Pot recycling

Staff on the Como campus are constantly brainstorming ways to have a positive impact on the environment. Como even has a team of staff called the green team that does just that. The following is the result of one idea that came out of this group.

The horticulture department at Como go through lots of plastic pots, cell packs and trays. In the greenhouse behind the conservatory, horticulture staff grow plants for display in the conservatory, the zoo grounds, the carousel, como town, the butterfly garden, and even the water gardens in front of the visitor center. You may not know that we also grow annuals for other portions of the city of St. Paul including, but not limited to, Como golf course, Midway Stadium and downtown St. Paul. In the process of growing all these plants from seed, cuttings or plugs, the plants are often times transplanted from one pot to another, from a pot to a flower bed or moved from a pot to the compost.

Aren't you curious what we do with the pots when we are done with them? I'll tell you. The short answer is that they are reused but since the soil that remains in the pots potentially harbors pathogens and other pests that could damage future crops, our used pots are routinely washed and sterilized by volunteers before they are reused. Reusing pots reduces our costs and saves space in the landfills since plastic gardening pots cannot be recycled through the regular plastic recycling programs. All pots at the conservatory do not get washed however. After a while some pots and are inevitably broken and must be discarded. A year ago the conservatory was still throwing all the extra pots into the garbage. Como's green team was still looking at ways to reduce waste and one team member found that there was in fact a recycling program for plastic gardening pots through the Minnesota Nursery and Lanscape Association. The information for this program was posted on the MNLA website and in the Star Tribune in 2007. The recycling program continues this year and today gardening staff loaded up the van with plastic pots for the second trip this year to have our plastic pots recycled instead of putting them in the trash. Homeowners can do this too. A handfull of garden centers accept the pots so its best to find out before you go.

Hot, Hot Days

Once again it is that time of year where no matter how much water you drink it still doesn't quench your thirst! It has been difficult conditions for the horticulture staff to work when it is so hot and humid. The staff that work on the zoo landscape battle the lack of in ground irrigation. So they are constantly moving hoses and sprinklers to keep grass green and plants happy! The staff that works inside battle the obvious lack of air conditioning since that would not be feasible in a greenhouse. Plus, over half of the displays in the historic conservatory are tropical environments. Adding to that there is a real lack of air flow inside, we count on a few ceiling fans and some help from mother nature once and awhile. Everyday something has to be watered when its so warm and humid and throw in some high winds and you have the cards stacked against you!

Besides keeping up with watering in the gardens, we have routine maintenance, which consists of weeding, deadheading (removing old flowers), mulching, trimming, etc. Our new Blooming Butterfly Exhibit has kept everyone extra busy. We are all trying not to fall behind in our work because it will be that much harder to deal with down the road. Although some things are couple weeks behind from our late spring which helps us out a little. We deal with these conditions year after year but, we certainly don't look forward to the hot and humid days!

Water on hot days

On these hot days it can be difficult to stay cool. The gardening staff don't have waterfights or go swimming in the pools even when tempted. We do have to drink lots of water, wear hats and take breaks if necessary.

The plants are at somewhat of a disadvantage. The plants inside the conservatory rely solely on the gardening staff for their water needs. Gardeners water the collections of plants on display by hand. This can take a couple hours in the morning before the general public starts to enter the gardens at 10am.

Two of the display rooms, Tropical Encounters and the Fern Room, have an additional method of cooling which increases humidity in these rooms called meefog. Meefog involves a series of nozzles which add water vapor to the air. In Tropical Encounters these nozzles are placed throughout the exhibit, often near the ground. In the Fern Room these nozzles are on the ceiling. Many visitors who walk through the Fern Room will notice the mist as they walk through this room. Meefog is not a method of watering. The mist does not provide enough moisture to keep the soil wet. It does reduce the rate that water is lost from the fern fronds and helps protect roots from drying out.

In the Fern Room, increasing the humidity is quite important to the health of the plants in that room. The fern collection includes many tropical species that require a higher relative humidity than that which occurs in Minnesota.

Did you know that the tree ferns in the fern room not only have roots in the soil but also have roots on their trunks? The higher humidity helps preserve the health of these plants. In fact, water is an essential part of the fern life cycle. Where flowering plants have pollinators that participate in fertilization of those plants, ferns use water to reproduce. That's something to think about. Reproduction in ferns occurs without flowers on a microscopic level after spores germinate. The result is a new plant, ferns don't produce seeds.

Flowers for Fall and Winter

The weather has finally felt like summer and now the gardeners are already thinking about fall and winter. They have been working hard on preparing plants for the fall and winter flower shows. Just recently they have received 1,600 mums and are waiting on a shipment of poinsettias. There are rows and rows of mum seedlings in the greenhouse that are being cared for. The mums are planted either singly for taller plants or 3 to a pot for smaller plant.

Fall Flower Show

Recycle at the Zoo

On Wednesday, June 25, Como Park Zoo and Conservatory hosted a press conference announcing the new recycling program. Eureka created new blue recycling bins where plastic, glass, aluminum cans, milk cartons and juice boxes can be recycled. The events of the day consisted of a student message board explaining why it is important to recycle at Como Zoo and the press conference included a short show from Sparky showing how to recycle. Eureka will be visiting Como Park Zoo and Conservatory once a week to take inventory on how well the program is running.

Sunset Affair

This year, Travelers Sunset Affair presented by McGough, will be held Thursday, July 24, 2008 at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. The theme is Summer Matsuri. Celebrate the evening with Taiko drumming, colorful kites and many other activities in honor of the Japanese culture. For more information please visit
http://www.comozooconservatory.org/supp/Sunset08.shtml

Sunken Garden flowering plant care

Every morning before the conservatory opens, the gardening staff are hard at work making sure the plants on display in the public areas are sufficiently watered, fertilized or otherwise cared for. Staff work independently or with other horticultural staff in our various display gardens. Today, some of the oriental lilies in the Sunken Garden were replaced with more oriental lilies because the flowers on the older plants had faded. Horticulture staff are often accompanied by volunteers that help keep the gardens looking good by dead-heading spent flowers. In horticulture, faded flowers are called spent flowers and the removal of spent flowers is called dead-heading.

In order to care for the flowering plants in the sunken garden, old and faded flowers are removed along with broken plants that are damaged by daily traffic from visitors or events such as weddings. Old flowers are removed not only in order to maintain an aesthetically pleasing garden but also to promote the production of additional flowers on a plant. Plants put a lot of energy into producing flowers and seed. When old flower structures remain on a plant, they may develop seeds and as a result may stop producing many new flower buds. Try this on geraniums and petunias.

Summer is here!!

Finally! Even with the cool weather, it seems like we can finally say that summer is here! The spring projects are finished and the weather is really starting to warm up. The Gates Ajar, located near Como Lake, is finished. Staff are watering the plant material on the Gates twice a day. This will slow down to once a day once the material roots into the soil base.



And the Blooming Butterflies exhibit is open! The many butterflies can be seen resting on the tropical plants under the yellow, black and white building covering.

The Dakota Skipper Garden, located in the Bird Yard on the Zoo grounds, is 90 % planted. This means annual plants have been installed. Como Town annual bed plantings are completed. Look for these splashes of color as you walk around the Zoo grounds! Watch the hillside near the Blooming Butterflies as the staff install additional annuals.

Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Victoria waterlilies have been planted in the VC pools for the summer season. They looked so big and crowded in their 8’ diameter tanks in the greenhouse. Now that they are out in a several thousand gallon pool they look much more at home! Each plant only covers an area of about 5 square feet, by the end of July they should reach as much as 25 square feet! We are being challenged with our cool spring right now, as these giant waterlilies prefer water temperatures of 80F day and night. The heating system in our pools has been working overtime to accommodate them. Hope for some sunshine and warm weather, and then they’ll really grow!

Aquatic marginal plants have also been added to the VC pools! With the wonderful help of volunteers, we were able to plant the entire display in one morning! There will be additional plant material added to the containers as it becomes ready in the greenhouse. As these plants root into their new homes for the summer, watch them burst into bloom. Look for all colors of a sunset, from Reds and yellows to purples and soft pinks accented by tropical looking foliage.

The pool displays are not done yet... we will continue our plant palette by adding a wide variety of tropical and hardy waterlilies to both pools. The pools will feature both night and day blooming varieties.

The horticultural preparation for Como's Blooming Butterflies has been intense for the past three weeks. Working around the unusually cold weather while dodging the electrical, plumbing carpentry and masonry work, the tropical floral gardens were deftly installed by horticulture staff and interns. Just in time for the June 3rd preview of Como Friends and invited guests, all the landscape design elements of the 2,500 square foot space coalesced into an elegant butterfly friendly habitat. Plant species selected for their flowering nectar or roosting potential for the Lepidoptera were obtained through nursery sources from Florida and California as well as home grown in the MMC production greenhouses. A floral nectar tree is the centerpiece of the exhibit; a unique feature to butterfly exhibits which varies the display height of favored nectar plants thereby offering views at all eye-levels. Two fourteen foot Weeping Podocarpus, or African Fern Pines (Podocarpus gracilior) are striking trees. Upon closer inspection, roosting butterflies appear through the soft green vegetative canopy. The native and exotic butterflies released into the exhibit garden have been nourished and protected by this garden designed specially for all their needs save one - host plant species for breeding.