The Huntington Library

Did You Know? - Most morning glory flowers unravel into full bloom in the early morning. The flowers usually start to fade a few hours before the "petals" start showing visible curling. They prefer full solar exposure throughout the day.

Morning glory was first known in China for its medicinal uses, due to the laxative properties of its seeds.

Did You Know? - Flavonoids are the yellow plant pigments seen most notably in lemons, oranges, and grapefruit. The name stems from the Latin word "flavus," which means yellow. Flavonoids in flowers and fruit provide visual cues for animal pollinators and seed dispersers to locate their targets.

Flavonoids are located in the cytoplasm and plastids. Many of the foods that we eat, including dark chocolate, strawberries, blueberries, cinnamon, pecans, walnuts, grapes, and cabbage, contain flavonoids.

These chemicals lower cholesterol levels, and many have antioxidant properties. Anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins, and the reddish-brown pigment theaflavin found in tea, act to create color, while most other flavonoids are visible only under UV light.

Did You Know? - Owing to its fine grain it is a good wood for fine wood carving, although this is limited by the small sizes available. It is also resistant to splitting and chipping, and thus useful for decorative or storage boxes. Formerly, it was used for wooden combs. As a timber or wood for carving it is "boxwood" in all varieties of English.

Owing to the relatively high density of the wood (it is one of the few woods that are denser than water), boxwood is often used for chess pieces, unstained boxwood for the white pieces and stained ('ebonized') boxwood for the black pieces, in lieu of ebony.

Did You Know? - The beetle species Populi japonica is commonly known as the Japanese beetle. It is about 15 millimetres (0.6 in) long and 10 millimetres (0.4 in) wide, with iridescent copper-colored elytra and green thorax and head. It is not very destructive in Japan, where it is controlled by natural predators, but in North America it is a serious pest of about 200 species of plants, including rose bushes, grapes, hops, canna, crape myrtles, birch trees, linden trees and others.

It is a clumsy flier, dropping several centimeters when it hits a wall. Japanese beetle traps therefore consist of a pair of crossed walls with a bag or plastic container underneath, and are baited with floral scent, pheromone, or both.

However, studies conducted at the University of Kentucky and Eastern Illinois University suggest beetles attracted to traps frequently do not end up in the traps, but alight on plants in the vicinity, thus causing more damage along the flight path of the beetles and near the trap than may have occurred if the trap were not present.

These insects damage plants by skeletonizing the foliage, that is, consuming only the leaf material between the veins, and may also feed on fruit on the plants if present.

Did You Know? - The traditional kitchen garden, also known as a potager (in French, jardin potager) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden ? the ornamental plants and lawn areas. Most vegetable gardens are still miniature versions of old family farm plots, but the kitchen garden is different not only in its history, but also its design.

The kitchen garden may serve as the central feature of an ornamental, all-season landscape, or it may be little more than a humble vegetable plot. It is a source of herbs, vegetables and fruits, but it is often also a structured garden space with a design based on repetitive geometric patterns.

The kitchen garden has year-round visual appeal and can incorporate permanent perennials or woody shrub plantings around (or among) the annuals.

Did You Know? - The pomegranate /?p?m??r?n?t/, botanical name Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between 5?8 meters (16?26 ft) tall. In the Northern Hemisphere, the fruit is typically in season from September to February, and in the Southern Hemisphere from March to May. Pomegranates are used in cooking, baking, juices, smoothies and alcoholic beverages, such as martinis and wine.

The pomegranate is considered to have originated in the region of Iran to northern India and has been cultivated since ancient times.

It is mentioned in many ancient texts, notably in Babylonian texts and the Book of Exodus.

It was introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769.