What The World Needs Now
Is more flowers. That picture is cropped from the original collection of local flowers put up by Hipparchia at Corrente. The picture is much larger than the actual flower which is only about ½-inch across. This is a native wildflower, Spiderwort [Tradescantia virginiana]. If it isn’t blooming it looks like a clump of tall grass.
We are also seeing a lot of “volunteer” sunflowers coming up, especially if someone has a bird feeder in the neighborhood.
You might want to get some of both. Below the fold I tell you why they are worth planting.
The BBC reports that a Radiation leak found outside Japan nuclear reactor
Highly radioactive water has been found for the first time outside one of the reactor buildings at Japan’s quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, officials say.
The leak in a tunnel linked to the No 2 reactor has raised fears of radioactive liquid seeping into the environment.
Plutonium has also been found in soil at the plant, but not at levels that threaten human health, officials say.
So, Massachusetts is reporting Iodine-131 in their rainwater, and instruments at the former nuclear test site in Nevada are reporting several different additional particles including cesium-137, but “don’t worry”, “there’s no danger”. Yeah, right. Did you know that asthma medications were distributed in cigarettes in the 1940s? Any one remember Thalidomide?
From the Wikipedia entry on Spiderwort: “The cells of the stamen hairs of some Tradescantia are colored blue, but when exposed to sources of ionizing radiation such as gamma rays, the cells mutate and change color to pink; they are one of the few tissues known to serve as an effective bioassay for ambient radiation levels.”
The blue stamen hairs are clearly visible in Hipparchia’s photo. If they turn pink, there is definitely a problem, no matter what the government and nuclear industry tell you.
And then there are Sunflowers: “Sunflowers can be used to extract toxic ingredients from soil, such as lead, arsenic and uranium. They were used to remove cesium-137 and strontium-90 from a nearby pond after the Chernobyl disaster.”
You don’t want to use the seeds, or anything else from the plants if the Spiderwort has a pink center, or you suspect heavy metals in your soil.
18 comments
Good ol’ Mom Nature! 😀 She don’t tell no lies! 😉 (And yet… stoopid humans continue to try to convince other stoopid humans that they know better than nature and that black is actually white, etc)! And of course, the rest of humanity (generally being as intelligent as lobotomized lab rats) continue to believe the “Gospel according to all Lying Greedy Criminal Corporations”.
Oh… just FYI… I’m kinda back. 😛 Internet was connected yesterday, works OK but still a couple (minor) teething problems to sort. I can’t really be bothered since I’m sick as the proverbial dog. Had 3 ambulance trips to emergency the past two weeks. The bloody hospital has a serious flee up their collective butt about heart disease!! Every time I went, they wasted an hour or more making sure I wasn’t gonna die from heart failure! You know, nitro patch, Anginine pill under the tongue (I hate that stuff!) Even though my medical record clearly indicates I have a very good and strong heart,and I was born with an unusually low heart rate (which can freak medical practitioners out at times), it normally varies between about 45 to 60 bpm, and when full of morphine, it will drop to around 30. 🙂 Anyway… long story short, after a ton of tests (including earlier today), and the current guess is some kind of virus and “something else, possibly GERD”. I won’t go into details, but I really *don’t feel too good*! Ehhhh… Life sux… what’s new? 😛
But it was nice to see a pretty flower when I came here. 😉 I wasn’t expecting that. 😀
Cheers, and I hope you are all doing better than I am right now. ttyl
Welcome back, Kryten, I’ll move you to the “Injured Reserve” list.
You share a low pulse rate with my Mother, and she has the same problem every time she goes to the hospital or to a new doctor. You would think that after 86 years without any heart problems doctors would would get the hint, but, alas, that is not the case. She has taken to telling them right off the bat that the only things she doesn’t have are heart problems or diabetes, so stop with the stupid tests.
Given the lousy weather that you have had this year, I would expect all kinds of nastiness springing up along with the mold, like the Liberals in NSW. 😉
Ah, yes, pretty flowers to tell us that corporations are trying to kill us with incompetence.
It’s fall down there so things should start cooling off, and might even dry out a bit… hey, we can hope. 😉
Welcome back to the digital world, Kryten! Too bad you’re too sick to enjoy it. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
Bryan, that is SOME amazing information. I’d never heard this bit of news about spiderwort or sunflowers. I wonder if I can find spiderwort in the woods behind my house? Time to take a hike maybe….
Thanks Bryan & JM. 🙂
The weather is actually *unusually warm* currently, but not too uncomfortable. 🙂 It will get pretty cool over the next few days the weather guy on TV tells us. I spent a few hours yesterday at a local park with a nice sized lake giving (RSPCA approved) grains and seed to the local ducks and assorted bird-life. They seem pretty used to people because they come right up close (and of course I do my best not to make sudden moves or noised to scare them off). There was a momma duck swimming around the lake with her 6 little ducklings paddling furiously in her wake, teaching them the facts of lake life I guess. 🙂 The park is owned by the local Rotary Club chapter, and has some nice BBQ facilities (which are free to use when you get the key and register to use the BBQ at the office).
The *Coalition* (ahem) win in NSW was only surprising in that it didn’t happen years ago (only reason it didn’t was that the Labor party in NSW was so corrupt that people were scared of payback). 😉 Just goes to prove that even scared people have their limits! 😆 Also, the coalition State win’s here in Vic & now NSW are a warning to Gillard, who is actually too stupid to get the hint. The sooner she is gone the better IMHO. Sadly, that will probably mean being saddled with a Fed Coalition Gov. Given the swing to Coalition on a State bases, that will be a very BAD thing! The ONLY thing that minimized Howards carnage was the fact that State Gov’s were Labor. Oh well… *shrug*
JM: A hike in the woods sounds like a nice idea (so long as the weather is good of course). Take a friend or two! 🙂
Cheers! 😀
It is Tradescantia virginiana, Juanita so it should be there. It opens in the morning and will close around noon, unless the sky is overcast. It does look like a grass clump if it isn’t blooming. You can grow it from seed or cuttings, but it doesn’t get carried away like some plants.
Life is amazing in all its forms, if we would just stop trying to mess about with it. I think they should require spiderwort to be planted around nuclear power plants and military bases to give people a warning.
I think I prefer fall, even over spring, Kryten, as it is a time for slowing down.
On politics, oh, yes, one party in charge of everything is a prescription for accelerated disasters, as there are no checks on the system. The worst part is that it doesn’t seem to matter which side is in power, the disaster ensues. We are having major battles in the states because of Republicans in charge of all of the power centers in state governments. Without effective opposition, politicians will always get up to mischief.
As near as I can tell from this far away, the Abbott v. Gillard fights are personal more than political – they really don’t like each other, and don’t try to hide it. He seems to improve her standing every time he goes on one of his “crusades” as he can’t stay on the policy differences. It not as if she hasn’t made any mistakes that should cause political problems, but Abbott keeps turning them into personal assaults, i.e. he isn’t attacking the leader of the Labor government, he is attacking Julia Gillard. While that often works in US politics, I don’t get the feeling that Australians like it.
Good to “see” you again, Kryten! I hope you return to good health in a hurry.
Gorgeous flower, Bryan; thanks for the pic.
Juanita, hiking sounds wonderful. I wish I were able…
It came from Hipparchia’s yard, I’m working with some of the same flowers to do a new Spring header with the flowers around me. They are a nice bit of blue, which is rare, for some reason.
hi, kryten! good to see you, and glad i could help brighten your day!
It’s very good to *see* you Steve & hipparchia! 😀
I hope you and *your better half* are well and happy Steve. 🙂
The flower was a pleasant surprise h, and good timing. Ta very much! 😀 ( I think I’m getting a bit soppy in my middle age!) 😉 😆
I’ve wondered several times Bryan why it is that blue is rare in the flora World. It’s more common in the Worlds of the avian & the fish. Probably has to do with the predominance of Chlorophyll I guess. 🙂
hiking sounds wonderful. I wish I were able…
Oh Steve, I wish you could, too. If you ever get up to the Virginia mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway has fabulous overlooks that are a balm to the soul, and in addition are very level and easily accessed. Especially Rocky Knob which is my all-time favorite. We don’t have many people on the Parkway anymore (economy?) unless there’s a local festival, so it’s almost like taking a hike by yourself.
Bryan, just checked and the Spiderwort in our area blooms from late May to July, so it looks like I have a while to go. You guys in the southerly climes can help us northerly folks out and let us know if you see any pink. 🙂 I’ll be ordering my sunflowers today from Southern Exposure, but they don’t have Spiderwort, so I need to search a source for that. I’d like to cover a small hill in the back with them. I’ve always been partial to blue flowers too, probably because they are so scarce.
Hipparchia, your photos are just gorgeous. You have spring in full bloom there, and I am so jealous, and I am SOOOO tired of winter. We got a few blooms and then had an inch of snow a couple of days ago and killed them all. Rats.
We got a few blooms and then had an inch of snow a couple of days ago and killed them all. Rats.
the fluffy black dog is already complaining about the heat here, and he would love to come join you in the snow!
the blue ridge parkway is one of my favorite places to drive. speaking of snow, one of the family vacations was renting a cabin in the mountains one christmas, and we took a drive on the parkway, ooh-ing and ah-ing at the icicles hanging from everything and the blankets of snow on the trees, the rocks, the guard rails 🙂 … then the state highway patrol came along and made everyone leave because of the ice on the road.
why real blue is rare
ooh-ing and ah-ing at the icicles hanging from everything
Hipparchia, it was about three years ago that the old gristmill on the Parkway, Mabry Mill, became completely iced over. The ice was cascading over the waterwheel and the trestles (about 15 feet high) had ice formations dripping all the way to the ground. The whole thing looked like some huge and strange ice sculpture. I took some photos, but I’ve misplaced the CD. If I come across them, I’ll post’em. It was a sight.
Oh yeah, those highway patrol people can be real party poopers. Right, Bryan? 🙂
Although, it seems likely it was a Park Ranger. They don’t want you to have too much fun, either.
Oh, I forgot to mention… Catherine Fairchild, a friend for decades and a serious photographer, has some very interesting flower photos on her site at the moment. See also here.
Thanks for the information on Blue, Hipparchia. As a secondary thought on that line – most of the blue flowers, the true blues, are wild flowers.
The Blue Ridge was the “I-95” of not that many years ago. It was the fastest way to go from the Northeast to the Gulf Coast. I was a very small passenger in a ’36 Ford the first time I traveled it.
Give the troopers a break, guys – someone has to think for those who won’t. If people would make rational decisions we wouldn’t have Republicans.
Catherine takes wonderful pictures, Steve, but I liked her less artistic “Nature” shots. I appreciate the “interesting” photos which remind me of Georgia O’Keefe, but right now I want regular old flowers. I’ll be ready for the others in the fall.
i’d love to see those photos, juanita!
this was definitely a state trooper [and it was many years ago]. they may have called out reinforcements, iirc the icy conditions were worse than expected, or a more fierce storm than expected was up ahead, or something along those lines.
Just a note: My pasture in Louisiana is full of spider wort. Most of them have blue flowers, some of them have pinkish-purple flowers. The pinkish-purple flowers occur in the areas that are especially acidic. So don’t freak out if you see one of your spiderworts has a pinkish-purple flower rather than a blue one… it may just be planted in an area where acid rain collects, not a sign of radiation. If *all* of them turn pinkish-purple on the other hand…
-Badtux the Flowery Penguin
That’s just like hydrangeas, Badtux, – the pH of the soil determines whether they will be pink or blue.
This is when the stamen hairs of a blue spiderwort changes to pink, and just the hairs. The petals stay blue, but it has a hairy pink center.
According to the info on blue that Hipparchia provided, most blue flowers need alkaline soil to produce the color.