I started to work as a Staff Engineer in MIPS Technologies, Inc. – a company founded by Stanford President John Hennessy. Since 1980s MIPS was a pioneer in processor design – MIPS processors were used in Silicon Graphics computers, Sony TV sets, video game consoles, photo cameras, laser printers and numerous other devices. I really enjoy my new job – there is a lot of smart people and aesthetically pleasing technology around.

Занялся новой работой в MIPS Technologies Inc. – компании, которую основал президент Стенфордского Университета Джон Хеннеси. Эта компания проектирует процессоры MIPS, которые стоят в телевизорах Sony, в игровых приставках, лазерных принтерах, видеокамерах, раньше стоял в компьютерах Silicon Graphics и т.д. Более того, эта компания еще в 1980-е была пионером во многих технологиях проектирования процессоров, которые только потом вошли в Intel Pentium.

I contributed some photo pictures to The Camellia Journal, a quarterly publications of the American Camellia Society (ACS). I made those pictures during the March ACS convention in Foster City, California. You can see one of the pictures published in the last issue of the magazine – a picture with the group of ACS attendies. I included both the cover of the magazine and the article about the convention below. You can see my other posts about the convention here:

Part 1. Bob Ehrhart’s Camellia Garden.
Part 2. Gallo Camellia Garden.
Part 3. Group pictures and the first reception.

All pictures are clickable:

I contributed more than 30 photo pictures to a new book about camellias which was published in China. This book is written by Shen Yinchun 沈荫椿, a Chinese American living in the San Francisco Bay Area. The preface is written by Barbara Tuffy, a recent president of the American Camellia Society. American camellia people usually call Shen Yinchun “Y.C. Shen” or simply “Y.C.”

This picture shows me, my younger son and Mr. Shen in University of California at Berkeley Botanical Garden, near the Asian section of the garden.

Another Chinese book about camellias has a picture of young Y.C. Shen with his father Shen Yuanru 沈渊如. This picture was taken back in 1967, one year before both of them were arrested by Chinese Communists during Mao’s “Cultural Revolution”:

My children attended 2009 MorningStar Happy Cup Youth Go Tournament in Morningstar Chinese School, Santa Clara, California.

Мои дети участвовали в турнире игры Го, который проходил в китайской школе Morningstar Chinese School в Санта-Клара, Калифорния.

Я рассматриваю Го как единственную настольную игру, которой имеет смысл учить детей. Наверное мне будут возражать любители шахмат. Но дело в том, что в свое время я работал с группой профессора Арлазарова, которые сделали в свое время программу Каисса, выигравшую в 1977 году чемпионат мира среди шахматных программ. Так вот, арлазаровцы мне как-то говорили, что если просматривать вперед на N уровней альфа-бета процедуры (точное N я не помню), то даже тупая шахматная программа будет выигрывать у всех, если ее запустить на большом, но по сегодняшним меркам вполне реальном компьютере.

А вот в Го программы играть хорошо не могут. Я полагаю (хотя сам вопросами компьютеризации Го не занимался), что помимо проблемы комбинаторного взрыва, в Го трудно оценивать позицию, а также очень трудно алгоритмизировать стратегию, особенно в начале партии. Шахматы – игра тактическая, а Го более многослойная, со слоем тактики и стратегии.

Кстати, некоторые путают Го и Го-моку, котороя не имеет у Го никакого отношения, хотя и играется на той же доске.

Из моего абсолютно начального опыта игры в Го я уже понял, что учиться играть, играя против компьютерных программ – бессмысленно, ибо они играют механистично. А вот с серьезным человеческим оппонентом начинаются всякие глубины, совершенно неожиданные для игры с такими, на первый взгляд, простыми правилами. В этой игре очень сильно пашет не только логика, но и интуиция. Поэтому если вам это интересно, я очень рекомендую регулярно ходить в клубы игры в Го, а также тренироваться против живых противников через интернет.

Go links:

http://www.usgo.org
http://www.goproblems.com

Why Every Child Should Learn Go
http://users.eniinternet.com/bradleym/ChildGo.html

There Is No Satisfactory Alternative To Go
http://users.eniinternet.com/bradleym/NoAlt.html

Ссылки про Го от http://lj.rossia.org/users/alexlotov2/119125.html

Правила Го Для начинающих, Го в Википедии, Волшебная игра го.
Сайты, посвященные игре Го, игра Го в России – информационный российский портал.
Мыслить и побеждать – игра Го для начинающих, Кидо: Искусство игры Го.
Игра го, Играющие программы, Го-форум.

Today I decided to try cross-posting from my main website http://panchul.com into my LiveJournal account http://panchul.livejournal.com.

Сегодня я решил попробовать кросспостинг с моего вебсайта http://panchul.com в мой Живой Журнал http://panchul.livejournal.com.

On January 25, 2009 I visited a well known camellia hybridizer John Wang, a Chinese American living in San Francisco Bay Area.

25 января 2009 я зашел в гости к известному гибридизатору камелий Джону Вану, китайскому американцу, живущему в Области Сан-Францисского Залива, в городке Оринда.

John Wang places camellias inside the house to hand pollinate them. Room temperature increases the chance of success and no insects can interfere. John does not believe in open pollination of camellias – he chooses parents very carefully because he cannot afford to plant thousands of chance seedlings like for example Nuccio’s Nurseries does:

Когда Джон опыляет камелии, он ставит их внутрь своего дома. Комнатная температура увеличивает шансы на успех опыления. Кроме этого, в комнату не могут залететь пчелы, которые часто приносят нежелательную пыльцу:

This camellia hybrid, created by John Wang, is a seedling of Tama-no-ura:

Этот гибрид, созданный Джоном, является сеянцем известной камелии Тама-но-ура.

Another seedling from John Wang has a rare yellow tint:

Другой сеянец от Джона Вана, с редким для камелий желтым оттенком:

John grows most of his camellias in plastic containers. He constructed an elaborate shading structure using PVC pipes and shade cloth:

Джон выращивает большинство своих камелий в пластиковых контейнерах. Он построил хорошо продуманную конструкцию для защиты камелий от яркого калифорнийского солнца, используя ирригационные трубы из пластика и специальную ткань для затенения:

John uses fish tanks to grow camellia seedlings. Under room temperature, high humidity and the absence of wind, the seedlings germinate and grow very fast:

Для начального выращивания сеянцев Джон использует стеклянные аквариумы. При комнатной температуре, высокой влажности и отсутствии ветра, сеянцы прорастают и начинают рости очень быстро:

John quickly grafts all his seedlings. This significantly reduces time needed to evaluate the seedlings. Without grafting a seedling typically starts to bloom after 4-6 years, sometimes 15 years or more. Grafted seedling may start to bloom in a couple of years.

Как только сеянцы подрастают, Джон прививает их на толстый подвой, тем самым значительно экономя время, необходимое для оценки красоты цветка сеянца. Дело в том, что без прививки сеянцы как правило цветут только через 4-6 лет, иногда через 15 или более лет. А привитые сеянцы могут зацвести уже через пару лет.

A small-leaved Camellia species from the garden of John Wang. Neither John nor I can recognize this species. I suspect it is related to C. lutchuensis or even possible C. sinensis. Anybody has any idea?

Дикорастущий вид камелии с маленькими листьями из сада Джона Вана. Ни я, ни Джон не можем распознать этот вид. Я подозреваю, что эта камелия родственна C. lutchuensis и может быть даже C. sinensis. Кто-нибудь может распознать?

More pictures:

Другие фотографии:

An unidentified red camellia from the garden of John Wang:

Красная камелия из сада Джона Вана (нужно уточнить культивар):

An unidentified camellia from the garden of John Wang:

Камелия из сада Джона Вана (нужно уточнить культивар):

Wild Camellia yuhsienensis Hu (攸县油茶) from the garden of John Wang:

Дикая Camellia yuhsienensis Hu (攸县油茶) из сада Джона Вана:

See also an article about Camellia hybridization written by John Wang:
Также см. статью о гибридизации камелий, написанную Джоном Ваном:

http://www.jhnews.com.cn/gb/content/2003-03/02/content_158713.htm

Also see my website about Fall flowering camellias http://sazanka.org

Также см. мой вебсайт об осеннецветущих камелиях http://sazanka.org

On December 26, 2008 my younger brother Alexander Panchul got married to a young texan girl Sarah Kane. I was his Best Man at the wedding that occured in a small city of Floresville, Texas.

26 декабря 2008 года мой младший брат Александр Панчул женился на молодой американке из Техаса Саре Кейн. Они познакомились в клубе любителей бальных танцев. Я был свидетелем на их свадьбе, которая состоялась в маленьком городке Флоресвиль, штат Техас.

My brother’s website is http://panchul.us
Вебсайт моего брата http://panchul.us

The city of Floresville is located near San Antonio, the main city in the southern part of Texas. I came to Texas with my wife Sayaka and our children Albert, Anthony and Elizabeth.

The first day we went to one of the main attractions of San Antonio – a beautifully landscaped river loop called Riverwalk:

Флоресвиль находится рядом с Сан-Антонио, самым крупным городом южной части Техаса. Я приехал в Техас вместе со своей женой Саякой и нашими детьми Альбертом, Антони и Елизабет.

В первый день мы отправились гулять по речной набережной Сан-Антонио:

The second day we went to Floresville where my brother’s wedding took place:
Во второй день мы поехали в Флоресвиль на свадьбу:

The third day we went to the main Botanical Garden in San Antonio. The garden has a nice selection of Texas native plants, palms, cacti, succulents, orchids, bromelias, ferns and tropical spices:

В третий день мы поехали в главный ботанический сад Сан-Антонио, который известен своей коллекцией растений Техаса, а также пальмами, кактусами, сукуллентами, орхидеями, бромелиями и тропическими пряностями.

The fourth and fifth days we attended San Antonio Zoo, McNay Museum with its collection of art, and Witte Museum, which displays an exposition about Texas paleontology, ecology, history and archaeology:

В четвертый и пятый день мы посетили зоопарк Сан-Антонио, музей искусства Макней, а также музей Витте, в котором представлены экспозиции о палеонтологии, экологии, истории и археологии Техаса:

We also went to a couple of parties organized by my brother’s wife’s family members. Their extensive family tree originated in Germany, Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden and Mexico. So suddently we got a large number of new relatives living all across the United States.

Мы также участвовали в паре вечеринок, организованных членами семьи жены моего брата. Корни их значительного семейного дерева происходят из Германии, Ирландии, Словении, Швеции и Мексики. Таким образом, мы неожиданно приобрели кучу родственников живущих по всем Соединенным Штатам.

Also posted in http://sazanka.org

This month The International Camellia Society put two of my camellia photo pictures to the front page of their website. One is a picture of Camellia japonica ‘Kamo Honnami’ (see their website), and another is a picture of Camellia grijsii, a species related to C. sasanqua:

C. grijsii

Camellia grijsii (长瓣短柱茶 in Chinese) Hance (1879) is a wild species of section Paracamellia. It is related to C. sasanqua, C. oleifera and C. kissii. It was collected in 1861 in Fujian by C.F.M. de Grijs. It is distributed in China (Fujian, Hubei, Sichuan, Guangxi) and used for a high-quality oil production. C. grijsii is closely related to another species – C. yuhsienensis, that is a parent of a popular cultivar ‘Yume’.

I got my two plants of C. grijsii from Nuccio’s Nurseries. The first one (shown above) has single white flowers and the second one is a double-flowered Chinese cultivar called ‘Zhenzhucha’:

Camellia grijsii ‘Zhenzhucha’

Camellia grijsii has great hybridizing potential. Two plants in my garden have small leaves with impressed veins and very columnar shape. I believe there are also varieties with larger leaves, but I am specifically interested in small-leaved cultivars.

Another great feature of C. grijsii is its cluster-flowering habit. However in my garden C. grijsii flowers from January to March, so it will be a challenge to cross it with Fall-flowering sasanquas. Probably I will have to store some pollen from sasanquas in refrigerator for a couple of months.

Another problem is chromosome number. According to Kondo and his associates it has a variety of chromosome numbers 2n = 30, 60, 75 and 90 (see the reference in Collected Species of the Genus Camellia, an Illustrated Outline by Gao Jiyin, Clifford R. Parks and Du Yuequiang).


C. grijsii

Camellia grijsii ‘Zhenzhucha’

Camellia grijsii ‘Zhenzhucha’

Also posted in http://sazanka.org

I got two awards on 2008 National Camellia Show at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. I took part in photography competition.

The first photo picture is of species Camellia puniceiflora from section Paracamellia:

Camellia puniceiflora (粉红短柱茶 in Chinese) Chang 1981. A wild species distributed in China: Zhejiang, Hunan. Small leaves, grows up to 2 m (6 f) high.

The second photo picture is of sasanqua cultivar called Chojiguruma:

Chojiguruma, 丁子車 in Japanese. Means “a wheel of anemone” in Japanese. Introduced in 1789. Originated in Kansai, spread to many places. This anemone form is very rare for C. sasanqua cultivars.

The complete list of all results of the Camellia Photography Show is below:

Dear Exhibitors,
Here are the results of the Camellia Photography Show at Longwood Gardens this weekend.

Focus on Color: Class I

Red.

1. Dianne Schilling
2. Ashley Higgenbotham
3. Fred Shermer

White

1. Manisse Newell * Best in Show *
2. Joanne Rosen
3. Jane Ruffin
4. Mary Wood

Pink

1. Jane Ruffin
2. Penny Ross
3. Don Bergamini
4. Yuri Panchul

Bicolor

1. Ashley Higgenbotham
2. Suzanne P Hyatt
3. Phyllis Reynolds
4. Deane Hall

Elegant Beauties:

Class A

1. Joanne Rosen
2. Marnah Lund
3. Don Bergamini
4. Jane Ruffin

Class B

1. Phylllis Reynolds
2. Fred Schermer
3. Yuri Panchul
4. Ashley Higgenbotham

It was a beautiful exhibit, staged at the entrance to the main conservatory, and much admired by the public. Our thanks to everyone who sent entries: Your participation is what made the show a success.

I wrote this text for the website www.sazanka.org, which I created back in 2003 and radically redesigned using Wordpress at the end of 2007.

“Sazanka” is a Japanese name of the ornamental shrub Camellia sasanqua and two related hybrid camellia species – C. x hiemalis and C. x vernalis. Non-Japanese people call it “sasanqua”. On our website we call it “The Flower of Autumn Sun”, because sasanqua flowers from September to January and loves sun. Every fall sasanqua gives its lovers a magnificent show of flowers.

We developed this web site for sasanqua lovers, gardeners, breeders and scientists to exchange cultural and botanical information as well as to maintain photo database of sasanqua cultivars.

Camellia sasanqua ‘White Doves’. The Japanese name is ‘Mine-no-yuki’ meaning “Snow on the Ridge”. Introduced in 1898.

In Japanese, word “sazanka” is written with three Kanji characters 山茶花 meaning “mountain”, “tea” and “flower”. In Chinese, sasanqua is called “cha-mai” and is written with two characters 茶梅 meaning “tea” and “pretty”, together meaning “pretty tea”.

The relationship between sasanqua and tea is not a coincidence. Genus Camellia is well-known mainly because of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, and large-flowering Camellia japonica. However sasanqua does not hybridize readily with them and horticulturaly should be considered a distinctively different plant.

Camellia sinensis, a tea plant

Sasanqua’s sister, Camellia japonica is a winter-flowering plant with glamorous flowers suited for cutting flower shows. Japonica likes shade and should be combined with other shade-loving plants like azaleas and ferns.

Camellia japonica ‘Glen 40′ (‘Coquettii’)

On the other hand, sasanqua has more gentle flowers, frequently with delicate tea scent. Sasanqua’s flowers are less suitable as cut flowers, because they quickly drop after cutting. But sasanqua flowers are produced in great profusion and sasanqua plant looks marvelously in the garden. Sasanqua loves sun and can be combined with roses. It is a winning combination – roses bloom from spring to early fall, sasanquas bloom from early fall to winter.

Closest relative of sasanqua is Camellia oleifera, a tea-oil camellia, used to make cooking and cosmetic oil in Southern China. Oleifera readily hybridizes with sasanqua as well as with other closely related species – C. miyagii, C. kissii, C. brevistyla and others. Oleifera is a parent of “Ackerman hybrids” – a group of cold-tolerant cultivars developed by Dr. Willian Ackerman for gardeners in relatively colder places, like Washington DC.

A seedling of Camellia oleifera

Winter’s Rose. C. oleifera ‘Plain Jane’ x C. x hiemalis ‘Otome’. William Ackerman. Survives very low winter temperatures – down to -15 F / -26 C.

There are five main groups of sasanqua cultivars – “true” C. sasanqua, C. hiemalis, C. vernalis, group of hybrids with common name ‘Egao’, and cold-tolerant sasanqua-oleifera Ackerman hybrids.

C. hiemalis and C. vernalis are probably originated from back-crossing of some ancient natural sasanqua-japonica hybrids back to sasanqua. C. hiemalis include popular double and peony-form cultivars like ‘Shishigashira’, ‘Showa-no-sakae’ and ‘Kanjiro’. C. vernalis include the only true red sasanqua ‘Yuletide’, originated as a seedling of popular in Australia cultivar ‘Hiryu’ (australians incorrectly call it ‘Kanjiro’).

Camellia x hiemalis ‘Shishigashira’. Means “Lion’s Head” in Japanese.

Many books include ‘Egao’ and related cultivars (‘Shibori-Egao’, ‘Egao Corkscrew’, ‘Grady’s Egao’) into sasanqua group of camellias. However scientific research suggests that ‘Egao’ is a complicated back-cross of japonica-sasanqua hybrids back to japonica. ‘Egao’ looks, sun-tolerance, flower size and texture, flowering season are in-between sasanqua and japonica.

Camellia x vernalis ‘Egao’. Means “smiling face” in Japanese.

I wrote this book review for http://sazanka.org

“The Nomenclature of Japanese Camellias and Sasanquas” ( 日本ツバキ・サザンカ名鑑 , Nippon Tsubaki　・ Sasanqua Meikan) is another “must have” book for any serious sasanqua lover. This book was published in 1999 by the Japanese Camellia Society ( 日本ツバキ協会編 , Nippon Tsubaki Kyoukai Hen) and Seibundo Shinkosha Co. Ltd. (　誠文堂　新光社　). This book is a work of more than 50 people who collected high-quality photo pictures and information on more than 2200 japonica and 200 sasanqua cultivars.

The book consists of two volumes – a volume in Japanese with pictures and a volume with English translation, created under the supervision of Thomas J. Savige. Note that in the book “The Japanese Camellia Society” is referred as “The Japan Camellia Society”.

The book has a short preface (4 pages), telling the history of the Japanese Camellia Society and the history of the book publication.

The Japanese Camellia Society was formed after the WWII, shortly after the formation of the International Camellia Society in 1953. It was the time of worldwide surge of interest in camellia growing and hybridizing.

The first nomenclature publication “Japanese Camellias, a Collection of 1000 varieties” (　日本の椿、千品種　, Nippon no tsubaki, Senhin-shu) was published in 1980, but it included only Camellia japonica ( 椿, tsubaki ) and had no infomation about sasanqua ( 山茶花 , sazanka).

After the International Camellia Society published a monumental International Camellia Register in 1993 with 22,000 cultivars, it became obvious that the Japanese nomenclature publication has to be updated. However, according to the Japanese Camellia Society, during the economic boom time, no Japanese publisher wanted to publish a camellia book, because of its low profitability – there were plenty of more profitable books around. So Japanese camellia lovers had to wait until the economy goes down!

After the preface, the book presents information about 2400 cultivars. Each cultivar’s information has a photo picture and a 100-Kanji description. Some cultivars have no photo pictures – they are described in the appendix. The description is brief and very informative – it describes the cultivar’s area of origin, color, shape, habit, name of the originator and first mention in the literature. I wish similar American publications (like Southern California Camellia Society) use the same style.

Finally, after more than 300 pages of cultivars, the book has a chapter about the camellia history (3 pages), an afterword (1 page), a translator’s note (1 page) and an index. I personally like this style because it is down to the point.

The chapter about camellia history is written by the President of the Japanese Camellia Society Dr. Kaoru Hagiya ( 薫屋薫 ). It contains an interesting thought about why Japanese people prefer single flowers while Westerners prefer double formal flowers:　”The fundamental difference is in that the Westerners treat flowers as kinds of decorations, while Japanese take flowers as the symbols of nature”.

The afterword is written by Shuho Kirino (　桐野秋豊　), a member of the editorial committee.

There is a translator’s note from Shigeo Matsumoto ( 松本重雄 ) who is asking forgiveness for his translation errors. I did find some ambiguities – for example, about the origin of ‘Shôwa-no-sakae’. However I personally like his style of translation because it has a feeling of the Japanese character. If the translator would be non-Japanese, the text would be less authentic.

Shigeo Matsumoto was using help from Thomas J. Savige from Australia who suggested to use Hepburn system in the translation according to the International Nomenclature Code. This is very important. Different books use different forms of English transliteration of Japanese names. For example ‘Shôwa-no-sakae’ is written as ‘Showa No Sakae’, or ‘Shishigashira’ is written as ‘Shishi Gashira’ or ‘Shishi Gashira’. It is important to understand that pronouncing “o” instead of “ô” may change the meaning of the word. However we are still using non-accented “o” on our www.sazanka.org web site because of English search engines. But the bottom line – “The Nomenclature of Japanese Camellias and Sasanquas” became for me the main reference for the proper name, pronunciation and the history of Japanese sasanqua cultivars.

Also posted in http://sazanka.org

Today the newspaper San Francisco Chronicle published my photo picture of the Camellia hybrid ‘Yuletide’. The photo appeared in as an illustration to an article written by Demetra Bowles Lathrop. The name of the article is “Happy blooming New Year! Camellias, hellebores, winter hazel can brighten desolate Bay Area gardens” and it appeared in the gardening section.

Сегодня, 10-го января, газета Сан-Франциско Кроникл напечатала мою фотографии камелии ‘Юлетайд’. Фотография иллюстрирует статью журналистки Деми Латроп про растения, цветущие в области Сан-Францисского залива во время Нового Года.

Yuletide. C. x vernalis. Originated by Nuccio’s Nurseries, California in 1963. A seedling of ‘Hiryu’.

You can get the article from the newspaper’s website:

You can get the article from the newspaper’s website:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/10/HOG1DNDA4N1.DTL

Немного про камелию “Юлетайд”. Слово “Юлетайд” означает “Святки”, а точнее период длинной в 12 дней с католического Рождества до 6-го января (в русском православном христианстве с 7-го по 19-е января). Иногда его используют как синоним слова “Рождество”, но на самом деле оно произошло от названия языческого праздника “Юл” (Yule), который праздновали германские и скандинавские племена перед приходом христианства. По-видимому, слово “Юл” происходит от старо-норвежского “Hjól”, “колесо”, и символизирует время года, когда дни снова начинают удлинятся.

Камелия ‘Юлетайд’ цветет в период святок, поэтому некоторые цветочные магазины даже продают деревца камелии ‘Юлетайд’, подстриженные конусом как рождественские елки. Ярко-красные цветы на деревце похожи на елочные игрушки.

Yuletide. C. x vernalis. Originated by Nuccio’s Nurseries, California in 1963. A seedling of ‘Hiryu’.

Но это не все, чем интересна камелия ‘Юлетайд’. Обычно в России под словом “камелия” подразумевают камелии японские (Camellia japonica) формально-махрового типа, как например камелия ‘Desire’ (что означает “желание”). Но в роду Camellia существует более 200 видов и десятки тысяч сортов камелий, которые выглядят по другому. Например самим японцам более нравятся камелии Хиго (сорта, созданные самураями клана Кумамото), которые имеют простую немахровую форму и обилие тычинок.

Камелия ‘Юлетайд’ по эстетике подобна камелиям Хиго, а биологически относится не к камелиям японским (Camellia japonica), а к гибридам камелии горной (Camellia sasanqua). Эти виды камелий имеют даже разные иероглифы: камелия японская называется “тсубаки” 椿, а камелия горная называется “сазанка”, 山茶花. В слове “сазанка” иероглифы означают “гора”, “чай” и “цветок”.

Иероглиф “чай” употреблен неспроста, так как чайное дерево тоже является камелией (научное название чая – камелия китайская, Camellia sinensis). А из плодов камелии масляной – Camellia oleifera, близкого родственника камелии горной, получают высококачественное “чайное масло” (“tea oil”), которое в южном Китае используется вместо подсолнечного.

Yuletide. C. x vernalis. Originated by Nuccio’s Nurseries, California in 1963. A seedling of ‘Hiryu’.

Yuletide. C. x vernalis. Originated by Nuccio’s Nurseries, California in 1963. A seedling of ‘Hiryu’.

Yuletide. C. x vernalis. Originated by Nuccio’s Nurseries, California in 1963. A seedling of ‘Hiryu’.

Уникальность камелии ‘Юлетайд’ заключается в том, что это единственная сазанка, обладающая истинно-красным цветом. Дикая сазанка – это просто цветок белого цвета, а культурные сазанки варьируются от белых до розовых и темно-розовых. Я разговаривал с Томом Нуччио (Tom Nuccio) из семьи Нуччио, которые вывели этот сорт. О питомнике семьи Нуччио можно прочитать в моей статье в журнале “Цветоводство” в номере за ноябрь-декабрь 2006-го года. Том сказал, что ‘Юлетайд’ – это случайный сеянец камелии ‘Хирью’ (Hiryu) (снимок снизу), и что они не знают, какая камелия была мужским родителем, т.е. источником пыльцы. Вполне возможно, что это сложный межвидовый гибрид (в питомнике Нуччио растут и довольно экзотические дикие виды) или вообще естественная мутация (см. мою статью про мутантную камелию Тама-Но-Ура “Радиоактивный мутант из Нагасаки?”).

Hiryu. C. x vernalis. Introduced in Nakayama, Japan in 1847. Originated from Kansai, spread to many places. In Australia it is called ‘Kanjiro’ (the real ‘Kanjiro’ is different). A parent of ‘Yuletide’.

Да и с происхождением самой родительской камелии ‘Хирью’ тоже не все понятно. Раньше ее даже относили к отдельному виду – не Camellia sasanqua, а Camellia vernalis. Сейчас считается, что Camellia vernalis – это очень древние японские гибриды сазанки и тсубаки, т.е. камелии японской и камелии горной. Об этом говорит как то, что у дикой камелии горной просто отсутствует красно-розовый пигмент антоцианин, так и аномальное число хромосом у камелий группы vernalis, которые сейчас обозначаются Camellia x vernalis, чтобы подтвердить их гибридное происхождение.

Все это вызывает большое количество вопросов, так как в естественном состоянии С. japonica и C. sasanqua почти не скрещиваются, цветут в разное время, обладают разным количеством хромосом (30 и 90). По некоторым источникам, ‘Хирью’ – вообще триплоид (45 хромосом). Может древние японcкие самураи изобрели колхицин (сильный яд растительного происхождения, использующися для искуственной полиплоидии)?

Hiryu. C. x vernalis. Introduced in Nakayama, Japan in 1847. Originated from Kansai, spread to many places. In Australia it is called ‘Kanjiro’ (the real ‘Kanjiro’ is different). A parent of ‘Yuletide’.

Hiryu. C. x vernalis. Introduced in Nakayama, Japan in 1847. Originated from Kansai, spread to many places. In Australia it is called ‘Kanjiro’ (the real ‘Kanjiro’ is different). A parent of ‘Yuletide’.

Also posted in http://sazanka.org

A couple of week ago I got a call from journalist Lili Singer, who needed some information about Camellia sasanqua for her article in Los Angeles Times. Today this article was published. You can see my sasanqua cultivar recommendations in the article.

Пару недель назад мне позвонила журналистка Лили Сингер из газеты Лос-Анжелес Таймс. Лили собирала информацию для своей статьи об осеннецветущем кустарнике Камелии горной (Camellia sasanqua), которую японцы называют “сазанка”. Сегодня, 30-го ноября, статья была напечатана. В ней перечислены рекомендованные мною сорта камелий и приведена ссылка на мой вебсайт http://sazanka.org

Dwarf Shishi. A seedling of ‘Shishigashira’. Originated by Toichi Domoto, California in 1988.

You can get the article from LA Times archive:
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/1170610641.html?dids=1170610641:1170610641&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+30%2C+2006&author=Lili+Singer&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=F.3&desc=THE+CALIFORNIA+GARDEN%3B+This+beauty+shows+its+colors+early%3B+It%27s+not+camellias+as+usual+with+sasanquas.+They+bask+in+the+Southern+California+sun+and+bloom+in+the+fall%2C+and+they+ask+for+so+little+in+return.

THE CALIFORNIA GARDEN

This beauty shows its colors early

It’s not camellias as usual with sasanquas. They bask in the Southern California sun and bloom in the fall, and they ask for so little in return.

By Lili Singer
Special to The Times

November 30, 2006

ON warm autumn days, a fragrance rises from the sunlit crescent of ‘Dwarf Shishigashira’ camellias in Melinda and Allan Siegel’s backyard. The earthy scent is unusual — similar to tea — and it’s subtle, Allan says, just like the season.

Nothing subtle about the flowers, though: Bright rose-pink blooms cascade across the Siegels’ sunny Los Angeles garden.

Wait, you say. A winter-blossoming, shade-loving plant like the camellia flowering in the fall? And in the sun?

Absolutely. These early bloomers are sasanqua camellias, also known as the “sun camellias.”

“Most people don’t realize that they’re camellias,” says Elsie Bracci, a revered camellia devotee who, with husband Sergio, maintains a vast collection with 15 types of sasanqua in their San Gabriel garden. Few plants, the Braccis say, give so much yet ask for so little.

All this group of camellias wants is a good tan. The craving for sun, even inland, is partly what distinguishes sasanquas — the collective term for cultivars of Camellia sasanqua, C. xhiemalis and C. xvernalis — from the common cultivars of C. japonica and C. reticulata.

“Less than half a day of sun, and they won’t flower,” says Julius Nuccio, one of three family members operating Altadena-based Nuccio’s Nurseries, among the world’s premiere camellia growers.

Sasanquas do well with or without regular irrigation, and they live a remarkably long time. David Parks, owner of the Camellia Forest Nursery in Chapel Hill, N.C., says specimens have lasted 500 years in the right conditions.

Cultivars with lyrical names such as ‘Mine-No-Yuki’ (which translates to ‘White Doves’) and ‘Hana Jiman’ (‘Boastful Flower’) include low spreaders, compact uprights and small willowy trees. All have neat evergreen foliage and amazing pest resistance. Ask the Braccis what they love most, and the couple responds in unison: “No petal blight!” The fungus, which makes other kinds of camellia blossoms turn a sickly brown, has no effect on sasanquas. Flowers also arrive early — and in abundance.

“Sasanquas put on a massive show, then drop their petals for a carpet of white or pink snow,” says David MacLaren, curator of the camellia collection at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino.

AS enchanting as this scene can be, sasanquas have hardly been a garden staple, here or elsewhere. Though long-valued for oil-rich seeds and hardwood, the plants have fallen in and out of favor with gardeners since 14th century Japan.

The first sasanquas hit Europe in 1869, but most were lost to frost. By the early 1900s, sasanquas were being planted in the southern United States. Given the choice, however, most gardeners and garden show contestants eschewed delicate-looking sasanquas in favor of large-leafed C. japonica and C. reticulata, whose stately blossoms don’t fall apart when cut.

Tastes change, and these days, small and simple are in. Many gardeners want plants that are easy to grow, work in small spaces or simply look different, and sasanquas fit the bill.

“Look at the blotches on this flower,” Elsie Bracci says excitedly, pointing to cloud-white spots on the reddish petals of her favorite sasanqua, ‘Shibori Egao,’ whose name translates roughly to ‘Variegated Smiling Face.’

The ‘Shishigashira’ by the Braccis’ front door is larger than the Siegels’ dwarf cultivar but still a compact marvel, with scores of 2 1/2 -inch-wide flowers, each one a ruffled, rosy pink mane for a cultivar whose name means ‘Lion’s Head.’ The slow-growing bush has taken 12 years to rise to 5 feet.

Similarly, the Siegels’ snail-paced groundcover of ‘Dwarf Shishigashira’ is only 18 inches from front to back after seven years.

“Man, is it slow!” says Marie Gamboa, the Garden Pacific designer who planted the Siegels’ backyard. She backed the ‘Dwarf Shishis,’ as they are often called, with a row of the faster-growing ‘Cleopatra,’ a paler pink sasanqua with stamens that look like long gold eyelashes.

Over at the Bracci home, Elsie’s husband Sergio just pruned the ‘Shibori Egao’ with a chain saw — again — to keep its whip-like branches under their roofline. Whether a sprinter or a slow grower, all sasanquas want to be trees, says Yuri Panchul, a camellia enthusiast who is assembling what he hopes will be a definitive collection of sasanquas at his home in Sunnyvale, near San Jose.

In time, he says, sasanquas can reach 15 to 20 feet. Some are just pokier and more compressed than others.

IN its native habitat, the subtropical forests of southwest Japan, Camellia sasanqua is a variable species that breeds readily with other genetically compatible camellias. Offspring may be horizontal or vertical, compact or open.

Wild sasanqua flowers are typically single and white, sometimes with a blush like plum blossoms — thus the Japanese name sazanka, or “plum-flowered tea.”

During centuries of cultivation, more than 200 types of sasanquas have emerged. Flowers with few petals, flowers with many petals. Cupped like a rose, flat as a daisy. Luminous white, soft pink, the occasional red.

The breeding process is lovingly slow. The progression from seed to flower may take about five years, horticulturists say — “sometimes 14 or 20,” according to Panchul. Only one in 1,000 seedlings will yield qualities distinctive enough to be selected, named, registered and brought to the public.

Even so, many Southern Californians have been growing sasanquas in their gardens for years. They just didn’t know it. Sasanqua seedlings are used for grafting — as root-rot-resistant understock for cuttings of other camellias, says the Huntington’s MacLaren. That Camellia japonica in your garden just may owe its stellar performance to a Camellia sasanqua in an uncredited role.

This time of year, they’re also a reminder of the season’s delicate beauty. In the daytime, gentle bees and the occasional hummingbird hover over the pollen-rich flowers, searching for autumn in a teacup. By nightfall, in the quiet moonlight, you can almost hear the petals drop.

home@latimes.com

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View it, buy it, plant it

Interested in sasanqua camellias? Some ways to learn more:

Seeing: Two of the world’s best camellia gardens are in Southern California.

The Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino has Sasanqua Hillside plus plantings in and around the Japanese garden. Look for ‘Shishigashira’ near the giant bamboo Bambusa oldhamii as well as the ‘Dwarf Shishigashira’ on the opposite side of the road, planted near mondo grass. Information: (626) 405-2100, http://www.huntington.org .

At Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, more than 50 types of sasanquas await beneath oaks in the Camellia forest and in the Japanese garden. Information: (818) 949-4200, http://www.descansogardens.org .

Buying: Nuccio’s Nurseries is a world-renowned specialist in camellias and azaleas. Its catalog lists about 40 sasanqua cultivars. 3555 Chaney Trail, Altadena; (626) 794-3383; http://www.nucciosnurseries.com .

Planting: Plant or move sasanquas in autumn or winter, while they’re dormant. They do best in sunny spots with well-drained soil — no standing water.

Caring: Once established, plants can get by with regular or infrequent irrigation.

Some growers recommend feeding, in the spring through August. Nuccio’s recommends applying cottonseed meal in April, when new leaves appear; in June; and in August, when buds are starting to set. If desired, prune in spring for size or shape. On low, spreading varieties, prune upright branches.

Learning more: Though slightly dated, “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Camellias” by Stirling Macoboy includes more than 100 sasanquas, all with excellent color photos. Another reference: http://www.sazanka.org , the website of amateur grower and hybridizer Yuri Panchul.

— Lili Singer

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Standouts to show off

Fewer than 50 types of sasanqua camellias are grown for the nursery trade. ‘Jean May,’ a popular variety with cupped pink flowers, “is very nice,” sasanqua devotee Yuri Panchul says, “but others are good too.” In no particular order, 10 cultivars that Panchul says are unusual and overlooked:

‘Stars ‘n Stripes’: The first striped sasanqua. Blooms profusely. Nice round, shrubby shape.

‘Dwarf Shishigashira’: Almost horizontal. Very slow-growing.

‘Choji Guruma’: The only anemone-form sasanqua. Fast grower, upright.

‘Little Pearl’: Also recommended by Nuccio’s Nurseries. Pink opening to white.

‘Twinkle Twinkle’: Dwarf with little star-shaped flowers. Good in containers.

‘Yume’: A new hybrid. Unusual color (pink to white) and large, profuse flowers.

‘Egao’ group: Ancient natural hybrids. Large flowers.

‘Narumigata’: Large, flat, white flowers with cupped pink edges. Extremely fast grower — “totally insane,” Panchul says — with branches growing as much as 3 feet in one year.

‘Slim ‘n Trim’: Small leaf, vertical habit. Can be shaped like a small Italian cypress. Flat pink flowers.

‘Baby Jane’: Dwarf. Hybridized for bonsai. Grows only a few inches a year.

— Lili Singer

Российский журнал “Цветоводство” во 6-м номере (ноябрь-декабрь) за 2006 год опубликовал мою статью про питомник камелий семьи Нуччио.

Я также написал статью на английском языке на эту же тему и поместил ее на мой сайт www.sazanka.org.

A leading Russian ornamental horticulture magazine Tsvetovodstvo published in its November-December 2006 issue my article about the famous Nuccio’s Nurseries in Altadena, California. I also wrote another article in English about Nuccio’s and put it on my website www.sazanka.org (although these two articles are not translations of each other). Here is an excerpt from the article written in English:

Nuccio’s Nurseries is a medium-size family-owned wholesale and retail nursery specializing in growing and hybridizing Camellias and Azaleas. Nuccio’s is well known as one of the richest Camellia nursery in the United States in terms of number of cultivars and species available for sale – more then 600. Nuccio’s family is one of the most recognized sources of Camellia and Azalea introductions worldwide.

A photo picture of Nuccio’s Nurseries, Inc:

Organic farming is the technology of growing vegetables without using synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The success of organic farming in the United States has happened because many people started to buy expensive “organic” vegetables, reasoning that it is good for their health and the environment. Over the years, organic farming became more then just a technology – government started to give organic farmers certifications and new non-profit organizations like Ecology Action started to promote organic farming with armies of followers all around he globe. But the basic question remains – is the organic farming movement based on sound science? It appears that organic farming is mostly based on people’s misunderstanding of plant physiology, past failures of mainstream agriculture and the desire of organic farmers to maintain their high profit margins.

First, it is important to discuss the roots of people’s desire to eat organic vegetables – the belief that when plants are fed with organic fertilizers, they become “natural”, better for health, more tasty – and their biochemistry is different from plants grown on chemical fertilizers. The truth is that plants, unlike animals, are autotrophic organisms, i.e. organisms that synthesize their food from simple non-organic chemicals. Animals, including humans, eat proteins, fats, carbohydrates and vitamins. Plants cannot eat proteins. They “eat” nitrates, phosphates, potassium, calcium and a dozen of other kinds of non-organic ions. Before plants can get nutrients from organic fertilizers, soil bacteria must decompose organic fertilizers into simple non-organic chemicals, convert proteins first into ammonia, then into nitrites, and finally into nitrates that can be consumed by plants. The resulting nitrates are indistinguishable from nitrates from chemical fertilizers on any physical, chemical or biological level. Because of this, vegetables grown on properly used chemical fertilizers are no less “natural” than vegetables grown on organic fertilizers.

Proponents of organic farming sometimes state that plants need to get nutrients from organic matter. This is not true. During the middle of the 20th century many people grown vegetables with a technology called “hydroponics”, when plants grew in artificial media and fed from a mix of salts. Hydroponics is not popular today because of its high costs of maintaining necessary equipment, but it produces great tasty vegetables and disproves the idea that plants need organic substances to grow.

People buying organic food claim that organic food is tastier. According to Richard Gallagher, editor of The Scientist magazine, this is not true: “Blind tests show no difference in taste between organic and inorganic food” (The Organic Food Placebo – http://www.cgfi.org/materials/articles/2004/oct_11_04_gallagher.htm). It is true that food from different supermarkets may taste differently. But this difference can be explained by different storage conditions and especially by using plant hormone gas ethylene for artificial ripening of green vegetables after the transportation – a practice that has nothing to do with organic vs. chemic fertilizer controversy because ethylene is not a fertilizer.

Another misunderstanding of the general public is the belief that organic farming benefits the environment. According to Dennis Avery, a researcher from a non-profit organization Center for Global Food Issues, this is not true. Avery argues that organic farming is associated with lower yields per acre compared with the mainstream agriculture. According to CGFI main statement, “Growing More Per Acre Leaves More Land for Nature”, so from this prospective it is the mainstream agriculture that benefits the environment.

From another side, organic farming proponents claim that the mainstream agriculture does not benefit the environment because chemical fertilizers pollute the environment. This is also not true. Chemical fertilizers like ammonium sulfate are completely consumed by plants and can pollute the environment only if they are applied in large amounts too fast, in which case they can cause algae bloom in nearby rivers and suffocate fish living there. But exactly the same would happen with improper use of organic fertilizers – blood meal or manure. What is worse, in addition to algae bloom, manure can contain polluting pathogens (according to an article by Alex Avery “Organic Food Non Safety?”) and can increase soil salinity. Apparently, the scientifically correct use of chemical fertilizers (completely consumed ammonium sulfate) may pollute the environment less than the use of organic fertilizers (manure that increases soil salinity and has pathogens).

Organic farmers also make various claims that organic farming preserves soils. This statement is not true simply because a true natural soil has a complicated horizon structure, that can be destroyed by “double digging” and adding a lot of compost – a technique practiced by followers of Ecology Action. According to an article by Dennis Avery “Organic Farming Loses ‘Healthier Soils’ Claim to High-tech Farming”, organic farmers plow frequently to control weeds, while mainstream farmers control weeds using herbicides. Organic farming techniques, according to Avery, are damaging to a soil’s health because frequent plowing destroys beneficial mychorrizal fungi – recently discovered symbiotic organisms that help plants in getting mineral nutrients from the soil. At a minimum, organic farmers’ claims about improving soil health do not look solid and require additional research.

Another area of the general public’s confusion about organic fertilizers is the definition of the word “organic” itself. For example, fish emulsion is a popular organic fertilizer. However, according to the article “How A Fish Becomes Fertilizer”, by Bill Glinn, a representative of Alaska Fish Fertilizer Company, manufacturing of fish emulsion requires a complicated technological process, involving artificial chemicals like phosphoric acid, synthetic urea, enzymes and smell masking agents. So “organic” fish emulsion is not so organic after all.

How did the distrust of chemical fertilizers originate? Probably the main factor was incorrect use of chemical fertilizers in the past, including applying excessive amounts of fast-acting nitrogen fertilizers, resulting in plant burn and excessive nitrates in plant tissues. It is more difficult to misuse organic nitrogen fertilizers because they contain less nitrogen and release it more slowly. However, proper application (smaller amounts many times instead of one time a lot) eliminates this chemical fertilizer problem. Even better are modern slow-releasing fertilizers like urea formaldehyde or like Osmocote that release nutrients slower and are superior to organic fertilizers in cost.

Another, although minor, factor in the formation of the distrust of chemical fertilizers is he highly questionable practice of manufacturing micronutrient fertilizers from the toxic wastes of the steel industry, described in the article “Waste Lands. The threat of Toxic Fertilizer”, written by Matthew Shaffer, a researcher from the non-profit organization California Public Interest Research Group Charitable Trust. Matthew Shaffer is against recycling toxic wastes into chemical fertilizers because it causes environment pollution with heavy metals like lead or cadmium, which can cause cancers and birth defects. However Shaffer is not against manufacturing chemical fertilizers in a normal way, without recycling toxic wastes. Interestingly, Shaffer is also not impressed with some “natural” fertilizers like rock phosphate that may have “causing concern” levels of cadmium and even uranium. This problem is relatively minor for the discussion because recycling toxic wastes is used only in manufacturing of micronutrients fertilizers (zinc, molybdenum and similar) that are used infrequently and have the production volume orders of magnitude less than macronutrient fertilizers (with nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium).

It is important to say that organic fertilizers do have some merit. First of all, organic fertilizers like cottonseed meal add organic matter to a soil, improving the soil structure and nutrient-holding capacity. This means that particles of organic matter can keep chemical nutrients like potassium ions or nitrate ions, in the vicinity of plant roots, without leaching them down the soil. But the same results can be achieved by applying a mix of compost and chemical fertilizers.

Another benefit is that organic fertilizers are slow-releasing, providing optimal slow nurturing of plants without potential for underground water pollution. However, there are also slow-released sulfur-coated chemical fertilizers, like Osmocote. At the same time, Osmocote has a disadvantage in the higher cost compared with most of other chemical fertilizers, so the question whether to use Osmocote or organic fertilizers does not have an obvious answer.

Important benefit is that some organic fertilizers add micronutrients to a soil, like zinc, molybdenum, iron and others. But most soils already contain all the necessary micronutrients. Also in a case of an acute micronutrient deficiency synthetic micronutrient fertilizers solve the problem better because of precise concentration, while concentrations of micronutrients in organic fertilizers are small and highly variable, so it is not possible to tell precisely whether a given organic fertilizer will solve a given deficiency or not. For example Scotts-Sierra Horticultural Product Company gives precise amounts of micronutrients on its fertilizer labels (see http://www.scottsprohort.com/_documents/tech_sheets/H5101_Osmocote_Pro.pdf), while organic fertilizer manufacturers, like Whitney Farms, give only amounts of macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium – see http://www.whitneyfarms.com/products/specialtyfertilizers.shtml).

Probably the most important benefit of organic fertilizers is that they feed soil microorganisms and worms that improve soil quality. Because of this effect mainstream agriculture uses some organic techniques like putting compost in the soil, as recommended by the US Composting Council’s booklet “Benefits of Using Compost”. Technically speaking, compost is not an organic fertilizer, but more like a soil amendment, but in this respect it acts similarly. One example of the organic fertilizer efficiency is the use of alfalfa meal by rose growers – a technique that greatly increases the population of beneficial worms in a soil and improves soil health. However, alfalfa meal is a very costly fertilizer for its benefits and cannot be used for the majority of situations.

Organic farming proponents usually ignore the disadvantages of organic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers may introduce unwanted chemicals, like rock phosphate may introduce heavy metals. Many organic fertilizers increase soil salinity, notably manures, kelp and other fertilizers. An organic fertilization program cannot help a soil with seriously bad alkalinity – sulfur or iron sulfate application may be needed, as shown in an article by university researchers Alice Jones, Bob Sorensen and Betsy Dierberger “Soil and Water Resources”. Organic fertilizers may not be able to solve acute plant nutrient problems, like chlorosis. Organic fertilizers cost 10 and more times more than chemical fertilizers with similar nutrient contents. Organic fertilizers have higher risk of pathogen contamination. It is clear that for most agricultural situations organic fertilizers do not have significant advantages compared to chemical fertilizers, but have many disadvantages, especially cost and imprecise formulations.

Really puzzling is the role of the US government in the organic farming controversy. For instance, a manual describing organic farmer certification requirements (“Manual Two: USDA Requirements for Organic Producers” by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)) contains a list of allowed and disallowed chemicals for organic farmers. This list strikes as arbitrary and sometimes illogical. For example, it does not allow using synthetic herbicides, but allows use of flame to kill weeds. Weed burners represent a significant fire hazard, not speaking about the use of chemicals for their fuel. Even worse, organic guidelines allow use of plastic mulches, provided they are “removed from the field at the end of the growing or harvest season”. It is illogical because prohibited by the document synthetic herbicides like “2,4-D” decomposes without leaving residue shortly after it hits the ground, but pieces of allowed plastic mulch will persist in the soil for millennia.

Another example is that these guidelines disallow use of ammonium sulfate – a chemical fertilizer that is completely consumed by a plant to build its body and cannot kill anybody with normal use. However, these guidelines do allow use of copper sulfate – a substance that accumulates in a soil, kills fish and animals.

Yet another example is that these organic guidelines allow use of sulfur dioxide to kill underground rodents. But sulfur dioxide is generally considered a toxic industrial air pollutant. It causes “acid rains”. Does it mean that “green” “organic” people think that the use of sulfur dioxide by an organic farmer magically makes it not toxic? And finally, these organic guidelines do not allow use of antibiotics for animals but do allow use of streptomycin antibiotic for fire blight control in apples and pears.

In order to understand what the organic farming movement is, it is important to look to non-profit and commercial organizations, promoting the technology. One of the best-known organic promoters is Ecology Action, a California environmental research and education organization. Their vision is described in a book “How to Grow More Vegetables” by John Jeavons. This book is distributed during Ecology Action’s classes in Palo Alto’s Common Grounds store as a way to convert the followers.

The book starts with the claims that the proposed agricultural technology can save the environment, save soils from erosion and solve the problem of the world’s hunger, while being less labor intensive and less expensive than the mainstream technology. Ideas presented in the book include extensive use of composting, companion planting, hexagonal planting etc. In addition to the purely agricultural topics the book includes certain environmental philosophy associated with Ecology Action organization. 53 out 240 pages of this book are bibliography. It contains references not just to agricultural sources, but also to the books about philosophy, dieting, crafts, economics, housing, recycling and Native Americans. Unfortunately, the book contains not very many agricultural technologies, and much of the technology it contains is based on questionable or nonexistent research. At the same time the book contains a lot of claims, like claim that their technology will grow a complete amount of food necessary for a small family on 4000 square feet. In addition to such claims it contains some apocalyptic ideas what will happen to humanity if humanity will not adopt Ecology Action’s technology. Such dreadful events include loss of soils, water resources and starvation.

Some of Ecology Action’s “biointensive” technologies are supported by the agricultural science. For example heavy use of composting allows to increase soil’s “Cation Exchange Capacity” (CEC) – an ability of soil particles to keep mineral nutrition available to the roots of the plants. However many of “biointensive” techniques are presented without support.

For example the book has an extensive list of “companion” plants – plants, “helping” each other to grow (like carrots and peas, or pumpkin and corn). However the book does not refer to scientifically correct experiments that can prove the increase of agricultural output with such planting. At some moment the book promotes planting plants by the phases of the moon, an idea that was never proven and does not have even anecdotal evidence.

The book does not show the hidden costs of Ecology Action’s technology. For example it is very labor-intensive comparing with the mainstream technologies. The book promotes use of organic fertilizers like alfalfa meal, but does not mention that fertilizing in this way is at least 10 times more expensive than with chemically synthesized fertilizers. The book promotes home composting, but does not mention that centralized municipal composting of yard waste usually produces weed-free, nitrogen-balanced and much cheaper compost.

This book and related articles produced by Ecology Action refer to worldwide adoption of their technology in places like India and Russia, using techniques similar to network marketing organizations like Mary Kay and Amway. The problem is that people in India and Russia think that everything from America is inherently superior to their practices and don’t question them much.

Overall, organic farming organizations, supplies and followers resemble some religious cult groups. Generally speaking, religions started when people were confused about things they did not understand (like what is lightening) and were trying to make sense of some events (sinful person was hit by a lightening) and intuitive assumptions (some powerful paternalistic figure in the sky should be in charge). Then religious leaders appear and promote their theories and agendas (if you will tell everyone sin leads to lightening, you will be praised by the leaders of the lightening cult).

In a similar fashion, organic movement started when people were confused about plant physiology (plants counter-intuitively feed on inorganic chemicals) and saw some past failures of the mainstream technology (incorrect application of chemical fertilizers). This gave raise to many groups who started promoting a new organic farming religion and inspired a new generation of garden suppliers oriented exclusively to organic gardening market and commanding higher prices on everything “organic”. This movement is to a high degree based on people’s irrationality, but it will probably go to the past only after the mainstream technology will resolve many other, non-fertilizer-related agricultural issues, including pesticide toxicity, prevention of soil erosion, the problem of storing fresh ripened vegetables without using ethylene and many others.

References:

1. Jeavons, John. How to Grow More Vegetables. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2002.

2. Avery, Dennis. “Organic Farming Loses ‘Healthier Soils’ Claim to High-tech Farming.” Center for Global Food Issues. 6 February 2003. 1 February 2005. http://www.cgfi.org/materials/articles/2003/feb_6_03.htm.

3. Center for Media & Democracy. “Trashing organic foods.” Source Watch. 16 June 2004. 1 February 2005. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Trashing_organic_foods

4. Ginn, Bill. Alaska Fish Fertilizer Company. “How A Fish Becomes Fertilizer”. Rainy Side Gardeners. 8 February 2005. http://www.rainyside.com/resources/fishfert.html

5. Incitec Fertilizers Ltd. “Superphosphate Fact Sheet”. 2000.

6. Shaffer, Matthew, Toxic Policy Advocate. “Waste Lands. The Threat of Toxic Fertilizer”. California Public Interest Research Group Charitable Trust. 2001. http://www.calpirg.org.

7. The US Composting Council. “Benefits of Using Compost”. 2001. http://www.compostingcouncil.org.

8. Jones, Alice J., Bob Sorensen and Betsy Dierberger. “Soil and Water Resources”. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 22 February 2005. http://www.hort.unl.edu/ffa/sol&wat.htm.

9. California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). “Manual Two: USDA Requirements for Organic Producers”. January 2003.

10. Avery, Alex. “Organic Food Non Safety.” Center for Global Food Issues. 26 May 2004. 1 February 2005. http://www.cgfi.org/materials/articles/2004/may_26_04.htm.

I won an award and medal at Dahlia show in San Leandro, California, on August 8, 2003. The cultivar is Red Velvet, Waterlily type, 606 WL R TIC 63. The cultivar originator is Tickner, Australia, 1963.

Я получил приз и медаль на выставке георгин в Сан-Леандро, Калифорния, 8-го августа 2003-го года. Культивар называется Красный Вельвет (Red Velvet), нимфейного типа. Культивар выведен Тикнером (Tickner) в Австралии в 1963-м году.