Pl@ntNet: “Shazam” for Plants

March 1, 2016

...around the yard to see how it works. You take a closeup of a leaf, flower, fruit or bark and the app takes a guess on an identification. My first attempt was Nasturtium, which the app immediately identified despite my bad photo. It also correctly identified daffodils and got close to identifying Malva parviflora. It was not able to identify any of the California natives I tried, but I don’t think the program has a database of these plants yet. Pl@...

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We Grew a Cocktail Avocado!

Mr. Homegrown

December 15, 2017

Fruit Trees, Gardening

10 Comments

...ening, and if other conditions are right, it will develop into a delicious fruit. People mistakenly think that avocados trees are either male or female. In fact, they are all both. The differences between trees are about when the timing of this alternate gendered flowering occurs. UC Davis goes on to explain, Nature has provided for avocado cross-pollination by creating varieties of two kinds. The “A” type is female in the morning of the first day...

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Saturday Tweets: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Mr. Homegrown

March 17, 2018

Saturday Linkages

5 Comments

...blela) March 16, 2018 Happy belated birthday to the "plant wizard" Luther Burbank. See my tribute to his life love of plants here: https://t.co/rnPMhrszzj — Fruit Cornucopia (@ValenzuelaJohn) March 15, 2018 The Florida International Bridge Collapse Is About So Much More Than a Failed Structure https://t.co/6YiMCjEqjg via @StreetsblogUSA — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 17, 2018 How Can Vision Zero Work When L.A. Continues to Prioritize Speed? htt...

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What is and is not a “Swarm” of Bees

Mr. Homegrown

March 26, 2018

Animals, Bees

...en and nectar (and as a side benefit helping the plants reproduce and make fruit by distributing that pollen). The bees you see hovering and landing on flowers are singularly focused on their work. They have no interest in you. It’s unlikely that they will sting, but it can happen if you brush up against one. Worker bees gathering pollen and nectar in your yard will never work as a group to sting you. Multiple stings from a group of bees will only...

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Saturday Tweets: LA’s Grim Streets, Being the Change and More Medieval Marginalia

Mr. Homegrown

April 21, 2018

Saturday Linkages

...sensors https://t.co/P1k3mVQqsk — Root Simple (@rootsimple) April 20, 2018 Fruit Caviar – Molecular Gastronomy https://t.co/MDekZ5h1zF — Root Simple (@rootsimple) April 17, 2018 10 Garden Ideas to Steal from Superstar Dutch Designer Piet Oudolf https://t.co/TyjcWevPro pic.twitter.com/wF8Ow5IREa — Timber Press (@timberpress) April 16, 2018 Beware fake news, even in the garden | James Wong https://t.co/hO4VeShnL8 pic.twitter.com/LfSuxi1DaS — Guardia...

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