Botanical Nerd Word: Marcescent
Marcescent (mar-ses-ent): of parts of certain plants, remaining attached to the plant when withered.* Many oak (Quercus spp.) and beech (Fagus spp.) trees have marcescent leaves that persist well into the …
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Botanical Nerd Word: Excurrent branching
Excurrent branching: Tree growth in which the main axis continues to the top of the tree from which smaller, lateral branches arise (as in conifers).* *Burns, Russell M. and Barbara H. …
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Botanical Nerd Word: Quiescent
Quiescent: In a state or condition of quietness; motionless; inactive; dormant.* Seeds in storage are said to be quiescent. They are purposely kept dry and cool to prevent them from germinating. …
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Botanical Nerd Word: Fusiform
Fusiform: Three-dimensionally shaped like a spindle, widest at the middle and tapering to a point at both ends.* The winter buds of beech trees (Fagus) have a fusiform shape. *Pell, S.K., …
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Botanical Nerd Word: Procumbent
Procumbent: Growing along the ground without rooting at the nodes.* This cultivar of Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris ‘Albyn Prostrata’, has a procumbent growth habit. In the wild, Scots pine grows …
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Botanical Nerd Word: Cryptobiosis
Cryptobiosis: A condition in which an organism (or an egg, seed, etc.) is in a dormant and resistant state without visible signs of life, remaining so until environmental or seasonal conditions …
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Winter is for pruning!
Director of Horticulture Paul Zammit shows you how and what to prune during the winter months.
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Fall and Winter in the Garden
Enjoy a fall and winter photography tour of the Toronto Botanical Garden. All images Copyright Janet Davis 2008-2012.
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Where do bugs go in winter?
We’ve exchanged our gardening gloves for fleece mittens and our leaf rakes for snow shovels. While we may have put away our equipment for the season, some very important garden …
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Paul’s Plant Picks: Great Bones
Planning for a Winter Garden Tour Who would have thought that at this time last year select Helleborus and Erica in the TBG gardens had visible buds and flowers bravely …
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