LGBT Senior’s Weekly Fun Facts: Your Garden is Listening

Did you know …

Earthworms are gardening gold. A single acre of healthy soil can contain more than a million earthworms, each one aerating the ground and turning organic matter into nutrients as it moves.

Plants can hear themselves being eaten. Research has shown that plants respond to the sound of caterpillars chewing on their leaves by producing more defensive chemicals — even when the chewing sound is just a recording.

The oldest potted plant in the world is over 240 years old. A Eastern Cape cycad has been living in a pot at Kew Gardens in London since 1775.

Talking to your plants actually helps. The Royal Horticultural Society ran a study and found that plants grow faster when spoken to — and that women’s voices produced slightly better results than men’s. No one is entirely sure why.

Carrots were originally purple. The orange carrot we know today was developed by Dutch growers in the 17th century, reportedly as a tribute to the Dutch Royal House of Orange. Before that, carrots came in purple, white, and yellow.