While strolling through gardens at the University of Zurich last week, I overheard a couple talking about an attractive plant unknown to them. Couldn't stop myself from interrupting and offering an bit of knowledge I'd picked up through my many years working in urban gardening. They were admiring a swathe of gorgeous
Phacelia tanacetifolia being visited by bumblebees (much like these accompanying photos from many moons ago) and I explained that they're great for pollinators, the plants are often used as green manures. The gentleman asked if they fixed nitrogen and in the moment, I unfortunately couldn't give an definitive answer to that excellent question.
Yet, it turns out that
Phacelia doesn't fix nitrogen in the soil like leguminous plants but has the ability to
hold onto nitrogen, which makes it equally valuable in turning back into the soil.
Since I didn't detect any accents, I asked where they were from and it turns out that the wife was originally from Hamilton, Ohio and attended Denison University. We simply had the typical laugh about how small the world is and wished each other happy travelling and adventures.
