THE TREE OF LIFE

Chicago's Field Museum is collaborating on a project that intends to create a free Internet resource to catalog and describe every one of the planet's 1.8 million species.

The $50 million biodiversity effort, named the Encyclopedia of Life, was launched May 9 . Field Museum's curator of zoology, Mark Westneat said that it " could be like Google Earth for the tree of life ". Imagine zooming up the trunk of the tree of life, and zipping off to look at ferns and fungi, then zipping to the bird branches, and hopping over to dinosaurs. "

Software engineers are working on applications that could create customized maps showing the geographic home of any species, doing in minutes what could take months with current technology.

Write this down : www.eol.org. It is sure to be an authoritative version of Wikipedia for biology fans.

The QUEEN OF MAY - MARIE IS IN BLOOM

Viburnum Plicatum ' Mariesii '

I call her Marie for short. She's my favorite Viburnum and is now in bloom. Even when she's not in bloom I love her arching graceful shape and the bronzy colored leaves in Fall.

When I made the final plans for my backyard patio garden, I placed Marie as the specimen focal point, even though she was very small and didn't make much of a statement. Having seen a photo of her at maturity I was taken with the arching, horizontal branching she had. So I was patient and it took several years before she came into her own. But what a beauty she is !

I was told by a colleague that there is an amazing Marie in Chicago that I just had to see. She is probably 15 years old and has an incredible framework showing the layering of blossoms, and after that, red berries that remain attractive for quite some time. I've gotta go see her.

Close up of Blossom

Viburnums are native shrubs and as such have few problems with disease, insects, etc. They will tolerate some shade but seem to thrive in sun if you keep them well watered.

P.S. to the above : Annie in Austin reminded me that Marie is not totally native, but has a Japanese parent and so I should clarify the "native " shrub label. Mariesii is a hybrid of a native American and a native Japanese.

HERE COMES THE JUDGE !

Hey all of you garden bloggers , both indoors and out, here's a fun contest to enter : Mrbrownthumb is calling for entries in the Houseplant Photo Contest. Please visit him at http://www.mrbrownthumb.blogspot.com for all the details.

He's asked me to be one of the judges. It should be a lot of fun. We both look forward to seeing your lovely photos.

BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY

JUST IN TIME FOR BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY

We hold our breath each Spring to see if our wisteria standard has made it through another Chicago winter. This past winter was brutal, but the wisteria has proven to be a real survivor.

WELL I NEVER !

Magnolia Grandiflora 'Edith Bogue '
A Southern Belle in a Northern Climate

I was so taken back by the news that my mouth was agape for a least a minute and all I could say was " Well, I never ! " An acquaintance was telling me she knew of a place in her neighborhood where a Southern magnolia was growing and that the fragrance was so great you could smell it from the sidewalk even though the tree was a pretty good distance away .

For reasons of privacy I cannot reveal the location but can assure you that the magnolia not only exists very happily there, but blooms as well. I also learned that the cultivar, ' Edith Bogue ' will survive in Zone 5 if given a sheltered, protected site. Another cultivar, ' Victoria ' is also hardy in our area.

My question now is where am I going to find space in my small garden for Edith ? She will ultimately grow 30 ' tall and 20 ' wide. I won't think about it now. After all, tomorrow is another day.

TWO MILLION YEARS OLDER

The Central Limestone Co. Quarry
10 Miles north of Morris, Illinois

Just imagine, millions of years before the dinosaurs, a river washed sediment into this limestone cave. Coal miners are usually the first to find clues of our ancient history, but a class from the University of Illinois Chicago came upon well-preserved life from 310 million years ago - plant spores, scorpion parts and needles from a conifer that may be the oldest ever found on the continent.

The material is in pristine shape, having been protected from decomposing effects of oxygen 60 feet below the surface before it was unearthed. Much of Southern Illinois was a kind of basin covered by low seas and swampland filled with sediments on which forests grew. This formed an organic stew that turned into peat, then coal.

In Danville, Illinois scientists found a 300-million-year-old fossilized rain forest in a mine which was preserved in intricate detail, including fern fronds and ancient trees with diamond-patterned bark. They believe it to be one of the earth's first rain forest.

In a quarry closer to Chicago UIC Professor Roy Plotnick found a cave that produced what is thought to be the earliest predecessor to the modern pine in North America- a specimen now in the Field Museum's collection. The oldest conifers on record are at least 2 million years younger.