Senecio velatum

 

As a pot plant this certainly qualifies as weird.  You just don't expect this bright yellow flower at the end of this long stick. And, for a good part of the year, that's what it is: a long stick! But, hey, we're doing our part in keeping Portland weird.

Happy Thanksgiving

To my friends in the U.S.:

I am aware that many other countries have harvest festivals of various kinds and at different times. Let this also be my best of wishes to all of you as well. I'll be celebrating with family tomorrow and get back to the blog in good time. In the meantime, enjoy your plants!

I was just tired...really

OK. I now know how to get a plethora of comments: get very tired and frustrated and threaten to just throw out all those tired old succulent plants. Honest, friends, it was just a threat from a tired old man. I promise, we will not toss any plant which would not be better served as compost than as a plant. Really. And if we ever do decide to have a fire sale or give away...you'll be the first to know. So, please, I didn't intend to cause any anxiety for anyone. You can relax.

And regarding the weather, I should have noted that our lack of rain at this time of year is pretty much normal. From mid July through mid September, we seldom have any rain. I assure you, we will get our rain...lots of it. That's why I'm building a wooden walkway to the shed (hay and tool storage), so I don't have to slog through the mud during the winter months.

And, so...

I'll conclude today with a picture of one of our Aloe polyphyla plants, also known as the "Spiral" Aloe. Enjoy your plants!

Cyclamen coum - again

I know I posted this last month, but then it was pretending to be Spring. Last week it was pretending to be Winter and we had a light dusting of snow. But of course that doesn't stop these little beauties. They've been blooming for over a month now.

It was sunny and beautiful today and a full moon tonight. We got six shipments of plants posted today and we have about 3 or 4 more still to go. Then - perhaps - some R & R.

Plant Trademarks

In passing I mentioned the matter of trademarks for plant names. In the past we didn't have to deal with trademarks in succulent plants; that was the headache for the rose people. But now they're all over the place. Just what is a trademark and how is it appropriate in relation to the names of plants? We already have a system for naming plant cultivars by simply publishing the cultivar name (which must be in ordinary language). Such names can be used by anyone, freely.  Principle 4 of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants 2004 states that "Names of plants must be universally and freely available for use by any person to denote a distinguishable group of plants. In some countries, plants are marketed using trademarks. Such marks are the intellectual property of a person or some corporate body and are not therefore freely available for any person to use; consequently, they cannot be considered as names."

But now we have businesses trademarking cultivar names, though it's my understanding that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is opposed to the use of trademarks for cultivar names of plants. Remember. A TM on a plant does not prohibit the propagation and redistribution of a particular plant. Plant patents are available for that purpose. And if the TM  is applied to an already accepted cultivar name, it certainly is inappropriate if not illegitimate.
(The above is my opinion and my rant. I'm not an attorney, so don't consider this legal advice.)

A Little Political Aside

I'm not anti bank. But the financial crisis is real, with "too big to fail" the message heard repeatedly from governments stepping in and spending billions to prop up failing financial markets. I believe a healthy distrust of institutions which are "to big to fail" is a good thing. Thomas Jefferson was even more radical:

"I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a larger scale."

Maybe it's time to rethink our whole financial structures in the light of the issues of global warming. It's already happening on the local level as more and more people make changes in their lifestyle. Isn't it time for this to percolate up to our national and international leaders?

OK. My next post will be about plants!