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Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

crimepaysbutbotanydoesnt.com

211–220 of 224 posts

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#211

Odd to see one of the best native plant communicators referenced on HN but I'll use to opportunity to mention a side project I'd been delaying diving in for years and finally committed to recently if there are folks here who want to not only learn to identify crucial native flora (and fauna) but contribute to restoring local native plants that are critical to ecosystems. So, mini show HN: https://indigene.app is a br…

You've done a great job with the "how big does it get"/"what will it look like" SVG diagrams, those are incredibly helpful.

https://indigene.app/plants/symphyotrichum-subspicatum

https://indigene.app/plants/juncus-patens

Very helpful for choosing plants.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#212

Odd to see one of the best native plant communicators referenced on HN but I'll use to opportunity to mention a side project I'd been delaying diving in for years and finally committed to recently if there are folks here who want to not only learn to identify crucial native flora (and fauna) but contribute to restoring local native plants that are critical to ecosystems. So, mini show HN: https://indigene.app is a br…

I'm at https://indigene.app/regions/pnw (on Firefox on Android) and I'm frustrated because I can't find a map of the region's boundary. It's not at all clear to me how far north or south the region extends.

Fixed via https://github.com/olivierlacan/indigene/pull/105

Thanks again for the suggestion. It’ll take some refining but I also included nearby cities so it’s easier to get a sense of scale and proximity.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#213

Odd to see one of the best native plant communicators referenced on HN but I'll use to opportunity to mention a side project I'd been delaying diving in for years and finally committed to recently if there are folks here who want to not only learn to identify crucial native flora (and fauna) but contribute to restoring local native plants that are critical to ecosystems. So, mini show HN: https://indigene.app is a br…

You've done a great job with the "how big does it get"/"what will it look like" SVG diagrams, those are incredibly helpful. https://indigene.app/plants/symphyotrichum-subspicatum https://indigene.app/plants/juncus-patens Very helpful for choosing plants.

Some are pretty crude but it was one of the hardest things to determine when dealing with a fairly small garden. I agree they’ve been very useful before and sometimes after planting when it becomes clear you might have to relocate a plant.

The next thing I’d like to do is categorize some of the plants that are ideal for foundation planting (water management, vertical taproots) or curb islands (between sidewalks & streets).

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#214
post #127

My favorite Youtube channel. Please watch the latest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDVcfSYcxc0 . It's an interview with an old botanist, who shares his wisdom and philosophy, remains engaged after decades of witnessing first hand America's nature getting destroyed. 2 main points: - destroyed old-growth forests, grassland, remnant prairies takes millennia to be back to what they were, not decades. Insects and other…

Brilliant, thanks for sharing. I'm reminded of an article I read once, it seems to have gone offline, an interview with indie game dev Jason Rohrer. He said the city took him to court for not mowing his lawn. He ended up winning under the 1st amendment (the lawn was "free expression" or something...)[0] I thought that was really interesting (and obviously wouldn't work in other countries). The other day I walked arou…

> and obviously wouldn't work in other countries

It wouldn't work e.g. in Germany since here we don't have "home owners associations" that reduce the freedom of whole housing areas. That is: you are "mostly" free in the first place to grow whatever you want.

Mostly ? because there is always complexity with law. For example, if you grow a huge tree that takes all the sun from your neighbor, then you're tapping into the freedom of your neighbor. And then the neighbor can ask you to remove or at least trim the tree ... absolute freedom almost always hinder others.

And so yes, there are cases where people though "My own freedom for a posh garden is diminished due to the biosphere of my neighbor, All the weed seeds are flowing to me". And people took others before court. And then each individual case is looked at. And often enough the case is just turned down because of the constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression.

And that, in turn, means that "obviously won't work in other countries" is wrong.

How US-Americans with one of the worst constitution and law systems of the western world constantly think that "only they" have something freedom-related is beyond me. If you look at your history ... you had slavery --- with your current constitution. You had genocide and trail of tears --- with your current constitution. You have gerrymandering --- with your current constitution. You sentence people to death but from 7482 death penalties of 1973-2004 a whole 4.1% were in error --- under your constitution. Each of these was or is an extreme reduction of people's freedom.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#215

Odd to see one of the best native plant communicators referenced on HN but I'll use to opportunity to mention a side project I'd been delaying diving in for years and finally committed to recently if there are folks here who want to not only learn to identify crucial native flora (and fauna) but contribute to restoring local native plants that are critical to ecosystems. So, mini show HN: https://indigene.app is a br…

Aw man, since you're sharing this on HN, you gotta cover California!

Southern California is in. Took a bit longer than planned since as you'll see there were quite a few other improvements today: https://indigene.app/release-notes/0.24/

I'll move on to other parts soon, like the Bay Area.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#217
post #86
post #46

I think nature and plants always interested me since I was a kid. For example I loved to plant from seeds, see them grow, learn and explore a bit with curiosity my mum or aunt plants and when being out in the forest, but not a lot more than that. Later, while growing up, I noticed my brain noticing plants or tree details, auto mapping them to possible genre, trying to find out, trying to memorize... but not always vo…

I got very much into biology when I started growing weed at 24. Now I can’t not have a little garden(currently growing chilli’s and a citrus tree, from seeds)

A tree is an expensive investment paid with years of time. You need to understand that a tree from seed is much more expensive than buying one on the nursery. You pay for exclusivity, but you will have a big tree that may bear decent fruit or not. Most probably not top-quality fruit, and most probably with vicious eye-poking thorns. If the garden is not very big, a smaller thornless tree could be much more convenient. Don't wait 30 years to discover this.

If your citrus species is sensible to citrus tristeza virus you may prefer to replace your tree or graft it on a tolerant rootstock. Orange trees over sour orange rootstock (= most of the orange trees planted before 1980's) have the virus. Lemons are tolerant, and its roots don't have this problem. Oranges may die after you have invested 15 or 20 years of your life on this tree.

Grafted fruit trees are vastly superior. You will want seedless oranges, so just do yourself a favor, buy a good navel type orange, grafted on the best rootstock available for your soil type, and avoid the rest of your life spitting seeds from your orange juice.

If replacing your tree is not on the table, you may want to graft yours. Extra point if you made a double or triple graft for enjoying different types of citrus fruits in the same tree. In this case Is essential to assure to buy virus free material before to graft other citrus tree with it.

Never, ever, use the same tool to prune older and young different citrus trees without disinfecting it each time you move to a different tree.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#218

Odd to see one of the best native plant communicators referenced on HN but I'll use to opportunity to mention a side project I'd been delaying diving in for years and finally committed to recently if there are folks here who want to not only learn to identify crucial native flora (and fauna) but contribute to restoring local native plants that are critical to ecosystems. So, mini show HN: https://indigene.app is a br…

I was looking for something like this in order to plant on a urban brownfield in my are that needs to be recultivated. I would like to add the plants for the area, as they are not in the database. Would you be able to recommend where I would be able to to find these? I did not find it in the readme. If there is a specific procedure to follow (i.e. referencing botanical texts), it would benefit from being added. Thanks!

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I get it - I somewhat agree with your take, but this is somewhat of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" case. I think you undermine your argument when you don't understand the complaint. Because I'd also like to see a lot more native plants, and less manicured, mono-culture yards with poison sprayed all over them. But at least in my area, the problem isn't "oh look a spider"... it's "oh shit, that house…

The complaint is not well founded and doesn't explain how native landscapes make the problem any worse. A healthy ecosystem with owls, snakes, and coyotes will keep rodents in check. But well before that point, the ubiquitous feral domestic cats usually wreak havoc on pests and songbirds alike. Not to mention that most of the problem starts with bad food storage and waste management in the first place, not tall grass…

The above post fails to distinguish between unmaintained and native.

Native is great. I'm with you entirely.

Failure to maintain the space is not. That causes expensive and annoying problems.

Re: Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't

#220
post #182
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His instagram account ( https://www.instagram.com/crime_pays_but_botany_doesnt ) is up there with Chuck Tingle in terms of subscribing to little bits of life-affirming joy in a difficult world.

How is the world so difficult? People live nowadays better than kings of France used to live. In the last hundred years we've been going through an unprecedented wealth creation, not just in the West but accross the world.

Previously it was designed to be uplifting. You'd come together and look at beautiful things and sing.

Now it's designed to crush your soul.

I assume that has something to do with it.

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