Wednesday, May 18, 2011

If you guessed .....

Flip-flops. You're correct!!



I think this installation was in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 
I sure hope the Artist got a discount on all those flip-flops......

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Monday, May 2, 2011

Mysterious Fronds


The ferns are starting to wake. They look almost insect like when the emerge.
There is a folklore tale about the fern. It is said that at midnight go to the dark and deep woods. Look there and you may find a fern flowering. This is a magic flower. It is said to give the finder the power to see beneath the earth to other realms. The realms where treasures are hidden. Good fortune will shine on the finder. Beware this magical flower is said to sometimes be guarded by the devil.

Monday, April 4, 2011

"Alien" Cactus found near Roswell

ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) - Little green men are no strangers to Roswell, but now one New Mexico botanist says a little green plant has an out-of-this world connection to New Mexico.

David Salman said he was on a seed hunting trip near Roswell when he noticed a faint glow coming from what appeared to be a meteor crater.
He said it turned out the light was coming from a small patch of carnivorous cacti.
Salman said he found a cactus that eats bugs, glows and probably came to earth on a meteor.
He says he scooped up some samples to see if someone could identify them, so far no one has been able to. 

Friday, March 18, 2011

The Perfect Orchid For A Haunted Garden!

But maybe you will want to wear nose plugs.

Scientists are studing the Saturium pumilum orchid, commonly known as the Carrion Orchid becuase it mimics the "fragrance" of road kill to attract flies for pollination. 
Dennis Hanson Photo
It doesn't produce nectar to attract bees or other beneficial insects, so it doesn't smell sweet, depending upon attracting flies, who then pick up the pollen to be deposited into a female orchid..

The scent is close enough to the real thing, to cause female flesh flies to deposit their larvae on the flowers instead of decaying flesh.


So if you have a sandy soil bank on your pond, or a small stream meanders through your yard, you might find this South African orchid a perfect addition to your haunted garden. .right next to the Skunk Cabbage!

Monday, March 14, 2011

If you listen really carefully

to most of the plants in my garden you can hear them weeping silently and saying, very quietly

"don't move me again.....please, please don't move me again ..."

The more I garden the better I get at putting the right plant in the right spot....but I have to admit that sometimes, it takes more than one placement to find the "perfect" home for a given plant.

Some of the plants that say they like shade, likely meant shade in somewhere warm like California, shade in the Pacific Northwest, often comes with damp and wet.  I have had more than one weak plant just completely denigrate. A sad way to go.

So if they live long enough for me to see they are in distress, I will move them.

Other times they just get too big for their current home and since I am digging them up to divide them anyway, might as well see if it will look better over "there."

So the wheelbarrow and the shovels in my garden garage get the most mileage in spring and fall.

I never thought to see if I could get the cats to help me......this is a great idea. :)




Porcupine Tomato


Solanum pyracanthum
Grown from seed starting in early May, by Halloween it should be 2 feet tall and covered in bright orange spines. Keep this one out of reach of trick-or-treaters, though. The prickles poke if handled roughly and the plant bears mildly poisonous fruits.