordan‘s show Running the Numbers opens at Ithaca College’s Handwerker Gallery on Feb. 28. (Details here.)

This is typical of his work, an image made up of images of 106,000 aluminum cans — thirty seconds of U.S. can consumption.

chris jordan pontillist style

I first blogged about Jordan back in September. Then he showed up on the Colbert Report in October:

The Merry Blues

oxalis
Oxalis, LHB Conservatory, dry brush filter

It hasn’t been a bad winter. But it’s starting to wear very, very thin. It’s the right time of the year to break out the Manu Chao (The Merry Blues) :

Looking back, I blogged a live Manu Chao clip a year and a week ago on a cold night. Must be seasonal or something. Watching the sweat pour off the band playing live at the Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, summer 2006, warms the cockles of my heart. Might as well pull a two-fer (Me gustas tu):oxalis
Oxalis, LHB Conservatory, water color filter

February bloom day scans

Like Kathy at CCG, nothing but snow and ice outside. But I scanned a few inside plants (houseplants and an overwintering Albutilon that’s flowering to beat the band) and fiddled with them.

Poinsettia | Cyclamen | Albutilon

Poinsettia | Cyclamen | Albution
x2400 pixel version

Calla | Cyclamen foliage

Poinsettia | Cyclamen | Albution

Just a begonia.

begonia

Updated 2/17: Forgot to link to Kathy’s post and I changed the timestamp to keep this on top for awhile.

Living sculpture activities

sod cowHere’s a preview of a Living Sculpture activity website that’s part of our Cornell Garden-Based learning program. It’s basically activities for educators working with children, youth and community groups, and pre-release, as we’re still putting some finishing touches on it.

I invite you to explore the site and help us test it out. We’re new with video, and don’t quite have the embeds worked out 100 percent. A small percent of users won’t be able to view the embedded videos and will have to rely on the links to other file types which will open up in an external player.  (I don’t have the embedded videos set to autoplay, so you’ll need to click on the play button.)

For an even smaller percentage, the embedded video will lock up your browser. If that happens to you, I apologize. But I’d really appreciate it if you’d leave me a comment and let me know what browser and version you are using (the version number is under Help > About). Also, if you know what version of QuickTime you are running.

I appreciate the help.

My favorite video (by student videographer Ian Ward) is the one on the homepage, though the timelapse of that project is a lot of fun, too.