A Walk in the Garden. Understanding the Ways of Nature

A Walk in the Garden  

Understanding the Ways of Nature

San Vicente Botanical Garden 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog (avrotor.blogspot.com)

Also open Naturalism -the Eighth Sense

 

Poisonous mushrooms 

Poisonous mushrooms like Amanita, are distinguishable by a ring around their stipes or stems (right photo), but this is not always a reliable indicator.  The rule is to get an expert's advice, and if you aren't sure of the mushroom, don't eat it. There is no antidote to mushroom poisoning.  I discovered this hill of queer-looking mushrooms, seemingly the same as mushrooms growing on a heap of rice hay, or around an anthill (punso). Mushrooms are nature's decomposers, breaking cellulose into its elemental forms for use of other plants, and adding fertility to the soil.

 

Papaya Ringspot Virus Disease

My prized papaya bearing heavy and plentiful fruits suddenly fell sick, like contracting coronavirus. The cause is also a virus, papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) which causes a major disease of papaya and cucurbits and is found in all areas of the world where papaya and cucurbits are cultivated. In rice, the tungro virus stopped IRRI's series of miracle rice varieties. The last, if I recall, is IR-76.  Farmers returned to their own native rice varieties. On my part, I shifted to the native Solo papaya variety which I found resistant to PRSV.  Genetic engineering to increase resistance against the disease is not ecologically friendly. On health, people are wary about the long term effects of GMO.

 

Garden Pond.  

Raise tilapia, hito (catfish), kangkong, kuhol (native snail) on your backyard to supplement the family's food supply.  A garden pond as well provides recreation, water and natural fertilizer for a variety of plants, and protection in case of fire. Feeding the fish is a unique experience for city kids, much more with line fishing and grilling the catch on a weekend.    

  

 

Anahaw Palm (Livistona rotundifolia) 

The one at the foreground shows nutrient deficiency.  It's time to apply fertilizer or change the soil and transplant the "anemic" plant into a bigger pot.  Why not plant it directly, where it will grow into a "tower" for the next three generations?  Make it a heritage tree, a living calendar of your family, celebrating important occasions and honoring members of your family and clan, and lending its beauty to your surroundings.  

 

Albino coconut and Chimera maguey.  

The two specimens are different.  Albino  means lack of pigmentation, principally melanin in animals.  Examples are white elephant, white carabao, and very rare,  humans.  This albino coconut lacks chlorophyll, and soon will die after exhausting its food reserve. And it really did.  Variegated plants are perhaps the most common types of chimeras, like many cultivars of croton or San Francisco.

 

                                           Rosary Pea (Abrus precatorios) 

The distinctive-looking red seeds with a black spot are used in jewelry and toys. We used them in playing blowgun when we were kids. Beware, the entire plant is toxic, The seeds can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. In the garden you can find Rosary Pea climbing on fences and on large trees (left photo). The pods in cluster are attractive when they dehisce.  The seeds fall to the ground for the next season, or carried away by humans and other agents of dissemination.  ~