horticulture

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Largest Water Lily Species Hid in Plain Sight for 2 Centuries
Largest Water Lily
Was Hiding in Plain Sight
NEW STUDY
Jul 6, 2022 7:59 AM CDT

Largest Water Lily Was Hiding in Plain Sight

Study describes the massive Victoria boliviana, kept at a botanical garden in London since 1845

(Newser) - A royal botanical garden is just the place you'd expect to find the world's largest species of water lily. But until recently, officials at London's Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, were unaware that the species previously unknown to science, though well known to the indigenous peoples of the...

After 12 Years Waiting for Corpse Flower's Odor, Nothing

Chicago Botanical Garden's titan arum didn't bloom, emit trademark putrid smell

(Newser) - A crowd of people waited yesterday with bated breath to take in what a floriculturist at the Chicago Botanic Garden described to NBC Chicago as the "decaying, rancid, rotten stench" of one of the venue's most famous specimens. But Spike the corpse flower wasn't feeling particularly malodorous....

Most Useless College Degree Is ...

Journalism tops the list, and advertising isn't far behind

(Newser) - Parents of high school seniors take note: The Daily Beast has compiled a list of the 20 most useless college degrees, based on salaries, number of jobs available, and general trend of crappiness. The losers:
  1. Journalism: Median starting salary is $35,800; percentage change in number of jobs from 2008
...

Walgreens Jettisons Chia Obama
Walgreens Jettisons
Chia Obama
Apr 8, 2009 10:43 AM CDT

Walgreens Jettisons Chia Obama

Afro-sporting pottery planter 'didn't fit our corporate image'

(Newser) - Walgreens has pulled Chia Obama from its shelves, saying the Afro-growing pottery novelty “didn’t fit our corporate image,” the Chicago Tribune reports. “We didn’t want to be subject to any misinterpretation over the product,” said a spokesman, who said he was misquoted yesterday as...

Can Tomatoes Grow to Love Shakespeare?

Brit study puts plants-love-voices theory to the test

(Newser) - A tomato by any other name might taste as sweet, but will it grow as fast without the sound of a human voice? A new British study intends to find out with recordings of Shakespeare's verse and a poem by John Wyndman. The recordings will be played to the plants...

Flower Shows Wilt Under Recession

Hard times, changing tastes killing off lavish displays

(Newser) - The economic downturn and changing demographics are killing off flower shows across America, the New York Times reports. Sponsorship money is drooping and greenhouses are becoming costlier to heat. One of the most famous, the New England Flower Show, canceled this year’s event after 137 years of bringing an...

Bamboo Invades Suburbia
 Bamboo Invades Suburbia 
Mar 24, 2008 10:30 AM CDT

Bamboo Invades Suburbia

Plant evades pesticides, machetes, metal sheets in US yards

(Newser) - Suburbanites are fighting to keep bamboo at bay in backyards all over America, but the tropical grass is winning. The Asian import grows fast and has become a popular, environmentally friendly way to screen out the neighbors. But with roots like steel cables, the relentless spreader resists pesticides, pickaxes, and...

7 Stories