According to Rosengarten (1969), custom records show that cloves were imported into Alexandria by A.D. 176. The Emperor Constantine is said to have presented St Silvester, Bishop of Rome, A.D. 314-35, with numerous vessels of gold and silver, incense, and spices, including 150 pounds of cloves. By the fourth century cloves were well known round the Mediterranean and by the eighth century throughout Europe.

The spice appears to have reached China in the third century B.C. and Alexandria in the second century A.D. Cloves were spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and were very expensive. The spice, whole or ground, has a number of culinary uses. Clove oils are obtained by distillation of the spice, dried peduncles or leaves; small amounts are used in medicine, dentistry and microscopy.

The orders were particularly cruel, as it was the custom in the Moluccas for the indigenous people to plant a clove tree for the birth of each child, which helped to keep a record of the child’s age; if the tree was subsequently destroyed it portended doom for the child. The Dutch aimed to create an artificial scarcity and maintained prices by destroying surplus cloves which came onto the market. They made Batavia (Djakarta) the entrepot for cloves. Rutnphius (1626-1702) gives a very accurate account of the clove tree and method of production in his Herbarium Amboinense.

The seedling produces a pronounced tap root which remains relatively short and is fairly quickly replaced by two or three primary sinkers which develop from it. During the first year, a mass of fibrous roots spread out from the tap root to a depth of about 25 cm and a radius of 36-50 cm.

The inflorescence is a terminal, corymbose, trichotomous panicle, shortly pedunculate and branched from the base, shorter than the leaves, and very variable in the number of flowers, from 3 flowers on a simple three-forked peduncle to as many as 50 or more when conditions have favoured the triple subdivisions of the peduncle. The angled peduncles and shorter pedicels, about 5 mm long, constitute the clove stems of commerce. The bracts and bracteoles are narrow, acute, 2-3 mm long, and quickly falling. The flower is hermaphrodite with a fleshy hypanthium which is surmounted by the sepals.

Orchids are shade-loving plants, and while they are growing they need the equivalent of the dappled sunlight they would receive growing in the tree canopy of their natural home. Too much light during the summer will harm the plants by turning the foliage a light green-yellow.

In more severe cases, direct sun will burn the leaves, causing black areas where the sun’s rays have destroyed the leaf cells.

Insufficient light, on the other hand, will create dark green leaves that can become over-extended and limp. The aim should be to give your orchids just enough light to produce a good mid-green, healthy foliage and pseudo bulbs that will develop flower spikes at the right time.

After flowering and before the new growth starts, Calanthe pseudobulbs can be taken out of their pot and left to dry until the new growth is seen.

Thunias are among the very few orchids that produce an autumn display when their leaves change colour before being shed. The leafless canes remain dormant for the winter.

I don’t know about you, but it seems like this winter is never going to end. I have lived in the Midwest for almost 12 years now and this has been the longest, coldest winter I can remember. The good news is, however, that it will soon end just like it does every year. But will you be ready to tackle the lawn care and landscape?

It’s important to think about lawn care and landscape services now before the problems take hold on your green spaces. And believe me, there are plenty of issues that can crop up in a hurry if you arent paying attention.

You can also save money by getting signed up and locked up for the season with your local lawn and landscape pro.

With that in mind, here are some of the basics to consider for the 2009 lawn and landscape season.

Lawn Mowing