Christmas already?

The Christmas Cactus has always been one of my favourite houseplants.

Easy to care for, this seasonal plant generously spashes forth fuchsia that for most of the year remains hidden within the flattened leaf-stems. Even the most neglected of the Christmas Cactus (like that of one of my coworkers, which hasn't seen a hint of daylight for about eight years) will survive.

Ours shown above is hosting at least a single flower, and in many cases two, on each stem. It's also the only seasonal plant my parents have that will dependably break forth in bloom, unlike the poinsettia disappointments they regularly receive as gifts during this time of year.

Theirs, however, doesn't bloom till closer to Christmas, or sometimes well into February, as the blooms are timed with the shortening days, and artificial light throws off their timing. If yours has this problem, either shade the plant well once the sun sets, or just put it closer to a window/further from artificial lights. If your buds fall off before blooming, you may be watering too much. I've read that you can reduce waterings to half of what you normally do during the winter months, though I've never had to do this.

Monster Aquatic Auction

The Vancouver Aquatic Hobbyist Club

is holding its

12Th Annual All Day Monster Aquatic Auction

Saturday November 14th, 2009

in the school gym of

St Pius X Catholic School

1150 Mount Seymour Road, North Vancouver

Registration from 8:30 am – 9:30 am

Auction Starts at 10:00 am Sharp!

Hundreds of items – quality fish raised by local breeders – quality plants grown by local growers – equipment new and used

– books and much more…

E.g.: Angelfish, Killifish, Rainbowfish, Cichlids, Live Bearers, Betta’s, Catfish and more

Door prizes given away and raffles held throughout the day

Food and drinks will be available onsite.

Your Questions answered by friendly experts

This auction is a fundraiser for Project PIABA with all club proceeds going save the Amazon rainforests!

No Entrance Fee - Everyone is Welcome!

For more information visit the VAHC website www.vahc.ca

Enough mushrooms for a year

We missed the mushroom show this year at Van Dusen, so I made it up to D by bringing her to the Vancouver Mycological Society's show at Richmond Nature Park this afternoon.

When one thinks of toadstools, one often has the Amanita muscaria in mind.

Puff balls are one of those edible mushrooms that are easily identifyable, but as one of the Mycological Society showed me, the best way is to slice it lengthwise to ensure that you don't see any gills.

Got a few interesting facts from the volunteers:

• the part of the mushroom you see is only the fruiting body. The mycelium (or root system) exists, for the most part, beneath the surface.
• spores are generally the best way to identify mushrooms. Only with precise identification can one positively identify the edible ones. I've seen pollen grains under a microscope, but spores can be even smaller
• I've often thought it odd that mushrooms kept in the fridge too long will themselves be invaded by other fungi. This is apparently quite common, and some fungi are made to taste even better because of it, such as the lobster mushroom.
• Some mushrooms have evolved poisons, while others take the "if you can't beat them, join 'em" route. Truffles, for instance, emit an alluring odour to animals to encourage their dispersal (of the spores) to far off lands.
• Even the mushroom experts agree that the safest way to enjoy mushrooms is from the supermarket.

The country spider and the city spider

I first wrote this in September, but never got around to publishing. Tonight seemed like an appropriate time, as you'll see at the end of the post.

---

September will always be a month when I think about beginnings. To many children, it's new teachers, schedules, and friends. To me, it's the beginning of the year, moreso than January. To another species, it also represents the beginning.

Last weekend, I was down in Bellingham to see how American wildlife spend their Septembers. In four metre section of blackberry bramble were at least 50 orb weavers, busily creating their webs in the shortening shadows of morning light. Many were the common Araneus species, taking up enough web real estate to wrap a full-sized football.

The males of the Zygiella species were more bold, interrupting the females web-building by twitching their lines, hoping to get some attention.

Such a high density of spiders, many webs overlapping each other. To bees and flies, this blackberry bush would've been the bramble of death. Despite the high density of spiders, the aroma of blackberries attracts all kinds of flying food, and they are all fed well.

In the city, we have these same species of spiders, but they mature much more slowly, most probably due to limited food supplies being attracted to urban structures such as lampposts and concrete. At this same time of year, the females are still one or two molts behind their mature adult molt. Most years, the first frosts will hit the city before the females are visited by males.

--fast forward to today, the first week of November--

In the city, the spiders have matured and are finally getting the action that their country brethren enjoyed a few months back.

An araneus sp. has been diligently building a web outside our apartment, which each evening I find barren of any flying insects that would normally make up her meals. The cold temperatures are enough to ground any flying insects at this time of year.

Tonight, a visitor paid her a visit. As usual, these encounters last hours, or even days, so long as the smaller male doesn't twitch with the panic-stricken movements of a prospective meal. They were still at it, this game of cat and mouse, when I stepped outside five hours later with my camera.

getting close

So very close

If he's survived this long, he must be doing something right.