Agave Tequilana

Agave Tequilana in an artistic color - captured in Casa GrandeAZ

Agave tequilana,
commonly called blue agave, tequila agave, mezcal or maguey is an agave plant that is an important economic product of Jalisco, Mexico, due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila, a popular distilled spirit. The high production of sugars—mostly in the form of fructose—in the core of this plant, are the most important element for the preparation of alcoholic beverages.
The tequila agave is a native of Jalisco, Mexico. The tequila agave favors high altitudes of more than 1,500 meters and grows in rich and sandy soils. While commercial and wild agaves have different life cycles, both grow into large succulents, with spiky fleshy leaves, that can reach over two meters in height. Wild Agaves, however, sprout a shoot when about five years old, that can grow an additional five meters and are topped with yellow flowers.

The flowers are pollinated by a native bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) and produce several thousand seeds per plant. The plant then dies. The shoots are removed when about a year old from commercial plants to allow the heart to grow larger. The plants are then reproduced by planting these shoots; this has led to a considerable loss of genetic diversity in cultivated blue agave.

It is rare for one kept as a houseplant to flower; nevertheless, a fifty year old blue agave in Boston grew a 10 m (30 ft) stalk requiring a hole in the greenhouse roof and flowered in the summer of 2006.

Tequila is produced by removing the heart of the plant in its twelfth year. Normally weighing between 35–90 kg (77–198 lb). This heart is stripped of its leaves and heated to remove the sap, which is fermented and distilled. Other beverages like mezcal and pulque are also produced from blue and other agaves by different methods (though still using the sap) and are regarded as more traditional.

Researchers from Mexico's University of Guadalajara believe blue agave contains compounds that may be useful in carrying drugs to the intestines to treat diseases, such as Crohn's disease and colitis.

I hope you'll enjoy the read! Thank you foe all the comments on my last post!

Susanne

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You cannot ever be ugly

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly.  You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.  

~Roald Dahl~

Hi my friends,

I love this quote! 

Quotes are always telling the true of meanings in life and are mirroring the good and bad things happen around you - quotes are like talking pictures.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for the comments too. Sometimes I wish, there would be some more, but that's fine with me how it is now. I know you all have a lot of things going on in these days - Christmas is just around the corner.

If you're looking for a special gift for that special someone, maybe I have the answer to it:

Buy my photography as a print, framed or stretched on Canvas here. 

Happy Tuesday!

~Susanne

oh, I almost forget to tell you: it's only 37F in Florida, just now! brrrrr....brrrr....

Red as Blood...

Red as blood

This planet Earth, the act of putting a roof over our heads, 

our flesh and blood existence, it's all very temporary.
Melissa Auf der Maur

Hi my friends,

thanks for all the comments from yesterday, very much appreciated, every single one!

I wish you a nice day - happy Thursday every one!

See you soon - be happy :)

Susanne

ADD  COLORS  TO  YOUR  LIFE!!!

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On a Red Afternoon

I call this photo: "On a red afternoon" - it is a variation of my "Wordless Sunday" photo from yesterday. 

I like it in red, actually I like it way better than the wordless photograph. 

What about you?

btw, thank you for all those wonderful compliments! You all made my day :)

Susanne

And then again: of course, ALL my photographs are for sale! Thank you!

My Wordless Sunday #32

Eye of The Day

Hide and seek with a little Daisy

Bellis perennis
is a common European species of Daisy, often considered the archetypal species of that name. Many related plants also share the name "Daisy", so to distinguish this species from other daisies it is sometimes qualified as Common Daisy, Lawn Daisy or occasionally English daisy. It is native to western, central and northern Europe. The species is widely naturalised in North America, and also in South America.

It is thought that the name "daisy" is a corruption of "day's eye", because the whole head closes at night and opens in the morning. Chaucer called it "eye of the day".
Daisy is also a common girl's name and is a nickname for girls named Margaret, after the French name for the oxeye daisy, marguerite.

Hi my friends,

Thank you for liking my last post and I hope you'll like this one too. Sorry to bother you on your days off, it's weekend, I know.... but don't forget to come back again tomorrow! 

My "Wordless Sunday" photo will be online - a picture to enjoy without any words :)

Sunshines to you!

Susanne

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My Monday Flower

I think it is a "Spider Lilly" but I'm not sure at all - does anyone knows the real, sophisticated name for this pretty flower? :))

Hi my friends,

I hope you have/had all a great start in the new week. August is almost gone, only some days left....enjoy these last days of a hot month in summer. And, yes... thank you all for those nice comments and compliments to my last post. I do appreciate every single one.

See you tomorrow!

Susanne

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The meaning of life...

The meaning of life is not to be discovered only after death in some hidden, mysterious realm; on the contrary, it can be found by eating the succulent fruit of the Tree of Life and by living in the here and now as fully and creatively as we can.
~Paul Kurtz~

 

 

Thanks for all the kind comments from yesterday, my friends.

See you all tomorrow again - enjoy your day, life is to short for unnecessary problems.

Susanne

Add color to your life!

There is nothing...

 

There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.

~Basho~

Hi my friends,

ZEN proverbs and flowers are the ideal match - Enjoy!

Thanks again for all the comments.

Susanne

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My Wordless Sunday - #14

It's pretty and it's blue...

Lets find those pretty blue flowers!

Hi my friends,

Thank you all so much for the great, nice, kind, sweet, funny and wonderful comments to my strawberry post from yesterday. You made me smile :)

This is my gift in reverse for you ALL out there - a pretty blue flower hanging over the wall of a house in Key West.

I wish you a sunny day and I'll see you tomorrow again. It's time for me to get out of the house, it's just to good weather here and nice warm, after all that rain from yesterday....

Take care and see you soon...

Susanne

***

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Spring is around the corner

Hi my friends,

thanks for ALL your wonderful comments and good wishes from yesterday - I love you all! Dave is at home and he feels fine. We are happy that everything is (almost) back to normal again.

The picture I have posted today is a symbol for spring time, a time of new beginning in everything, everywhere. Spring time is the most beautiful season of the year - for me.

Stay with me, stay tuned - and see you tomorrow.

Susanne

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Phalaenopsis Orchid

I LOVE Orchids!

Phalaenopsis

are among the easiest and most rewarding orchids to grow. An American Orchid Society demographic survey showed that Phalaenopsis have become America~s favorite orchid. The plants adapt well to the environment of the home or office. From the time that the first flower bud opens, the sprays will remain in bloom for the next 2 to 3 months.

LIGHTING

Sufficient lighting is a must for successful cultivation. Phalaenopsis prefer either an east or a lightly shaded south facing window. West windows should be used with caution. Depending upon the location of the home, the west window may become very hot during the late spring through early fall. The foliage on your Phalaenopsis may burn.

TEMPERATURE

Phalaenopsis thrive under normal household temperatures. For the best results, provide nighttime temperatures between 60 to 65°F and daytime temperatures between 75 to 85°F.

WATERING

Depending upon the temperature, Phalaenopsis potted in bark should be watered about once or twice a week. During the summer, the plants may need to be watered every 4-5 days. The rule of thumb for watering should be as followed : More heat more water, less heat less water.

Phalaenopsis potted in New Zealand sphagnum moss should be watered less often, about every 7 to 10 days.

Phalaenopsis prefer to be kept on the moist side. This does not mean that they like to be left in standing water,however try to water the plants early in the day so that the foliage will be dry by nightfall. To prevent bacterial and fungal disease use Physan 20 once a month.

To learn more about Orchids, read here - you can buy them here too





Hi my friends,

I'm happy I could bring some sunshine to you with my beach scene post from yesterday. That's what my blog is for, to enjoy YOU with my pictures :))



Today we have a beautiful flower online - the Orchid. This one was the flower in the garden of my neighbor friend down in Key West. From her I've learned a lot about Orchids and I learned to LOVE these flowers and still do it today!

Aren't they beauties?



Susanne





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The Color Green is for HOPE

Green Ivy in my yard - captured 2008 in Charleston SC

Any plant of the genus Hedera,

with about five species of evergreen woody vines (rarely shrubs), in the ginseng family (Araliaceae). The name ivy especially denotes the commonly grown English ivy (H. helix), which climbs by aerial roots with adhering disks that develop on the stems. English ivy is frequently planted to clothe brick walls. The stems bear leaves with three to five lobes; as the stems reach the top of their support, they become horizontal or hang, sometimes developing unlobed (entire) leaves and small greenish flowers. Numerous cultivated and geographical varieties of H. helix exist, including many with variegated leaves. Native to Europe and much of Asia, this genus has been introduced into many parts of the world.

Many varieties of ivy are cultivated in gardens. Growing them is an extremely simple matter, as they will thrive in a poor soil and endure a considerable depth of shade, so that they may with advantage be planted under trees. For example, the common Irish ivy (a variety of H. helix) is often used as a ground cover beneath large trees where grass has difficulty in thriving. A strong light is detrimental to the growth of ivy, but there are few hardy plants that may be compared with it for variety and beauty that will endure shade equally well. Ivies, in their many forms, are also popular houseplants.

A question of practical importance is the relation of the ivy plant to its means of support. A moderate growth of ivy is not injurious to trees; still, the tendency is from the first unfavourable to the prosperity of the tree, and at a certain stage it becomes deadly. Therefore thegrowth of ivy on trees should be kept within reasonable bounds. In regard to buildings clothed with ivy, there is nothing to be feared as long as the plant does not penetrate the substance of the wall by means of any fissure. Should it thrust its way in, its natural and continuous expansion hastens the decay of the structure. For unrelated plants called ivies, see Boston ivy; poison ivy.

Hi my friends,

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day yesterday! Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments, compliments and good wishes. I very much appreciate that.

I wish you a good start in the new week .

Sunshine to you!

Susanne

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