From The Old Farmer's Almanac.
A few of my readers here have been commenting recently on their struggle with this new Captcha that I have installed on my blog. So I thought I would first explain why it's here and then explore how to use it so that your messages aren't lost.
1. The reason for its being
Prior to installing Recaptcha on my comments, I would spend countless hours each week removing spam from my comments. I could have saved a heap of time by just pushing the DELETE button on the ones that Movable Type marked as suspect. However, I would invariably find one or two genuine comments in the midst of all the disgusting tripe that I waded through.
Even if there was only 1 comment in the sea of hundreds it was still worth sacrificing my time to acknowledge that you gave up some of yours. I can't say I was always faithful and I'm sure there were still some that I missed.
After installing Recapthca on Blotanical as part of the submission process, I realised that this was certainly a great step forward in reducing spam on my other blogs, and predominantly this one.
Since its installation, I have not had one piece of spam to deal with meaning that I can now use that time to spend researching posts, commenting on other blogs or making Blotanical far more exciting.
And, as Annie intimated in one of her comments this Captcha process has another purpose that makes it worthy of its use. Each time you enter the words that are displayed you are helping in the process of deciphering books that were published prior to the digital era. Pretty cool, huh?
2. How to use this thing without losing your comments
You will notice these three buttons on the right side of the input field. These are put there to help you process the correct words and speed you along on your journey.
The first one is the Reload button. If the displayed text is too garbled to make sense of the words then you can click this button and it will refresh the display with two new words. You can keep doing this until you can correctly decipher the words.
The second one is the Audio button. Rather than viewing the words you can hear them and then type the corresponding answer into the requested field. I'm not sure what your hearing is like but I haven't had much success with this feature.
Finally, the last one is an Information button. Clicking this takes you to the Recaptcha site so that you can learn a little more about the widget and its purpose.
Hopefully this has cleared up some confusion and if you have any problems with this please let me know.
Hits & Misses: Stylish succulents & stubborn Christmas guests
Question of the Week: Are my shrubs budding?
The Business: It’s A Magazine!
The Path to Enjoy 2009: Unique
Elephant Ears, Elephant’s Ear or Elephants’ Ears? Who thought that a pachyderm’s body part could cause so much controversy? For the past week, Akemi Matsubuchi, one of our bedding plants supervisors, has been trying to gather consensus on what the correct name is for Colocasia esculenta. It may sound like a petty issue to outside observers, but it’s amazing how something as ‘simple’ as finding the correct common name for a bedding plant can cause a maelstrom in peoples’ minds. Our solution to the conundrum was to contact the Royal Horticultural Society of Britain for the answer. We deem them experts on matters like these because of their excellence in horticulture…plus, let’s face it, there’s just something about the words Royal and Britain that have an air of authority. So what was their verdict you ask? Wait for it…the winner is…Elephant’s Ear! Now I can sleep at night.
Hits & Misses
Hit: Stylish Succulents
This will be the year of the succulents at Hole’s. For those unfamiliar with succulents, think of drought-tolerant plants with intriguing foliage shapes and colours. I trialed a number of them in my yard last year and loved the look—not to mention the fact that they sip water rather than guzzle it. This season, we’ve quadruple the number of varieties that we normally carry so that we can offer our customers an exceptional mix of succulent containers for decks and driveways…unless I buy them all first.
Miss: Stubborn Christmas Guests
I know that I shouldn’t be talking about poinsettias at this time of year, but I have to mention that the variety ‘Monet Twilight’ looked outstanding this year. The problem with that is they should have looked outstanding LAST year—as in Christmas 2007—not January 2008. I suspect the Monets were a little heat delayed, but no matter how good their excuse is, it doesn’t change the fact that there has yet to be a January where poinsettias have been a sought-after plant.
Question of the Week
Are my shrubs budding?
Whenever the midwinter weather turns mild, I get a lot of people swearing that their shrubs’ buds are swelling. The reality, however, is that the buds aren’t swelling; it’s just that gardeners are having their first close-up look at buds that were concealed by leaves during the summer. It really is a common misconception, and the reason is because the buds on many spring-flowering shrubs are fully developed by the end of the summer and, therefore, tend to stand out on barren branches. So if you’re a little disappointed that your shrubs aren’t precocious overachievers, don’t be. If they had swelled due to imbibing water, they would certainly be dead come spring, and you wouldn’t want that.
The Business
It’s A Magazine!
Everyone here in the publishing department is proud to announce that the premier issue of Enjoy Gardening has hit the shelves here at Hole’s and is expect to be on magazine racks across the country in the next couple of weeks. We are all very excited about this new publication and hope that our readers will love it as much as we do.
The Path to Enjoy 2009
Unique: Can an ornamental houseplant produce tomatoes?
The ‘Minimato’ can. It’s a dwarf cherry tomato plant (about 14” tall) that’s grown as a low-maintenance indoor houseplant. What makes the Minimato so consumer friendly is that it’s sold when its first fruits are just ripening. That means the new caretaker needs only to place it in a sunny spot and add a bit of water. According to the website, if all goes well, the Minimato will last two months and yield about 50 tomatoes—all while adding beauty to your home. Kind of like a fern but with fruit!
Watch for it spring 2008.
Did You Know?
By bathing plant tissue in just the right mixture of hormones and nutrients, embryos develop, producing what are referred to as ‘artificial seeds.’
“To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June.”
–Jean-Paul Sartre
Word comes from Stuart of the passing of Andee at Gardener in Chacala . Andee visited my blog now and then, usually leaving a comment. I loved the pictures she would post from Mexico. During the winter these pictures would make me jealous, as she lived in a most beautiful place.
It is nice know that the garden blogging community really is a community. I never met Andee “in person” but she was a friend none the less, and I will miss her visits. Thanks go to her son who took the time to let us know about her passing. Per his wishes I will be extra nice to the cats today and next time I have a Coke I’ll toast her memory.
Adios, Andee
