Gearing up for this year's trip!

Wow! It won't be long until Aggie Hort is back in Italy.  Follow along here as we journey through Italy (including Sicily!)...

… And That’s A Wrap!

The students from the International Horticulture class. First row, from left: Haley, Lauren, Susan, Emily, Kate, Abi, Angela. Second row left: Allison, Bryan, Heather, Page, Annalise, Dr. Leo, Melissa, Meredith, Hailey, Courtney, Michael, Sarah.

This is the closing post on the “Aggie Horticulture Goes to Italy” blog. I have to say that I could not be prouder of the wonderful 18 Aggies who meticulously and methodically posted their 90 (yes, ninety!) cultural and horticultural impressions of this Study Abroad course on this blog. I have heard that the number of followers of this blog has grown during these five weeks and I have received great comments about it. So, thank you for doing such a phenomenal job! 

I hope that you will always carry the memories and of this trip and this course (and I am sure the thousands of photos taken will facilitate that) and that the friendships you have made will last forever.
I also hope that this study abroad experience has taught you a lot about my country and that this course has made you more sensitive to the beauty of plants and more aware of the importance that they had in our past, still have in our present, and obviously will have in the future. If I have succeeded with that, than I can say that I have accomplished my goal.

Before closing this experience, I owe a big thank you to Marissa Faris, Experiential Learning Coordinator of the Department of Horticultural Sciences, for setting up the blog and to Katie Marek, Senior Academic Advisor also in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, for kicking off the blog posting and assisting with the initial part of the trip. And of course, all we did could not have happened without the help of the fantastic help of Sharon Jones and Garnette Gott and the entire staff of the Santa Chiara Study Center.
Alla prossima opportunità (until the next opportunity) and Gig’ em,

Leo Lombardini, Associate Professor

Department of Horticultural Sciences

Texas A&M University

A Crop Pervading Time and Space

SJ: When we first arrived in Castiglion Fiorentino the poppies had exploded in their vibrant reds between the cracks in the paving stones, the rows between grape vines in the vineyards, and the wheat fields, and even in the watercolor paintings of the street vendors. Now the blooming poppies have faded in Italy, but their worldwide effect is not fading. The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, a different species than the one  that grow in Italy (Papaver rhoeas), is causing issues worldwide. Knowledge of these opium poppies has existed for centuries. The Ancient Greeks were already using opium extracted from these poppies medicinally, to treat asthma and stomach illness. Much later, in the 1830s the Opium Wars broke out between the British Empire and China as the Chinese tried to keep the British from selling opium in China and weakening the country by creating a population addicted to a drug. Today these poppies still have a great value and effect on many countries. The United States obtains 80% of its medicinal opium from India and Turkey from which morphine is extracted and often used as a pain reliever for hospital patients. In Afghanistan however, the cultivation of opium poppies for drug trafficking supports 1.7 million rural people. During drought and instability, Afghani farmers fell into great debt and began to cultivate Papaver somniferum as a source of cash, especially after the Soviet withdrawal. For many, opium poppies are not the crop of choice, but few other profitable alternatives exist. As a result, many poppy growers are now addicted to their own crop and babies are born already addicted to opium because their mothers smoked the drug while they were pregnant. These rural farmers and their crop of opium poppies have now become a concern of the United States, because the Taliban controls the illegal drug trafficking and obtains revenue from the sales. The United States has even bombed the poppy crop in Afghanistan to try to cut the Taliban drug ties. Poppies have been tied to many economic and political issues for centuries. These flowers have influenced the Italian countryside and art, modern day and ancient medicine, and have tied countries together in the sales of illegal drugs. Overall, the poppy has had a truly international effect since ancient times.

A True Southern Lady Graces Italy



Magnolia tree at the Vatican Gardens

 AJ     A true southern lady knows just how to make everyone stop and be amazed.  And a true southern lady makes her mark anywhere she goes.  As I have visited Italy, there has been one "Southern Lady" show herself and make everyone's jaw drop, the beautiful southern magnolia.  In America, it is one of the major markings of being in the south.  Now, how did such a important staple of the southern states of America make her way to Italy?

The southern magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, is a large evergreen tree that grows from zone 6A to 9(10). It has large 6-12 inch creamy white flowers that peak in spring, with some sporadically blooming until frost.  Due to it's large leaves and large blooms that drop and can be messy, many argue its worth in the landscape.  The Padova Botanical Garden claims to have one of the oldest magnolia species in Italy. One of the specimens dates back to 1786 and very well may be the first introduced into the country.  Others within the garden date back to the early 1800s.  These majestic trees are grown both in private gardens and public parks.

Florence and the fleur-de-lis

  

HJ: During our three trips to Florence, I frequently noticed a floral symbol all throughout public places and art. I learned that it was called the fleur-de-lis, and is the symbol of Florence. I was particularly interested in the fleur-de-lis because it is modeled after the iris, which is my favorite flower. In the DFW area where I grew up, German irises are a perennial, blooming in mid-spring with some rebloomers sending up flowers again in late summer/early fall. When we first came to Castiglion Fiorentino, there were a few pots with blooming German irises in them, which surprised me because the irises back home had been dead for over a month when we left in May.  Sadly, they died within a week of our being here, but I enjoyed them during the short span of time they were still alive.

There are two main types of iris used in the landscape and floral industries, Dutch (Iris x hollandica) and German (Iris x germanica) irises. Dutch irises are primarily used in the floral industry because they have a longer shelf life after being cut and processed. German irises wilt a day or so after being cut, and so aren’t valued in the floral industry, but they make great perennial landscape plants in areas they receive their minimal chilling requirement and will continue blooming for weeks at a time in the spring. I love them in part because of their unusual shape, but also because they are one of the only flowers that naturally occur in all colors of the rainbow. Blue flowers are relatively rare in nature, and irises come in multiple shades of blue along with all other colors. They are resilient, and can withstand being transplanted multiple times, as I learned when my mother would dig up the plants she had since childhood and bring them with us every time we moved. The irises I grew up with also were able to withstand both the drought and heat common to Texas and the attentiveness of my mother, equally formidable foes to the plants in my household.

In that sense, I find the iris to be a worthy and fitting choice of a symbol for Florence, a resilient and strong city with a proud history of democracy, and extremely lucrative and stable banking industry, and conquest of surrounding areas. Although the Medicis essentially took over Florence off and on for two hundred years, the city maintained its desire for freedom and retook governmental power following the wane of Medici influence. Florentines to this day are proud of their heritage and of their impressive history, and the fleur-de-lis embodies this pride in a beautiful manner.

Pompeii: Roman Domus

AG: In one of our many trips we went to visit the ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii. It was there that we saw a great example of one of the numerous topics we have covered in class, a Roman Domus. A domus is a type of house that was occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Imperial and Republican eras. From the Roman Domus and the way it is designed, we focused on two things the most, the atrium and the peristyle. The Atrium would be considered the most important part of the house; it was open in the center and it was usually where the family guests were greeted. As for the peristyle, it was an open courtyard within the house. The example we had at Pompeii showed us what a Roman Domus looked like. As we made our way around the house we saw both the atrium and the peristyle. The atrium was basically a room that had an opened area on the roof and was what would give the room plenty of light as well as allowed air to circulate. Aside from those two things, it also allowed the family to collect drinking or washing water. As for the peristyle, it reminded me of a small garden (would be considered large because it is inside of the house) that had walkways to other rooms of the house. If it is as great as I have imagined it looked like, I am sure this type of house would have been beautiful to see when it was fully decorated.    

The Italian Passion for Purple

CC: As I gaze around as this wonderful place known as Castiglion Fiorentino it is difficult to miss the beauty that surrounds me. I know that soon I will be leaving this country and although I am saddened I also look forward to my return to Italy. The landscapes exceed everything that I have seen or ever imagined, with such an astonishingly vibrant landscape full of greenery, color, and life. There are many amazing plants that I have been introduced to throughout my stay, but my absolute favorite is the purple ornamental plum tree (Prunus cerasifera) that provides a perfect accent to the Italian countryside. This ornamental tree is native to Persia and was first introduced to Europe in 1880. This specimen is specifically known and used in landscapes for its beautiful reddish-purple foliage as well as its small pink flowers. Although this variety is a member of the plum family the fruit that is born is not used for the commercial production of edible plums. In Europe these small ornamental trees, approximately 20-25 feet in height, are popularly used as a colorful accent in gardens and landscapes. Personally I love the deep rich shade of purple of these particular plum trees for they catch my eye every time I pass them. The purple foliage reminds me of my childhood with my grandmother, thus it holds a special place within my heart.

The Stone Pine

MH-The Stone Pine, or Pineus pinea, originates from the Mediterranean region and is sometimes referred to as the Italian Stone Pine. Fittingly, it is one of the species that we see most often around Italy, also like the Italian Cypress and Olive tree. Growing to about 65 feet to sometimes close to 80 feet, this particular tree is usually wider than it is tall. Once it reaches maturity, it is about 150-200 feet across.  Starting out as bushy and spherical in its awkward adolescent years, much like middle school for most people, it reaches adulthood as a picturesque beauty with a flat, canopy-like crown. In my opinion it looks a lot like the trees from Disney’s “The Lion King,” but as Yahoo answers points out, that is possibly the Umbrella Thorn Acacia tree. As credible as that source might be, for now I’ll just leave it up to artistic interpretation.

Following the overall change from adolescence to adulthood, the needles of the pine look very different in the stages of its life. While the tree is still young, the juvenile needles are small, bushy, and usually less than an inch long. Once it matures, the needles have much sparser bundles, and are around 4-8 inches long. At a first glance it might seem that the pine tree’s only mission in life is to drop all those pointy needles and make it rain on innocent bystanders, but there is much more to this tree. The cones, which I thought were only used decoratively around Christmas time, can actually be broken apart to produce the nutritious and delicious pine nuts. These are usually used in meats, salads, and are an important ingredient in pesto sauce.  Even though they are called pine nuts, they aren’t actually nuts at all, but are really the seeds of the pine tree. It takes about 3 years for the cones to mature, and then the cones can be removed and the seeds extracted. Either you can wait until the cone opens naturally on the tree, or the more popular method to simply put them in a bag, and BTHO pinecones on a rock. If pine nuts ever become popular at A&M, I think we all know what method we would use.

Coca Plant

MR.
In class this week, we talked about beverage plants and those that can be abused. One of the plants we talked about was the coca plant (Erythroxylum coca). This plant is what the illegal substance cocaine is made from.
However, this plant is not all bad. Throughout history, the coca plant has been used in medicine. It was thought to "cure" depression and melancholy states, it was used as an anesthetic, and was added to chewing gum to treat toothaches. Because of it's mood-enhancing properties, it was also added to sodas as an alternative to alcohol (hence: Coca-Cola!) and added to cigarettes sometimes as well.
In 1914, the Harrison Narcotic Act outlawed cocaine, (even though it is incorrectly classified as a narcotic). It was wrongfully classified in the U.S. until 1970, when it was considered a controlled substance.
The world's leading producer of the coca plant is Colombia, which produces 3/4 of the world's supply alone. It is the only option for many farmers there, because the demand is so high and their other options are very limited. Farmers are upset because their government doesn't want them to grow the coca plant, but they won't assist them to grow other crops.
There are still other uses for the coca plant in practice today. Some people make tea from it, some people chew it, similar to chewing tobacco in America. This is popular in the Andean region because it appeases hunger, gives energy, reduces muscular exertion, and gives the body more oxygen control all of which are essential to life in higher altitudes. Coca tea is popular, also, because it's healthy for climbers and it helps with altitude sickness.
All in all, the coca plant has been greatly abused, but there really are some better uses for it that are beneficial rather than harmful to the body!

Tea Party

AKS: Born and raised, I am Texan through and through! Sweet tea is basically a food group in Southern cuisine... Most especially in the summertime! This morning we had a "end of the semester" party with snacks graciously provided by the managers of Santa Chiara, Sharon and Garnet! We had delicious croissants and sweet tea! We learned about tea last week in class and I would like to share some things about the origin and production of one of the South's favorite beverages. Tea originated in China and grows in tropic and subtropical regions of the world in countries like India and Sri Lanka. Harvesting tea is extensive and strenuous because all tea must be picked by hand. The best tea products come from very young leaves, so harvesters must keep their plants pruned, and look for new buds every day. A new flush on a tea plant can develop every seven to ten days! Women usually harvest the tea leaves because it takes a keen eye and delicate touch to pick the right leaves.  There are several different proccesses that produce different types of tea, but all tea starts as fresh tea leaves from the evergreen plant. Black tea, which is made by fermentation, is the tea used in sweet tea. The healthiest type of tea, green tea, does not go through the fermentation process. I felt like there was a little taste of Texas today while we were celebrating the end of finals!