Latest Plants News
Brazil drought punishes coffee farms and threatens to push prices even higher
CACONDE, Brazil (AP) — Silvio Almeida’s coffee plantation sits at an ideal altitude on a Brazilian hillside, whose clay-rich soil does well at retaining moisture from rainfall and a nearby reservoir. Lately, though, water is scarce on Almeida's modest farm in Caconde, a town in...
US agency review says Nevada lithium mine can co-exist with endangered flower
RENO, Nev. (AP) — U.S. land managers said Thursday they've completed a final environmental review of a proposed Nevada lithium mine that would supply minerals critical to electric vehicles and a clean energy future while still protecting an endangered wildflower. “This...
An ancient African tree is providing a new 'superfood' but local harvesters are barely surviving
Since childhood, Loveness Bhitoni has collected fruit from the gigantic baobab trees surrounding her homestead in Zimbabwe to add variety to the family’s staple corn and millet diet. The 50-year-old Bhitoni never saw them as a source of cash, until now. Climate change-induced...
Summer vacation is over for houseplants, too. Time to repot them?
The best time to repot a houseplant is in spring, when its root system is actively growing and can quickly establish itself in its new home. But a fall repotting could be warranted if a plant has spent the summer outgrowing its container outdoors. Most species we consider houseplants...
The birth of a spectacled bear brings joy to a farming community in Peru
LIMA, Peru (AP) — A spectacled bear was born in a rescue center built by a Peruvian farming community that has protected these animals for more than two decades. The bear cub, which does not yet have a name, was discovered after park rangers in the community of Santa Catalina de...
The Amazon's Ashaninka tribe restored their territory. Now they aim to change the region
APIWTXA VILLAGE, Brazil (AP) — It was just before dawn when the Ashaninka people, wearing long, tunic-like dresses, began singing traditional songs while playing drums and other instruments. The music drifted through Apiwtxa village, which had welcomed guests from Indigenous communities in Brazil...
Fall's the time to renovate your lawn. Here's how
If you’re growing cool-season grasses, like Kentucky or Canada bluegrass, ryegrass, or tall or fine fescues, and your lawn has been thinning, patchy or discolored, now is the time to do something about it. Those hardy turfgrasses, commonly used in Canada and the northern two-thirds...
Got pruning remorse? How to fill in those bare spaces
After 20 years of growth, some of the ever-widening, 40-foot-tall Leyland cypress trees running along my backyard property line are blocking the walkway. A simple trim is not an option because only the outermost foot or two of each branch is needled, and more than that would have to...
Complex supply chains and climate change make "clean beauty" near impossible, but some keep trying
EAST GARAFRAXA, Ontario (AP) — Julie Thurgood-Burnett had no idea that her COVID-19 lockdown whim of starting a lavender patch on her husband's family farm outside Toronto would turn into a small business. She had never been a farmer, but before long she had a bright purple field and a new hobby...
This bird species was extinct in Europe. Now it's back, and humans must help it migrate for winter
PATERZELL, Germany (AP) — How do you teach a bird how, and where, to fly? The distinctive northern bald ibis, hunted essentially to extinction by the 17th century, was revived by breeding and rewilding efforts over the last two decades. But the birds — known for their distinctive...
