Helleborus 'COSEH 210’ Has Large White Flowers and Sells as 'HGC Joel'®

Summary: Helleborus ‘COSEH 210, ’ patented by German hellebore breeder Joseph Heuger, has large white flowers and sells under the trade name of ‘HGC Joel’®.

Helleborus 'COSEH 210' image included in patent application filed Jan. 7, 2009, with United States Patent and Trademark Office: Josef Heuger, Public Domain, via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Helleborus ‘COSEH 210,’ a Helleborus niger cultivar patented by German hellebore hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has large white flowers and sells under the trade name of ‘HGC Joel’®.

Helleborus niger is known commonly as black hellebore and as Christmas rose. Although its flowers are reminiscent of wild roses (Rosa canina), Helleborus niger does not belong to the rose family, Rosaceae. The Christmas rose is an evergreen, flowering perennial in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae.

On Jan. 7, 2009, Josef Heuger filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a patent for his invention, Helleborus ‘COSEH 210.’ June Hwu was the application’s primary examiner. On June 1, 2010, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent 21,048 to Helleborus ‘COSEH 210.’

Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ has its origins in a cross-pollination program conducted in December 2002 by the inventor in a controlled greenhouse environment at his family’s nursery, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany. Parent plants are two unnamed, unpatented proprietary Helleborus niger seedlings.

Heuger discovered and selected the new, single-flowering hellebore cultivar from among the seedlings’ progeny in November 2004. Propagation by division, conducted since February 2005, affirmed the retention and true reproduction of the new cultivar’s distinctive features.

Josef Heuger’s patent application for Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ describes plants grown outdoors, in 13-centimeter (5.11-inch) containers, during winter. Production day temperatures spanned 5 to 32 degrees Celsius (41 to 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The night temperature range during production was from 1 degree to 25 degrees C (33.8 to 77 degrees F).

Production time for producing a young, rooted hellebore required about five months. Rooting temperatures ranged from 4 to 15 degrees C (39.2 to 59 degrees F).

Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ has a sparse rooting habit. Fleshy roots are thick to thin. Coloring is white to brown.

An upright, mounded shape features early and uniform free flowering. The herbaceous perennial measures heights of about 15 to 20 centimeters (5.9 to 7.87 inches). Spread, or width, ranges from 30 to 35 centimeters (11.81 to 13.77 inches).

Each palmately compound leaf has five to seven leaflets that radiate outward from the leaf’s distal end, the point of attachment with the petiole, the stalk joining leaf to stem. Leaflets are roughly ovate, or egg-shaped, with serrated margins.

Leaflet length measures about 4 to 8 centimeters (1.57 to 3.14 inches). Width ranges from about 1.5 to 4 centimeters (0.59 to 1.57 inches).

Leaflets’ upper and lower surfaces have leathery textures. The smooth surfaces, lacking down or hair, are glabrous.

Upper surfaces of fully developed leaves are dark green (Royal Horticultural Society color chart color 147A). Lower surfaces are brown green (RHS 147B).

Leaflet venation pattern is pinnate (Latin: pinna, “feather”), with smaller, parallel veins branching off a main vein. Veins also form a network-style structure, described as a reticulate (Latin: reticulatus, “net-like”) arrangement.

Vein color of upper surfaces is brown green (RHS 146B). Lower surfaces have brown green (RHS 146D) venation.

The natural flowering season for Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ is early and long. In Germany,  Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ flowers from mid-November to February. The cultivar’s persistent flowers have a longevity of about three weeks.

The freely flowering habit of Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ yields about 30 to 40 developing flowers per plant. The cultivar’s moderately fragrant aroma is pleasant.

Flowers measure a diameter of about 8 to 9 centimeters (3.14 to 3.54 inches). Their depth, or height, is about 2 centimeters (0.78 inches).

Floral arrangement is five sepals in a single whorl. Petals are not observed.

Sepal shape is broadly ovate, or egg-shaped. Sepal apex, or tip, is rounded. Margins are entire, with smooth, untoothed edges.

Upper and lower surfaces of sepals have a satiny texture. The smooth texture is glabrous, with an absence of down or hair.

Sepal length is about 4 to 4.5 centimeters (1.57 to 1.77 inches). Width is about 3 to 4 centimeters (1.18 to 1.57 inches).

Upper surfaces of opening and fully opened sepals are white (RHS NN155D). With development, upper surfaces have light green coloring (RHS 145C to 145A). Basal spot coloring is dark green to light green (RHS 144A to 144B).

Lower surfaces of opening and fully opened sepals are close to white (RHS NN155D). Basal spot coloring is light green (RHS 144B).

The patent application for Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ notes the cultivar’s good garden performance. Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ is weather-tolerant. The new cultivar tolerates rain and wind. It withstands a temperature range of about minus 10 degrees C (14 degrees F) to about 36 degrees C (96.8 degrees F).

Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ sells under the trade name of ‘HGC Joel’®. The Helleborus Gold Collection (HGC®) is a symbol of quality, denoting winter-hardy hellebores with a beautiful, long blooming season.

The 2015-2016 Heuger Helleborus catalog sells ‘HGC Joel’℗ in pots sized 13 to 17 centimeters (5.11 to 6.69 inches). The winter bloomer’s growth is described as of medium vigor. Heating should start in mid-November. Maximum heating temperature is 14 degrees Celsius (57.2 degrees Fahrenheit). Selling is targeted for beginning at the end of November.

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘COSEH 210,’ with large white flowers and dark green leaves, is its reliable performance as a winter-blooming perennial and its commercial availability, with membership in the prestigious Helleborus Gold Collection (HGC®), as hellebore ‘HGC Joel’®.

Helleborus 'COSEH 210' sells under trade name of Helleborus 'Joel ’®: Rondom Klok Eelde @RondomKlokEelde, via Twitter Dec. 8, 2014

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Helleborus 'Coseh 210' image included in patent application filed Jan. 7, 2009, with United States Patent and Trademark Office: Josef Heuger, Public Domain, via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP021048;
via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP21048

Helleborus 'COSEH 210' sells under trade name of Helleborus 'Joel ’®: Rondom Klok Eelde @ RondomKlokEelde, via Twitter Dec. 7, 2014, @ https://twitter.com/RondomKlokEelde/status/541837515611963392

For further information:

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide. Portland OR: Timber Press, 2006.

"Hellebore (Helleborus Gold Collection® Joel) (aka Coseh 210)." The National Gardening Association > Plants Database.
Available @ http://garden.org/plants/view/236698/Hellebore-Helleborus-Gold-Collection-Joel/

"Helleborus Plant Named 'Coseh 210.'" United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). June 1, 2010.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP021048

"Helleborus Plant Named 'JGC Josef Lemper." United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). March 1, 2005.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP015615

"HGC℗ Joel." Heuger > Katalog Helleborus 2015-2016.
Available @ http://www.heuger.com/fileadmin/lookbook/page4.html#/18

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. “Document TGP/14: Glossary of Technical, Botanical and Statistical Terms Used in UPOV Documents.”  UPOV (Union Internationale Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales). Dec. 9, 2006.
Available @ http://www.upov.org/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_edc/2007/tgp_14_draft_1_section_2_3_2.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. "Helleborus 'COSEH 710' Has Light Green Flowers With Reddish Pink Overtones." Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-710-has-light-green.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "A Helleborus Plant Named 'COSEH 700' Has Large Light Green Flowers." Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-coseh-700-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "A Helleborus Plant Named 'HGC Jacob' Has White to Light Green Flowers." Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-hgc-jacob-has.html

Martin Ogden @Martin_Ogden. "Hellebore Gold Collection Joel begins flowering in November, with large flowers on a compact plant (18 sleeps now . .)." Twitter. Dec. 7, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/Martin_Ogden/status/673943444067340289

Rondom Klok Eelde @ RondomKlokEelde. "Zware Helleborus Joel  van Kwekerij Paul Cox." Twitter. Dec. 7, 2014.
Available @ https://twitter.com/RondomKlokEelde/status/541837515611963392

"Types of Leaf Forms." Boundless > Biology > Textbooks > Boundless Biology > Plant Form and Physiology > Leaves. May 26, 2016.
Available @ https://www.boundless.com/biology/textbooks/boundless-biology-textbook/plant-form-and-physiology-30/leaves-181/types-of-leaf-forms-692-11918/

Poinsettia Named 'Variegated-Leaf Success' Has Variegated Leaves

Summary: A poinsettia named 'Variegated-Leaf Success,' by Ecke Ranch's chief hydridizer, Franz Fruehwirth, has variegated leaves and bright red flower bracts.

side view of poinsettia 'Variegated-Leaf Success' in images included in Franz Fruehwirth's patent application, filed Friday, March 22, 1996, as application number 08/621002, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP9,990; Date of Patent Aug. 5, 1997; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

A poinsettia named 'Variegated-Leaf Success,' cultivated as a natural sport of Euphorbia pulcherrima by Franz Fruehwirth, Ecke Ranch's chief hybridizer, has variegated leaves and bright red flower bracts.

On March 22, 1996, Franz Fruehwirth filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a patent for a poinsettia named 'Variegated-Leaf Success.' The inventor named Paul Ecke Ranch Inc., in Encinitias, southern California, as assignee. Howard J. Locker was the application's primary examiner. On Aug. 5, 1997, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 9,990 to a poinsettia named 'Variegated-Leaf Success.'

A poinsettia named 'Variegated-Leaf Success' originated as a natural sport of poinsettia plant '559.' Poinsettia '559' was an induced, self-branching sport of seedling 'H-18,' a proprietary, unpatented plant in the Ecke Ranch greenhouse in Encinitas.

Fruethwirth selected 'Variegated-Leaf Success' from among several thousand '559' poinsettias in 1994. The inventor based his selection upon the sport's strikingly variegated leaves and bright red flower bracts. Vegetative propagation via stem cuttings confirmed the retention and true reproduction of the sport's desirable traits over successive generations.

Fruehwirth's patent application describes poinsettia 'Variegated-Leaf Success' in December 1995. Flowering plants were grown as one branched plant in a pot with a diameter of 14 centimeters (5.51 inches) and a height of 11 centimeters (4.33 inches).

The short shrub reached an overall height of 38 centimeters (14.96 inches). Its spread, or overall width, measured 33 centimeters (12.99 inches).

The upright, single-stemmed plant exhibits self-branching side shoots. Axillary branches do not require pinching in order to develop their terminal inflorescences. Fruehwirth, though, recommends pinching for fast, uniform develoment of axillary branches.

The poinsettia named 'Variegated-Leaf Success' logs a response period of about 10 weeks. The flowering response period is triggered by continuous long night conditions and night temperatures of 16 to 18 degrees Celsius (60.8 to 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Medium-sized leaves typically measure 15 to 16 centimeters (5.90 to 6.29 inches) in length. Blade width typically is 10 to 11 centimeters (3.93 to 4.33 inches).

Leaf shape is usually ovate, or egg-shaped. The blade's margins are described as mostly entire, with smooth, untoothed edges.

A leaf's variegation may comprise sometimes two, but mostly three, different colors. Blade colors generally appear as dark green, light green and light yellow. The yellow color tends to occur at the blade's periphery.

Upper surfaces have a dark greenness (darker than Royal Horticultural Society color chart color 147A). Other color zones are light green, nearly brown green (RHS 148B), and yellow, lighter than brown green (RHS 153D).

Foliage displays good retention. The low light intensities characteristic of consumers' homes do not interfere with leaf longevity.

Variously sized bracts, numbering about 12 to 15, subtend, or underlie, the 'Variegated-Leaf Success' poinsettia's cuplike floral structure, known as a cyathium. Medium- to large-sized primary bracts typically are 18 centimeters (7.08 inches) in length. Their typical width is 12 centimeters (4.72 inches).

Primary bracts are ovate, or egg-shaped. One indentation, on either side of the bract, lobes each primary bract.

Secondary bracts have shapes that are ovate to elliptical. Their smooth, untoothed margins are described as entire.

Upper surfaces of bracts have a bright red coloring (near RHS 45B). Lower surfaces are red (near RHS 46C).

In full bloom, 'Variegated-Leaf Success' poinsettia generally features 10 to 12 cyathia. Each cyathium measures about 6 millimeters (0.236 inches) in length by 5 millimeters (0.196 inches) in width.

Cyathias are green, with red fringes at the distal, or outer, ends. Protruding from the side of each cyathium is a yellow nectar cup. Nectar exudate, or secretion, is abundantly present.

The takeaway for a poinsettia named 'Variegated-Leaf Success' is its good flowering response period, its distinctive palette of variegated leaves and bright red bracts, its attractive self-branching habit and its good retention of bracts and leaves.

A poinsettia named 'Variegated-Leaf Success,' which has variegated leaves, shows that unusual leaf color zones are interesting contributors to the poinsettia palette.

top view of poinsettia 'Variegated-Leaf Success' in images included in Franz Fruehwirth's patent application, filed Friday, March 22, 1996, as application number 08/621002, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP9,990; Date of Patent Aug. 5, 1997; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

side view of poinsettia 'Variegated-Leaf Success' in images included in Franz Fruehwirth's patent application, filed Friday, March 22, 1996, as application number 08/621002, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP9,990; Date of Patent Aug. 5, 1997; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP09990; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/09900/pp09990.pdf)

top view of poinsettia 'Variegated-Leaf Success' in images included in Franz Fruehwirth's patent application, filed Friday, March 22, 1996, as application number 08/621002, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Plant Patent No. US PP9,990; Date of Patent Aug. 5, 1997; color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Digital Collections @ University of Maryland Libraries, @ https://digital.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/PP09990; (former URL @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/09900/pp09990.pdf)

For further information:

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. “Document TGP/14: Glossary of Technical, Botanical and Statistical Terms Used in UPOV Documents. Section 2: Botanical Terms: Subsection 3: Color: (2): Color Names for the RHS Colour Chart.” UPOV (Union Internationale Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales). Dec. 9, 2006.
Available @ http://www.upov.int/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_edc/2007/tgp_14_draft_1_section_2_3_2.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “American Green Poinsettia Gardens for America's Toothed Spurge.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/american-green-poinsettia-gardens-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “American Wild Poinsettia Gardens for America's Other Poinsettia.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/american-wild-poinsettia-gardens-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “From Unnamed Patented Poinsettia to 'Flaming Sphere' to 'Winter Rose'™.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/from-unnamed-patented-poinsettia-to.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “New Poinsettia Plant Named 'Snowcap' Has Creamy White Flower Bracts.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/new-poinsettia-plant-named-snowcap-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Poinsettia '3-91' With Blushed Red Bracts Is Sold as Monet Twilight™.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/poinsettia-3-91-with-blushed-red-bracts.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Poinsettia 'Ice Punch' Has Cherry Red and Pink Bicolored Flower Bracts.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/poinsettia-ice-punch-has-cherry-red-and.html

“Poinsettia Plant '559.'” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). June 7, 1994.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP008773

“Poinsettia Plant Named 'Variegated-Leaf Success.'” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). Aug. 5, 1997.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP009990

“PP09990 -- Poinsettia Plant Named 'Variegated Leaf Success.'” University of Maryland Plant Patent Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/977

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Self-Portrait

Summary: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft of two bronzes, 10 paintings and one obscure Rembrandt self-portrait is unsolved since March 18, 1990.

Rembrandt Harmonszoon van Rijn's "Self Portrait Wearing a Soft Cap: Full Face, Head Only" (1633) was one of three Rembrandt paintings removed during the March 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A postage stamp-sized drawing purchased March 18, 1886, for $120 accounts for one of the 13 artworks removed during the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft in Boston, Massachusetts, March 18, 1990.

The Rembrandt self-portrait brings to three the number of art pieces by one Dutch draughtsman, painter and printmaker to be borne away during the 81-minute robbery. It contributes to the $500 million value of the theft the morning after Saint Patrick's Day even though another artist's painting claims almost half that total. The 1.75- by 1.94-inch (4.45- by 4.92-centimeter) etching, described as Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and as Self-Portrait, most likely dates from 1633.

The autoportrait by Rembrandt Harmonszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606-Oct. 4, 1669) of Leiden, Netherlands, emerges as a possible pinch-hit for a nearby artwork's botched theft.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, known historically as Fenway Court and locally as the palace, fits between Palace Road intersections with Fenway and with Tetlow Street.

The buff-brick rectangular palace atop a rock-faced ashlar granite foundation gives the surrounding culturally and educationally prominent Fenway neighborhood the look of a 15th-century Venetian palazzo. Its hipped red Spanish tile roof has exposed purlins (horizontal beams), overhanging eaves, projecting chimneys and a skylight whose gabled glass helps light the interior courtyard. The enclosed interior courtyard with 400 to 500 potted plants rotated every six weeks is the pretext that initiates the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft.

Security guard Richard Abath judges purported courtyard disturbances justification to buzz in two Boston policemen at 1:24 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (6:24 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time).

Motion detectors keep track of the two thieves' progression through the second-floor Dutch Room and Short Gallery but they keep nothing from the first-floor Blue Room.

Blue Room records list only the footsteps of the security guard's patrol at 12:27 and 12:53 a.m. EST (6:27 and 6:53 a.m. UTC) before the theft. Empty frames mark the places of one painting moved from the Blue Room, four paintings from the Dutch Room and five paintings from the Short Gallery. Similar placeholders note the Dutch Room's nabbed Rembrandt self-portrait and Shang Dynasty gu (bronze beaker) and the Short Gallery's nipped bronze Napoleonic flagstaff finial (ornamental top).

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft offers another oddity in not obtaining the world-famous Europa by Italian Renaissance painter Tiziano Vecellio (Titian, 1488?-Aug. 27, 1576).

The crime scene photographs present the oil on oak panel, 35.5- by 28.9-inch (89.7- by 73.5-centimeter) Rembrandt Self-Portrait, Age 23 of 1629 as an intended target.

Unsuccessful attempts to remove the painting from its heavy frame qualify as the apparent reason for leaving the panel on the floor of the Dutch Room. Stolen surveillance tapes undoubtedly reveal whether the ink-on-paper etching, also called Self Portrait Wearing a Soft Cap: Full Face, Head Only, was removed deliberately or opportunistically. The 1633 self-portrait's frame stands on the side of a 17th-century carved oak cabinet under the rehanged 1629 self-portrait, purchased for 3,000 pounds Feb. 16, 1896.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft triggers a $5 million reward for information that brings back the beaker, etching, finial and paintings in good condition.

Rembrandt Harmonszoon van Rijn's "Self-Portrait, Age 23" (1629) escaped theft because of its heavy frame: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Rembrandt Harmonszoon van Rijn's "Self Portrait Wearing a Soft Cap: Full Face, Head Only" (1633) was one of three Rembrandt paintings removed during the March 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_-_Self_portrait_etching_-_ISGM.jpg

Rembrandt Harmonszoon van Rijn's "Self-Portrait, Age 23" (1629) escaped theft because of its heavy frame: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_van_Rijn_198.jpg

For further information:

Baker, Billy. 10 March 2015. "Gardener Keeps Gardner Museum's Atrium in Bloom." Boston Globe > Metro.
Available @ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/09/gardener-keeps-gardner-atrium-bloom/bbSZctlMtkEDy9UDYWrO4K/story.html

Boston Landmarks Commission. Report on the Potential Designation of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as a Landmark under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as Amended.
Available @ https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/ISGM%20Study%20Report%20as%20Amended_tcm3-39717.pdf

"Collection." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Available @ http://www.gardnermuseum.org/collection

FBI. 15 November 2005. "FBI Announces Top Ten Art Crimes." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > News > Stories > 2005 > November.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2005/november/topten_art111505

FBI. 8 March 2013. "Gardner Museum in Boston Offering $5 Million Reward for Stolen Art." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DpD1HbcFfQ

FBI Boston Division. "Boston FBI Continues Hunt for Stolen Artwork." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > Boston Division > Press Releases > 2010.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/boston/press-releases/2010/bs031510.htm

FBI Boston Division. "FBI Provides New Information Regarding the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Heist." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > Boston Division > Press Releases > 2013.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/boston/press-releases/2013/fbi-provides-new-information-regarding-the-1990-isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art-heist

"The Gardner Museum Theft." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > FBI Top Ten Art Crimes.
Available @ https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/5-million-reward-offered-for-return-of-stolen-gardner-museum-artwork

Mashberg, Tom. March 1998. "Stealing Beauty." Vanity Fair > Culture.
Available @ http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/1998/03/biggest-art-heist-us-history

Murphy, Shelley. 17 March 2015. "Search for Artworks from Gardner Heist Continues 25 Years Later." Boston Globe > Metro.
Available @ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/17/gardner-museum-art-heist-one-boston-most-enduring-mysteries-years-later/9U3tp1kJMa4Zn4uClI1cdM/story.html

"Thirteen Works: Explore the Gardner's Stolen Art." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum > Resources > Theft.
Available @ http://www.gardnermuseum.org/resources/theft

Thomson, Jason. 3 May 2016. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Theft: Is the Massive Art Heist About to be Solved?" The Christian Science Monitor > USA > USA Update.
Available @ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0503/Isabella-Stewart-Gardner-theft-Is-the-massive-art-heist-about-to-be-solved

WBUR. 12 March 2009. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irBRWMMHOI8

Williams, Paige. March 2010. "The Art of the Story." Boston Magazine > Gardner Museum > Gardner Museum Theft.
Available @ http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2010/03/gardner-heist/3/

Winter Hexagon Asterism Gathers Six Stars From Six Constellations

Summary: The Winter Hexagon asterism gathers six stars from six constellations for its prominent sky appearances from December to February.

asterism within an asterism: Winter Hexagon with Winter Triangle: Jim Thomas (Jomegat), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Also known as the Winter Circle or Winter Oval, the Northern Hemisphere's Winter Hexagon asterism gathers six stars from six constellations and also features an asterism within an asterism, the smaller Winter Triangle asterism, for its prominent sky appearances from December to February.

The six borrowed stars form a stellar hexagon that links them, outside of their individual constellations, in a recognizable pattern of stars known as an asterism. The six vertices, or angled meeting points of the imaginary hexagon’s six sides, are held by Auriga the Charioteer’s Capella, Taurus the Bull’s Aldebaran, Orion the Huntsman’s Rigel, Canis Major’s Sirius, Canis Minor’s Procyon and Gemini the Twins' Pollux.

In northern latitudes, the Winter Hexagon rises in the south. In December, the hexagonal asterism is high in the sky after midnight. Early January welcomes the Winter Hexagon’s highest point at around 11 p.m. In mid-February, the hexagon reaches its highest point around 8 or 9 p.m.

The Winter Hexagon is known as the Summer Hexagon or the Summer Circle in the Southern Hemisphere. English astronomer David Darling suggests extending the asterism southward, in the northern tropics and in the Southern Hemisphere, to include Canopus, the second brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina the Ship’s Keel.

Including Canopus, the second brightest star, after Sirius, in Earth’s night skies, would transform the Summer Hexagon into the Summer Heptagon, a seven-sided asterism. Amateur astronomer and Sky & Telescope contributor Bob King suggests a variant Winter/Summer Heptagon by adding Gemini’s Castor to the Winter Hexagon’s traditional sextet.

The Winter Hexagon asterism claims further structural interest for fueling the imaginations of stargazers. The hexagonal asterism contains another asterism within its asterismal boundaries by way of the Winter Triangle asterism. The Winter Triangle is an equilateral triangle that shares two vertices, Procyon and Sirius, with the Winter Hexagon. Orion’s Betelgeuse, located off-center inside the Winter Hexagon, tops the Winter Triangle.

High ranking brightness of all six stars explains the dramatic visibility of the Winter Hexagon asterism. All six appear in the list of 17 brightest stars in Earth’s night skies. Of those six, four (Sirius, Capella, Rigel, Procyon) are in the top eight.

Within the Northern Hemisphere’s brightest night stars, all six appear in the top 12 list. All except Pollux are in the top nine. The quartet of Sirius, Capella, Rigel and Procyon number in the Northern Hemisphere’s top six brightest night stars.

The Winter Hexagon is easy to locate because of its association with Orion. The Winter Hexagon encloses Orion and claims the constellation’s second brightest star, Rigel, as a hexagonal vertex. Rigel marks the constellation’s southwestern corner and the hexagon’s southwestern point.

The constellation of Greek mythology’s giant hunter dominates the sky as one of the night’s most conspicuous and most easily recognizable constellations. Orion’s brightest star, red supergiant Betelgeuse, marks the hunter’s right shoulder in front-facing depictions and his left shoulder in back-view illustrations. Rigel represents Orion’s left foot in front views and right foot in back views.

The Winter Hexagon is a showy asterism that shines on its own merits but also increases viewer interest with the dream catching possibilities of celestial bodies framed within the hexagon’s borders. Through its reliance upon Rigel, the Winter Hexagon always frames the recognizable magnificence of Orion the Hunter.

Apart from Orion’s constancy, other bright visitors also find themselves inside the Winter Hexagon. Amateur astronomer Bob King, known popularly as Astro Bob, noted the Winter Hexagon’s trapping of the waxing gibbous moon Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, and Wednesday evening, Jan. 20, 2016. On Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, Astro Bob shared Jupiter’s confinement within the Winter Hexagon.

The takeaway for the Winter Hexagon asterism is its wintry brightness as it brings together six bright stars from six familiar constellations for easy visibility from December to February.

Southern Hemisphere’s Summer Hexagon, visited by Jupiter; Winter Hexagon over Gensan, southern Philippines, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013, 22:27:28: peter jones (peterjonesdelacruz27), CC BY ND 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Winter Hexagon with Winter Triangle: Jim Thomas (Jomegat), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wintersky.jpg

Southern Hemisphere’s Summer Hexagon, visited by Jupiter; Winter Hexagon over Gensan, southern Philippines, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013, 22:27:28: peter jones (peterjonesdelacruz27), CC BY ND 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/77526570@N02/11576097353/

For further information:

Astro Bob (Bob King). “Looking for Aurora Tonight? Check Out the Winter Hexagon + 2.” AreaVoices > Archives > January 2014. Jan. 9, 2014.
Available @ http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2014/01/09/looking-for-aurora-tonight-check-out-the-winter-hexagon-2/

Astro Bob (Bob King). “Moon and Winter Hexagon Bright on Bright Tonight.” AreaVoices > Archives > Jan. 7, 2012.
Available @ http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2012/01/07/moon-and-winter-hexagon-bright-on-bright-tonight/

Astro Bob (Bob King). “What Would It Look Like if Mars, Saturn or Neptune Replaced the Moon?” AreaVoices > Archives > February 2015.
Available @ http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2015/02/01/what-would-it-look-like-if-mars-saturn-or-neptune-replaced-the-moon/

Astro Bob (Bob King). “Wolf Moon Trapped by the Winter Hexagon.” AreaVoices > Archives > January 2016.
Available @ http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2016/01/19/wolf-moon-trapped-by-the-winter-hexagon/

Astro Bob (Bob King). “You Absolutely Must See the Winter Hexagon Tonight.” AreaVoices > Archives > January 2013.
Available @ http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/01/17/you-must-absolutely-see-the-winter-hexagon-tonight/

Constellation Guide Admin. “Winter Hexagon.” Constellation Guide. March 13, 2016.
Available @ http://www.constellation-guide.com/winter-hexagon/

Darling, David. “Winter Hexagon.” The Worlds of David Darling > Encyclopedia of Science.

Available @ http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/Winter_Hexagon.html

Hufnagel, Beth; Bob Stein. “16 Brightest Stars (Visible in the Northern Hemisphere).” Michigan State University Department of Physics and Astronomy > Courses > 1997 Spring.
Available @ https://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/1997spring/ISP205/sec-3/brightstars.html

McClure, Bruce. “Winter Circle: Brightest Winter Stars.” EarthSky> Favorite Star Patterns > Science Wire. Jan. 10, 2016.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/favorite-star-patterns/winter-circle-highlights-brightest-winter-stars

Millás, Isolina V. “The Brightest Stars of the Southern Hemisphere.” Popular Astronomy, vol. 26 (June-July 1918): 387-391.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1918PA.....26..387M/0000387.000.html

Ridpath, Ian. “The 25 Brightest Stars as Seen From Earth.” Ian Ridpath.
Available @ http://www.ianridpath.com/brightest.htm

Staal, Julius D.W. The New Patterns in the Sky: Myths and Legends of the Stars. Blacksburg VA: McDonald and Woodward Publishing Co., 1988.

“Winter Hexagon Over Stagecoach Colorado.” NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD).
Available @ http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110103.html

Nabucco Is the Jan. 7, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Jan. 7, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Nabucco, a four-act opera set in 6th century Babylon and Jerusalem by Giuseppe Verdi.

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season performances of Verdi's Nabucco mark the fifth revival of Elijah Moshinsky's new staging, which debuted March 8, 2001, at Met Opera: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter Dec. 12, 2016

Nabucco, a four-act opera by Italian operatist Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) concerning a fictional love triangle set in 6th century Babylon and Jerusalem, is the Jan. 7, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Italian opera composer and librettist Temistocle Solera (Dec. 25, 1815-April 21, 1878) wrote the Italian libretto. The literary sources are the Old Testament books of 2 Chronicles, Daniel, Jeremiah, 2 Kings and Psalms; Nabuchodonosor, a four-act play written in French in 1836 by French dramatists Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois (Dec. 25, 1806-Jan. 13, 1871) and Francis Cornu (Oct. 4, 1794-March 7, 1848); Nabuccodonosor, a ballet adaptation of Anicet-Bourgeois and Cornu’s play by Italian ballet dancer, choreographer and composer Antonio Cortesi (December 1796-April 1879) premiering in 1838 at Teatro Regio (“Royal Theatre”) in Torino, Piedmont, northwestern Italy.

The premiere took place March 9, 1842. The venue was Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. Milan’s famed opera house premiered Verdi’s first four operas.

Nabucco was Verdi’s third opera. The biblically-themed opera claims the honor of being the composer’s first success.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Nabucco begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (6 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 2 hours 44 minutes. The performance, sung in the original Italian, comprises four acts and one intermission.

Acts I and II are timed at 75 minutes. A 35-minute intermission follows Act II.

Acts III and IV are timed at 54 minutes. The Saturday matinee broadcast performance ends with Act IV’s final notes.

Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts all performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Nabucco. His birthplace is Cincinnati, Hamilton County, southwestern Ohio. The American conductor debuted in the Metropolitan Opera’s 1971 production of Tosca by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). This season James Levine also conducts Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791) and L’Italiana in Algeri by Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

Plácido Domingo appears in the title role for most December performances and for both January performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast. He was born in Madrid, central Spain. The globally acclaimed Spanish baritone/tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1968 as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea (July 23, 1866-Nov. 20, 1950). Plácido Domingo also appears this season in another baritone role as Giorgio Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata.

Plácido Domingo shares the title role this season with Željko Lučić, who appears in the Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 performances. Born in Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, northern Serbia, Željko Lučić debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006 as Barnaba in La Gioconda by Italian opera composer Amilcare Ponchielli (Aug. 31, 1834-Jan. 16, 1886). The Serbian operatic baritone also appears this season in the title role of Verdi's Rigoletto and as Jochanaan in Salome by Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949).

Liudmyla Monastyrska appears as Abigaille, the emotive princess who discovers that she is actually the daughter of Hebrew slaves and not the elder daughter of Babylonian King Nabucco. Liudmyla Monastyrska’s birthplace is Kiev, north central Ukraine. The Ukrainian lirico-spinto (“pushed lyric”) soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012 in the title role of Verdi’s Aida. She also reprises her debut role for the 2016-2017 season’s production of Aida.

Liudmyla Monastyrska appears in most December performances and in both January performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Nabucco. She shares the role of Abigaille this season with Tatiana Melnychenko. The Russian soprano of Ukrainian descent makes her Metropolitan Opera debut with her Dec. 27 performance.

Jamie Barton appears as Fenena, Babylonian King Nabucco’s real younger daughter who converts to Judaism for love of Ismaele, nephew of the King of Jerusalem. She was born in Rome, Floyd County, northwestern Georgia. The American mezzo-soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2009 as the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte (“The Magic Flute”). This season Jamie Barton also appears as Ježibaba in Rusalka by Czech composer Antonín Leopold Dvořák (Sept. 8, 1841-May 1, 1904).

Jamie Barton appears in most December performances and in both January performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Nabucco. She shares the role of Fenena this season with Nancy Fabiola Herrera, who appears in the Dec. 27 performance.

Born in Caracas, north central coastal Venezuela, to Canarian parents, Nancy Fabiola Herrera debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2015 as Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. The Spanish mezzo-soprano also appears this season as Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto and as Herodias in Richard Strauss’s Salome.

Russell Thomas appears as Ismaele, the King of Jerusalem’s nephew who forms a love triangle with Babylonian Princess Fenena and Abigaille, purportedly King Nabucco’s older daughter but actually the daughter of Hebrew slaves. Born in Miami, Miami-Dade County, southeastern Florida, Russell Thomas debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005 as a Royal Herald in Verdi’s Don Carlo.

The American operatic tenor appears as Ismaele in most December performances and in both January performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast. Russell Thomas shares the role of Ismaele this season with Adam Diegel. Born in Seoul, northwestern South Korea, to a German American father and a Korean mother, Adam Diegel makes his Metropolitan Opera debut with his Dec. 27 appearance as Ismaele.

Dmitry Belosselskiy appears as Zaccaria, the High Priest of the Jews who curses King Nabucco with divine vengeance and later accepts the broken Babylonian king’s remorseful promise to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem and to worship the God of the Israelites. He was born in Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. Dmitry Belosselskiy reprises his 2011 Metropolitan Opera debut role as Zaccaria. The Ukrainian bass also appears this season as Ramfis in Verdi’s Aida.

Operabase, an online database, places Giuseppe Verdi at number one in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Nabucco places at 17 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. Nabucco holds place 89, with 57 performances, for the period from first Met performance, Oct. 24, 1960, to last performance, Nov. 17, 2011. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season falls outside the report’s parameters.

The takeaway for Nabucco as the Jan. 7, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is the love triangle of Ismaele, nephew of the King of Jerusalem, with his true love, Babylonian Princess Fenena, who converts to Judaism, and with Abigaille, the embittered Babylonian princess who finds peace before dying with her true heritage as the daughter of Hebrew slaves.

Verdi's Nabucco airs as the Jan. 7, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Dec. 12, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season performances of Verdi's Nabucco mark the fifth revival of Elijah Moshinsky's new staging, which debuted March 8, 2001, at Met Opera: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter Dec. 12, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/808370837531357188

Verdi's Nabucco airs as the Jan. 7, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Dec. 12, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10158003350470533/

For further information:

Ascarelli, Alessandra. “Cortesi, Antonio.” Dizionario Biografico Degli Italiani. Vol. 29. Rome, Italy: Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana, 1983.
Available @ http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/antonio-cortesi_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

Metropolitan Opera. “Live in HD: Nabucco.” YouTube. Dec. 21, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-C6qHsrFsU

Metropolitan Opera. “Nabucco: Trailer.” YouTube. Dec. 14, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-2WxkJ5E8

Metropolitan Opera. “Nabucco: ‘Va, Pensiero.’” YouTube. Dec. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cpc6netR30

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Tune-in Alert! Listen live on our website or SiriusXM Radio at 7:25 PM ET to Verdi's Nabucco starring Placido Domingo in the title role under the baton of James Levine. Liudmyla Monastyrska is Abigaille, Jamie Barton is Fenena, and Dmitri Belosselskiy is the voice of the oppressed Hebrew people. bit.ly/1rqXQeJ Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. Dec. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10158003350470533/

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Tune-in Alert! Listen live to opening of #Nabucco w @PlacidoDomingo @jbartonmezzo, online & @SIRIUSXM 7:25PM ET!" Twitter. Dec. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/808370837531357188

“Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

Sullivan, Jack. “Program Note: Giuseppe Verdi Nabucco.” The Metropolitan Opera > MetOpera Files > Season 2016-17. Jan. 7, 2017.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/metoperafiles/season/2016-17/operas/nabucco/programs/010717%20Nabucco.pdf

Tarling, Nicholas. Orientalism and the Operatic World. Lanham MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.

2017 Garden Trends Report by Garden Media Group: Grow 365 Ins and Outs

Summary: Garden Media Group has the ins and outs, in its 2017 Garden Trends Report, to Grow 365 in bug-free, clean, golden, peak season, tidy wellness hotspots.

home hydroponics garden; top 2017 Garden Trend embraces Grow 365 with year-round Peak Season, thanks to aquaponic and hydroponic gardening techniques; Friday, June 6, 2014, 13:16:23: Kevin Tao, CC BY ND 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

The phrase Grow 365 days a year appears as motto, prediction and title in the 2017 Garden Trends Report released by the Garden Media Group of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, in September 2016.

The report bases predictions that "In coming years, people will 'grow 365' indoors and out -- anything, anywhere" upon career paths, consumer trends and lifestyle choices. "Demand for clean food, clean water, clean air, clean medicine and clean environments," health conscious and ingredient sensitive purchases and horticultural careers converge in eight trends. Smart indoor technology, such as through OPCOM Farm's GrowBox and GrowWall "growing under lights in soil, hydroponically or aquaponically," drives the first trend, Peak Season year-round.

Wellness Hotspots emphasize Costa Farms' O2 For You phyto-remediating workplace plants, forest bathing in woodlands and The Davey Tree Expert company's "soundscaping" and sun-shading with trees.

Forest bathing, as "the 'medicine of being in the forest' and spending time in nature," functions as preventive health care and natural healing in Japanese culture.

The third trend, Tidy Gardens, goes from nature to nurture getting "what you need or love and what loves your garden" all "pruned, sharpened and tidy." Tidy gardening's "restricted palette of plants and hardscaping" has BrazelBerries' compact blueberry shrubs and Costa Farms' Desert Escape cacti and succulents planted in fewer, larger containers. It inspires the fourth trend, Clean Gardening, involving "only products that come from natural origins -- no synthetic fertilizers, no synthetic pesticides and no GMO seeds."

OPCOM Farm's hydroponic systems and Sunlight Supply's Sun System LEC 630 jumpstart 2017 Garden Trends to Grow 365 through chemical-free, dirt-free clean gardening with purified water.

Developed in Japan in the 1980s, forest bathing has become a fitness trend in the United States; forest bathing family hike, Aman Park, Grand Rapids, western Michigan, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, 10:59:46: Steven Depolo (stevendepolo), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

The gardening subscription classes, products, services and workshops in the fifth trend, Uber-izing Gardening, keeps clean, peak season and tidy gardeners knowledgeable about "trends and technology."

Gardening subscriptions launch "trustworthy sources who have done the research, curation and personalization" regarding artisanal microgreens, heirloom bulbs and "new and exciting plants, products and tools." Uber-izing gardening makes "Almost half of Millennials splurge on classes to improve their body, mind and soul," such as Modern Homesteading's Wednesday Night Lights subscription education. It nudges the sixth of the 2017 Garden Trends, Buzz Off!, since "healthy is the new wealthy" and "The average consumer maintains 6 - 8 subscriptions."

Bat houses for 25 mosquito-eaters and bird houses for barn swallows, chickadees, mockingbirds, nuthatches, purple martins, robins and woodpeckers offer Grow 365 gardeners natural pest controls.

Each bat preys upon "1,000 mosquito-sized insects every hour," every bird preys upon "pounds of mosquitoes every day" and herbal repellents provide bug-resistant essential plant oils.

Basil, chive, lavender, lemon balm, mint, neem, rosemary, sage and thyme qualify as insect-repugnant, savvy gardening, just as Golden Age planting qualifies as the ninth trend. Golden outdoor décor amid gold-leafed carex, Goldy arbovitae, Katsura Japanese maple and Rising Sun redbud reclaims "a magic moment that is expected to last a decade." It segues into the eighth trend, National Institute for Consumer Horticulture's and Seed Your Future's Gardening Love for "a healthy life, healthy community and healthy world."

The 2017 Garden Trends Report by Garden Media Group tags Grow 365 as arising from, and assuaging, contaminated water, pests, severe climate conditions and soil infertility.

Since 2007, The Science Barge, now docked on the Hudson River north of the Yonkers pier, has exemplified the feasibility of Grow 365 with hydroponic greenhouses powered by biofuels, solar panels and wind turbines; ; greenhouses promote The Science Barge's capability of growing year-round, independent of climate; 2007 image of The Science Barge docking at north side of Manhattan's North River Pier 84: Jim.henderson at English language Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

home hydroponics garden; top 2017 Garden Trend embraces Grow 365 with year-round Peak Season, thanks to aquaponic and hydroponic gardening techniques; Friday, June 6, 2014, 13:16:23: Kevin Tao, CC BY ND 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ktao1/14341108416/

Developed in Japan in the 1980s, forest bathing has become a fitness trend in the United States; forest bathing family hike, Aman Park, Grand Rapids, western Michigan, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, 10:59:46: Steven Depolo (stevendepolo), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/29916897113/

Since 2007, The Science Barge, now docked on the Hudson River north of the Yonkers pier, has exemplified the feasibility of Grow 365 with hydroponic greenhouses powered by biofuels, solar panels and wind turbines; ; greenhouses promote The Science Barge's capability of growing year-round, independent of climate; 2007 image of The Science Barge docking at north side of Manhattan's North River Pier 84: Jim.henderson at English language Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Science_Barge_visits_Manhattan_Pier_84_jeh.jpg

For further information:

Garden Media Group. 2016. 2017 Garden Trends Report: Grow 365. Kennett Square, PA. Available @ http://grow.gardenmediagroup.com/2017-garden-trends-report

LaggedOnUser. 16 March 2010. "Bat houses, University of Florida, north side of Museum Road, across from Lake Alice [Bat House (right), 1991, by Bobby Henley Construction Company; Bat Barn (left), 2010, by Anglin Construction Company]." Flickr.
Available @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/47847725@N04/4439188019

OPCOM Farms. 14 November 2016. "OPCOM Farm GrowWall Hydroponic System." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uTIC_m73g8

"UF Bat Colony." Florida Museum of Natural History > Bats.
Available @ http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/bats/home/