a burgundy zine

Tag: plant life

Evergreen by Melodie Muggy

Melodie Muggy encourages us to “respect the soil” through her beautiful poem and photo collage.

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The Science Behind Blue Flowers

Blue is all around us, from the oceans to their reflection in the sky, but it’s very rare that you’ll see blue anywhere else in nature – unless you’re flipping through a Dr. Seuss book.

Wildflowers sporting a bluish-hue, which includes purple and violet flowers, only account for about 15 to 20 percent of all flower colors, says a 2018 Breeding Science journal review.

“Many ornamental plants with a high production volume, such as rose and chrysanthemum, lack the key genes for producing the blue delphinidin pigment or do not have an intracellular environment suitable for developing blue color,” the review explains.

While recent advancements in genetic engineering have allowed scientists to synthesize blue roses, chrysanthemums, orchids, and dahlias, the process isn’t as simple as “editing a few genes” (granted, gene editing isn’t such a simple process, either).

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How Plants Think: The Controversy of Consciousness

Unencumbered by words and semantics, plants express themselves through their luscious leaves and abundant blooms, which are the result of carefully calculated survival tactics that almost seem “thought out.”

These physical characteristics can tell human observers a lot about how the plant is doing; whether it needs more water or sunlight, warmth or humidity, and so forth – but, plants don’t have eyes like we do. They don’t have brains like ours, yet research shows they possess intelligence.

How far does that intelligence go? Do plants “think?”

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Gardening Guides: African Violet Update

As you may recall, we released an African Violet care guide along with a tutorial on propagating African Violets for the March issue of The Burgundy Zine.

Given that it’s been half a year since those guides were published, we figured it was time for a little update on how both plants are doing today.

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What I’ve Learned From Hiking and Gardening

Hiking and gardening are two hobbies of mine that are separate, but deeply intertwined. The way soil slides through the spaces between my fingers, the pride I feel when the first blooms on a new plant appears, and the joy to be had hiking through the woods on a cool, summer afternoon has given me a newfound appreciation for all life on our planet.

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