Queen Victoria on ‘Fyvie’ with John Brown at Balmoral by National Galleries of Scotland Commons

George Washington Wilson

1863

Accession no. PGP R 884
Medium Carte de visite
Size 9.20 x 6.10 cm
Credit Gift of Mrs. Riddell in memory of Peter Fletcher Riddell 1985

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via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/5JQhwH

Mitch McConnell Says the Next President Should Appoint Scalia’s Successor – So much for supporting the US Constitution!

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader and Republican of Kentucky, said in a statement that the next president, not President Obama, should appoint a successor to Justice Antonin Scalia.

Source: Mitch McConnell Says the Next President Should Appoint Scalia’s Successor

Polish move to strip Holocaust expert of award sparks protests

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Princeton University professor Jan Tomasz Gross faces losing Order of Merit over comments Polish villagers were complicit in massacre of Jews

Academics have rallied to the defence of one of the world’s leading Holocaust historians after reports that Poland intends to strip him of a national honour because he claimed that Poles were complicit in Nazi war crimes.

Princeton University professor Jan Tomasz Gross, 69, was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 1996. He is best known for his 2001 book Neighbors, which describes in graphic detail the 1941 massacre by Polish villagers of up to 1,600 Jewish men, women and children. The book inspired Aftermath (Pokłosie), a 2012 film directed by Władysław Pasikowski.

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Take Lavender Cuttings Now to Make New Plants

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Lavender plant in Feb.

It’s time to check your lavender plants for new growth and take cuttings to make new plants. I do this every year.

Most winters we lose at least one of our lavender plants and I like to maintain a supply of them for replacements. If we don’t need them in our garden, we give them to other gardeners.

At this time of year you can use either/both hardwood or softwood cuttings.

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Lavender cuttings in moist vermiculite

lavender%2Bcuttings%2B%25281%2529.JPGThe hardwood cuttings have worked for me but can take longer to strike roots.

Cut a 4 to 6 inch long piece of the plant that includes a growing tip.

The softwood grows out of the bottom of the plant where it has recently emerged from the roots.

Remove the leaves from the bottom half of the cuttings.

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Put moist sand, vermiculite or perlite into a container and make a hole in it with a pencil or other object – for each cutting. If you try to just stick the tender cuttings into planting medium it will bend.

Press cuttings in firmly, bringing sand up to the base of the cutting.

The rooting medium should be kept moist but not soggy. I check them every day or two.

Some of them will not make roots and those will just die after a while. Toss them out. But if you take 6 or 8 cuttings, you’ll have plenty of lavender in time for fall perennial planting.

Cuttings need no sun or artificial light while making roots. The photos were taken in the sun for visibility only.