Taipei: An Intersection of Urban Life and Wildlife

So awhile back, I went to Taiwan with my Chinese class for about 10 days. We stayed at 臺北市 (Taipei)、花蓮市 (Hualien) 、and 礁溪鄉 (Jiaoxi)。The experience was amazing and unforgettable--although we did not have the chance to visit a botanical garden, there was no shortage of plant life to be found in Taiwan. I have been meaning to blog about it for awhile now, but have not had the opportunity (nor motivation for that matter) until now.

So here is my long-overdue post on nature and plant life in Taiwan, starting with the capital city of Taipei.

This is actually a slide from my final presentation for my Chinese class (so any mistakes in the Chinese is my own fault), which was sort of an ethnobotanical study on the relationship between plants and people in Taiwan. One thing I noted was, despite how technologically advanced and modern Taiwan was, the environment and landscape seemed to be very nature-conscious and, as one of my classmates noted, Taiwan seemed to be very good in terms of space usage and landscape planning.

These next few pictures were taken from atop the 101st floor of 臺北101 (Taipei 101), which is one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. From the giant windows lining the floors, you can see practically all of Taipei--it was pretty amazing and breathtaking.

The city of Taipei from atop Taipei 101--from this view, it looks just like any other busy city...

But as you can see, the city seems to be built in accommodation with the environment rather than regardless of it.

I was pretty impressed with some of the ways infrastructure was worked into the environment without destroying the landscape.

It was amazing to see how they utilized the environment to be able to coexist alongside nature--by no means am I saying that Taipei is the epitome of nature preservation or plant conservation but as a New Yorker, I think that there are some things to be learned from how the city was planned.

That is all for now, but definitely expect more Taiwan posts--soon, I hope!

Until next time~

Winter Wonderland & Spring Sprouts

"More is always better."

(I don't actually know who says this quote)

That is a total lie. One of my labels is also a total lie. I labelled this as "Campus Stroll" but the pictures of campus were actually taken...from my room. So I didn't really stroll around campus unless you count going to class a stroll. 

Anyways, we've been having a lot of snow lately, and today we have...more snow here on campus. It's sort of like a pouty child: it was cute the first time, but enough is enough. As much as I enjoy the snow, I've had quite enough of all this windy snow/rain mixture. Still, I have to admit, the campus looks fantastic and somebody even built a pretty impressive igloo and pyramid out on the Green (it was really slippery in the igloo, though).

Look at all that snow!

It's actually still snowing but I don't think you can tell in this shot

Lamp-post

 On the plus side, the plants in my terrarium have also been getting more and more plentiful! Meanwhile, the older ones are getting taller!

I think this is what? Day 28 now?

Look at how tall they have gotten!

I haven't been updating you all on the status of these little guys, but it has been a little under a month since I planted them now, and as you can see they're doing fantastic! Growing tall and reaching for the light, they're healthy little shoots they are.

Even this little guy at the front has been growing well, albeit at a slower rate than the others. He has a tiny little companion growing near him, which you can't see, but it's there. I'm a little concerned about the little guy, but I'm doing my best to make sure they remain hydrated. Covering the opening seems to be doing them some good, but I still have to water them. Fingers crossed for the both of them!

Hope everyone is doing well, staying warm, and appreciating plants!

Until next time then!

Frozen Lakes & Narnia

Those of you in the Northeast know that we've been wracked with quite a bit of snow lately and so my friend and I decided--what better time to go to the Arboretum than after the snow has fallen? Actually we have been meaning to go back for a while but were either put off by the cold weather, laziness, or just not being in the trekking mood.

That, off into the distance, is a frozen lake--it was absolutely breathtaking and we were really tempted to try walking on it--which is most definitely not a good idea. The ice was really thin and definitely would not have held our weights.

Look at that frozen splendor!

A portion of the lake which did not freeze over

A peek of water

Don't try ice-skating on this folks!

Moving on...

I shimmied my way under a tree for this and the next picture!

I think my finger might be in this shot...Sorry

This structure, covered in snow made me think about what refrigeration used to be like. I believe that perishables, such as meat, would have been treated with salt and dried fruits and vegetables hung up. Perhaps I shall look into that.

The Elven Path

The view actually reminded me of the scene in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring when the Hobbits have just left the Shire and Frodo, sensing the Nazgul warns the others to get off the road (clip does not belong to me).

Poor little plant smothered by snow!

The burden of snow

A running stream!

And we just couldn't resist making the Narnia lamp-post reference!

My friend got better shots of that but oh well. Hehe. Hope everyone enjoyed the snowy pictures and is staying warm and healthy in this cold cold weather!

Until next time~

Spring is Coming!

"Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you're signed up for a season, see it through. You don't have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through,"

~ Jim Rohn

(Just thought I would start with a quote today ^-^)

Alright, so according to everybody's favorite groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, there is actually six more weeks of winter. However, in the perfect and eternal world of the terrarium, I am happy to report that all is growing well and there are a lot of new shoots scattered throughout! In fact, there are over two dozen happy little shoots, I am proud to say! 

Day 12 Can you see them??

How about now? How many can you spot?

The only thing though was that the soil from about midway into the bottle to the mouth seemed a little dry and I've been constantly watering these past few days, but I finally put the plastic covering back over the opening. Hopefully that'll keep moisture in and help with watering. The teeny little sprout by the front also seems to be much smaller than some of his siblings who popped out around the same time as him so hopefully he'll grow bigger. 

One regret I have is not getting my spray bottle earlier or at least waiting until I got my spray bottle to start the terrarium. Now the uneven soil looks a bit like a landslide, but ah well. As long as the little sedums grow up happy right? At least they're not all condensed to one end. 

They make me so happy!

Until next time~

And Then There Were Nine

Good afternoon!

As promised, an update on the growth of my recently planted terrarium. It has been a week and a day since my last post, and since the seeds have been planted and sure enough, there has been some botanical activity.

Day 7

There were actually about four little sprouts yesterday morning, one of which can be seen if you squint closely near the center of the above photo. As you can imagine, I was quite pleased and quite ecstatic upon seeing the little green shoots. It has been a (somewhat) secret fear of mine that I would kill anything I tried to grow, so it's good to see that that is not the case. 

I was also a little concerned by the fact that the condensation was concentrated towards the back of the bottle: I wasn't sure if that meant that all the seeds were in the back (evaporation, water cycle, and whatnot--perhaps I should do a post on that?) or if it just meant that the open bottle was causing all the water near the front to evaporate. 

Day 8

However, I discovered (quite happily) today that there was indeed a little shoot growing near the opening of the bottle. (Now, just a case of figuring out if I should be trying to preserve water near that end by keeping it open or not)

Furthermore, I also discovered five additional shoots for a total of nine happy little shoots! I tried my best to take pictures of them, but they're really quite hard to discern among the soil, so I wouldn't blame you if you don't want to examine the pictures, but they're there, I promise!

Hopefully, they will get easier to see and if not, I guess we shall have to wait until they have matured. 

Meanwhile, I leave you all with a picture of...Terrarium Against a Rising Sun. Because who doesn't enjoy the effects of a good sunrise glowing against glass?

Until next time~~

Thumb of Green

So I got a cool gift recently, courtesy of a close friend of mine, whom I shall refer to as Madame LYing. Break having ended, meaning that I'm back in my dorm, I only just got around to setting up my new gift. It's a great gift really because it allows me to try my hand at gardening, though I guess with my various jobs at the farm and garden, I have had my fair share of gardening. However, this will be my first time at solo-gardening (though I suppose the instructions and the nature of the gift in itself count as assistance). Overcome with curiosity yet?

Tada! It's my very own terrarium. This is a picture diagram of what the matured terrarium would ideally look like plus all the components that make up the kit.

And this, I suppose, is a photo of what the terrarium will (hopefully) look like. As you can see, the terrarium consists of a "repurposed wine bottle," which I think is pretty neat and the seeds are of the sedum genus of flowering plants.

The set up was a little harder than I expected, if only because it was meant to lay horizontally and the spoon I was using for soil dispersal was a little on the short side meaning I couldn't quite get soil to the back with ease. Another issue I had was with watering; the instructions say to use a spray bottle to create a "gentle rain" over the soil, but as I was without a spray bottle, I had to resort to using the spray faucet in the laundry room sink. While the soil "should remain damp like a sponge" I fear that I may have sprayed a little too much water, not to mention the force of the faucet might have disturbed some of the seeds a little.

Day 1

 Here is what my terrarium looks like! I don't know if you can tell, but the soil level is higher further in the bottle--a result of the danged faucet. Hopefully all turns out well though!

From the mouth of the bottle

While the instructions suggest placing the terrarium in "a windowsill with morning (eastern) sun," which, thankfully, I have, I am a little worried as it is winter after all, and my window gets pretty bad condensation (which you may be able to discern from the picture), which I'm afraid will filter out the amount of sunlight the soil it exposed to. Also the soil is supposed to be at 75-85 degrees for germination--not sure how I'm supposed to maintain that or even make sure the temperature is within the range to begin with, but here's hoping. Fingers crossed! The seeds are supposed to germinate in 7-10 days so expect an update then!

Thanks again Madame LYing for this awesome gift!!

Until then~

Get your own at http://www.pottingshedcreations.com!

Seventeenth-Century Gardening

So I got this cool book last spring...

...but I haven't actually looked at it aside from the occasional flip-through every once in a while. It's quite interesting, if not a little confusing actually. In short, as can be ascertained from the title, it's a gardening book (gardining?) on which plants are best to grow for each month.

John Evelyn, author of this book, was born on October 31, 1620 in Wotton, Surrey in England. He was a writer, a diarist, best known for his Diary, though other known works of his included Sylva, or a Discourse of Forest Trees, as well as translations of books on gardening, religion, and architecture. As so aptly described  in the introduction of Directions for the Gardiner and Other Horticultural Advice, "Throughout [Evelyn's] long life, gardening design and maintenance and the desire to pass on his knowledge about gardening inspired him, and it is the detail and practicality of his advice that make his horticultural writings, four centuries later, so fascinating and timeless" (xi). Evelyn was well-traveled, journeying extensively throughout France, Italy, and the Low Countries and even in his earliest diary entries, one could discern of his immense interest in gardens and parks as he took the time to record their design and content, a habit he continued throughout his lifetime.

Directions for the Gardiner at Says-Court, But which may be of Use for Other Gardens is record of "the maintenance and management of a post-Restoration garden" (xv). It was actually inscribed to Evelyn's apprentice of six years, Jonathan Mosse, and was meant for professional estate gardeners. The manuscript itself was first transcribed and privately published in 1932 by Sir Geoffrey Keynes. The Sayes Court itself consisted of 40.47 hectares (or 100 acres) of farmland at Evelyn's disposal, with the Thames River running along its northern edge. Evelyn read extensively on the subject of stylish garden design and on the plants he intended to grow. He was also quite connected and corresponded with everyone connected to horticulture from aristocratic friends to gardeners. His garden allowed him to observe the growth and behavior of plants, which contributed to his writings.

Pen and ink sketch of Deptford, with remarks by Evelyn

So there you have it; an introduction to this nifty little book. It actually consists of several of Evelyn's writings, but for now I just wanted to introduce the general idea of the book. Expect another update about seventeenth-century gardening as gathered from this book.

Bye for now~

Sources

Evelyn, John. Directions for the Gardiner and Other Horticultural Advice. Ed. Maggie Campbell-Culver. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.

UPDATE (01.22.2013): Just wanted to let you know that, after trying my hand at understanding and explaining seventeenth-century gardening, I have decided to revert the two posts I did on seventeenth-century gardening back into drafts. Honestly, I felt that I was doing a terrible job, if only because I had so little understanding of the terminology used in the book, so I decided it would be best to save the series for when, if, I ever grasp all this gardening terminology. Thanks.