What was Tulipmania?

1. Like our "dot Com bubble", "Real Estate bubble" and our latest "Banking and "Stocks Exchange" bubbles, the "Tulip bubble "of 1637 in Holland ( Tulipmania ) was our first meltdown of our Western World investment experience.

2. Even the price of the basic plain-Jane varieties rose, as lower income consumers entertained visions of endless worldwide demand centered on Dutch flower beds, a prospect that made the most rash spending of the moment seem like a wise investment, sure to yield future income.

3. And it was not only bulbs being sold for exorbitant prices; would-be growers were also leasing or buying farm property, for which they paid handsomely for the land. This culture-wide frenzy earned the nickname “tulipmania.”

4. Some scholars consider this one of the world’s first economic market bubbles – and bubbles, of course, all pop eventually. It is generally agreed that in February 1637, the prices dropped dramatically, with the rarest breeds falling to perhaps a tenth of their old prices.

5. Some scholars argue that this happened because the sellers got nervous – well aware how inflated the bidding had gotten, they started lowering their asking prices. Other historians suggest that the newly glutted market (consumers of very class now owned tulips, which they could breed) simply dictated that the bulbs were no longer precious, and prices had to be adjusted accordingly.

6. In either case, the result was the same chain of events: When sellers dropped prices for 1637 season, buyers who had already agreed to pay the 1636 prices felt cheated, and panic ensued. Nobody wanted to buy new tulips and everyone was sure the other side would cheat them on the deals they already had.

In many popular retellings of tulipomania, this price drop led to a crash akin to the later Great Depression in the U.S.

At Boston Plantscape Designs Inc we always use colorful varieties of tulips in our "LIving Arrangements" for our Boston cityscapes.

Flowering Azaleas have arrived for our Boston cityscapes!

Pink azaleas have arrives for our Boston interior office- scapes. Azaleas are the harbinger of spring. These flowering evergreens are incorporated in Plantscape Designs weekly flowering programs.

The more common causes of the complete death of an azalea are improper planting, root problems due to poor drainage or too much watering, over-fertilizing, or completely drying out and temperature swings than it could withstand (which may not show up until warm weather sets in).

Florist azaleas
Some varieties of evergreen azaleas are grown for sale by florists in full bloom at almost any time of the year. Try to find out the variety of your gift azalea, and look it up in a reference book, to see if it is cold hardy in your area (most of them can't stand a frost). If it is, enjoy it inside until spring and then plant it outside in a part-sun, part-shade place in the garden. If you want to prune it, do that soon after it blooms, to avoid cutting off the buds for next year's blooms.

While it is in the house, remove its pretty paper wrapper, and water it deeply and infrequently. A good way is to soak it in a tub of water until the bubbles stop, and then let it drain out the excess water. Do this about once a week. Exactly how often depends on its potting mix and the temperature and humidity of the room. The goal is to have moist soil, rather than having it either saturated or dry for more than a few hours at a time. Keeping it in a cool area of the house will lengthen the bloom period. Putting the pot on or near a saucer of water and gravel will raise the humidity and help it hold its leaves.

If the azalea is not cold-hardy, you can plant it outside after the last frost, still in the pot, with the rim of the pot even with the soil level, or use it as a potted plant. Remember to water it, as the roots can only get the water in the pot. Bring it back into the house during the winter as a potted plant, and put it in the coolest part of the house during the winter. PDI servicing the greater Cambridge, MA officescape area.

When do you use Mesoseiulus longipeson your interior office plants?

Mesoseiulus longipes

1. These predators are similar to P. persimilis but can tolerate lower humidity (40% at 70 degrees F). Longipes are effective in temperatures up to 100 degrees F, although a comparable increase in humidity is required. Apply these predators in warm greenhouses and interiorscapes with artificial lighting. The lifespan of the adults, the form in which they are shipped, is 34 days.

2. Longipes is similar in appearance and activity to Persimlis; however, Longipes can tolerate drier conditions and higher temperatures. Longipes does well on taller plants.

Plantscape Designs Inc uses these critters to devour Two Spotted Spider mites on our tall Phyllostachys bamboos within your indoor atrium gardens in downtown Cambridge and Boston Ma business communities.

Why use cycads in your indoor office plant designs?

1. Cycads are seed plants characterized by a large crown of compound leaves and a stout trunk. They are evergreen, dioecious plants having large pinnately compound leaves.

2.They are frequently confused with and mistaken for palms or ferns, but are only distantly related to both, and instead belong to the division Cycadophyta.

3.Cycads are found across much of the subtropical and tropical parts of the world. They are found in South and Central America (where the greatest diversity occurs), Mexico, the Antilles, southeastern United States, Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Japan, China, Southeast Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and southern and tropical Africa, where at least 65 species occur.

4.Some are renowned for survival in harsh semidesert climates, and can grow in sand or even on rock. They are able to grow in full sun or shade, and some are salt tolerant.

5.Though they are a minor component of the plant kingdom today, during the Jurassic period they were extremely common.

They have very specialized pollinators and have been reported to fix nitrogen in association with a cyanobacterium living in the roots. These blue-green algae produce a neurotoxin called BMAA that is found in the seeds of cycads.

6.Care is easy: high light, water twice a month. Do not let roots sit in water.

Plantscape Designs Inc. designs with these ancient botanicals whenever our Boston, MA clients feel adventurous for a new look in their indoor office commercial work places.