Volume 2, Issue 8
Summer Challenge at the UW Botanic Gardens

For the fifth year, staff and students at the Center for Urban Horticulture collaborated with local fifth and sixth grade students for one day as part of The Incredible World of Plants for the UW’s Robinson Center for Young Scholars Summer Challenge.

From the research journals: rooftop vegetable gardening

 Growing food on rooftops requires a balance between substrate weight, moisture retention and fertility. Researchers found that incorporating compost to 60% by volume greatly increased yields of pepper and cucumber plants. Eksi, Mert, Rowe, D. Bradley, Fernández-Cañero, Rafael, Cregg, Bert M. 2015. Effect of substrate compost percentage on green roof vegetable production. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 14:315-322 [print copy available at the Miller Library].

Field Guide to Manzanitas: California, North America, and Mexico
Reviewed by Brian Thompson

“Field Guide to Manzanitas” is a nearly comprehensive review of the genus Arctostaphylos, covering 104 of the 105 taxa in the world. Why is one missing? The excellent introduction to this book will answer that question and explore the origins and diversification that has led to one species (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) being found throughout the northern hemisphere, while 60% of the remaining taxa are considered local endemics within the California Floristic Province. This book is a must for botanizing in California and helpful in making horticultural selections in the Pacific Northwest.

New to the Library July 2015