Archive for Brian O'Brien
Twin Titans Twofer – Leaf and Inflorescence
Perry’s leaf began to emerge from the shoot yesterday. Stay tuned for rapid development. I’m at a chemistry meeting out of town right now, so personally missed the emergence, but Nick, who has been keeping tabs on the shoot during my absence, took some excellent photos. The leaf should eventually be titanic. Click [...]
Tiny Titan at Como
I recently posted on the Amorphophallus titanum plants that we donated to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory (presently known more widely and unofficially as the Como Conservatory) in St. Paul a few years ago. Since then, the dormant corm has begun to grow. I and the Como curators looked at the growth (from a [...]
Titan Tops One Meter
As of yesterday (March 30) at about 4:00 p.m., the leaf shoot of Perry, our largest Amorphophallus titanum plant, was one meter tall. Today at about 10:00 a.m. the height was 105 cm. Alex and Nick are pictured below with Perry for comparison of last year’s and this year’s growth. Click on [...]
Perry Grows Again!!!
Exactly one month ago (February 6), Emily Hoefs, our greenhouse manager, saw that Perry’s shoot tip, about 1/2 inch high, had emerged. I had noted cracks in the center of the potting mix about a week earlier, and had been hoping that they were from shoot pressure rather than drying of the mix surface. [...]
Perry’s Prolific Siblings at Como
I and two of my students took a pair of Perry’s siblings to the Como Conservatory in St. Paul in the summer of 2004, where they have been growing strongly and in addition proliferating. Margaret Yeakel-Twum and her colleagues recently re-potted the larger of the two plants, and I wrote about that on this [...]
Perry Deja Vu
I went up to St. Paul last Saturday for the annual Orchid Society of Minnesota Holiday Party, which was held at the Mai Village, an excellent Vietnamese restaurant. This was a lunch event, and I sat with Philip and his mother (click here for a link back to the Perry event and Philip, our [...]
Titanic Tremors!
It lives, Dr. Frankenstein!! IT LIVES!!! Yes, Perry is reawakening! I noticed a precipitous decline in the level of the potting mix recently. I had thought that perhaps the corm had rotted and collapsed :=(. I dug into the pot and found a nice fat, new root. I found out later from [...]
Perry’s Big Splash
The August issue of the Gustavus Quarterly (Gustavus alumni magazine) is out, and Perry is on the cover, along with two familiar humans. Within are more photos and an article by budding plant essayist Brian O’Brien.This issue of the Quarterly will eventually be available online. Meanwhile, I’ve uploaded images to the blog. Click on the [...]
Perry at the Pearly Gates
Since the Perry Mummy has long since passed the Pearly Gates in a literal manner, I and my two summer research students (Alex, who needs no introduction, and Joel, new to the blog) decided to take the Perry Mummy out for a photo-op. Saint Peter, Minnesota does indeed have a set of Pearly Gates. [...]
Perry Potter
Ok, it’s a bit late to be writing this, but here it is. The Perry Mummy, Alex, and I made an appearance at the Harry Potter party in St. Peter, Minnesota recently. Alex was Harry Potter, and I was the Potion Master. It seemed appropriate to include a mummy in the event, [...]