| Tropical flowers - a new design tendency | | Posted Sunday, January 29, 2006 3:47:19 PM by Kate Grant | To me, Hawaiian shirts say "holiday". You don't even have to be in Hawaii, just looking at a tourist wearing a tropical flower shirt in bold colors is enough. This tendency of bright colors and flower designs was introduces around 2-3 years ago, and have been in full bloom ever since. 
From the fashion world making use of tropical flower pictures for fabric prints, using them for shirts, dresses and skirts, not forgetting surf gear, with the hibiscus flower as its trade mark, to the world of home fashion, influenced by it.
Pillows, throws, bed linen and wallpaper, tropical flowers rule the scene. This tendency is not looking like it's going anywhere in the next few months. Designers are experimenting with all sorts of flowers, as part of the "retro" feel they've been trying to give our homes.
Even tropical flower arrangements and bouquets were influenced by those bold designs. You can see more bright oranges, reds, yellows and pinks carried by brides or adorning the wedding reception. Green leaves of tropical plants are also very strong at the moment.
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| | | 01/21/07 | | Posted Tuesday, January 23, 2007 2:55:20 PM by Blog57 Team | | What plant does just about every landscape in Charlotte County have that provides colorful flowers, tropical foliage and variety of size that makes this shrub so popular? This shrub is the ixora, of course! However, with our predominately alkaline soils, growing acid-loving plants like ixora can be difficult. With proper care, ixora should have dark green leaves and lots of flowers year round. It may take some extra effort in our area to get the best out of ixora, but it can be done with some planning and maintenance. An acid-loving plant such as ixora needs a soil pH of around five for best growth. A pH of five (on a pH scale of 0 to 14) is a fairly acid soil that we need to reach as close as possible. We really don't have many landscapes with this preferred pH as most residential lots contain assorted fill.... | |
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| | | From charred wood to tropical fantasies | | Posted Wednesday, January 17, 2007 1:00:41 PM by Blog57 Team | | One of the unalloyed delights of the Institute of Contemporary Art's new permanent collection is "Point of Sale," a funny and ingenious three-screen video installation by Christian Jankowski. A business management consultant in the center screen interviews two proprietors of small businesses who appear on flanking screens: George Kunstlinger, who sells electronic equipment, and Michele Maccarone, who, in a gallery upstairs from Kunstlinger's store, sells contemporary art, including Jankowski's. As the program proceeds, you realize that the two interviewees have switched roles. In response to the consultant's questions, the gravelly voiced, yarmulke-wearing Kunstlinger describes life as a dealer of trendy, cutting-edge art while the pretty, young, and stylish Maccarone explains the ins and outs of the electronic commodities trade.... | |
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| | | Keeping those holiday plants looking pretty | | Posted Saturday, December 30, 2006 2:55:42 PM by Blog57 Team | | Timings everything. The vapor rises high in the sky, tossing to and fro, then freezes, suddenly, and crystallizes into a perfect flake of miraculous snow. William Baer Over the yuletide season, many greenthumbs tend to pick up a flowering holiday plant. Having a blooming plant at this time of the year is a tradition for many folks, a heartfelt way to celebrate this joyous time. Now that you have that colorful poinsettia or elegant amaryllis, the question arises as to how to keep that pretty bloomer looking good past the days of Christmas. Here are a few helpful hints that may add to the longevity and loveliness of these holiday favorites. Poinsettias Poinsettias are very touchy when it comes to watering.... | |
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| | | Gardener's Journal: Poinsettia: The Christmas flower | | Posted Saturday, December 09, 2006 12:57:08 PM by Blog57 Team | | EDITORS NOTE: Gary Federowicz, a state certified horticulturist and a member of the Lycoming County Master Gardeners, provides this column as a community service.) He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadnt before! Maybe Christmas he thought, doesnt come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more! From How the Grinch Stole Christmas Christmastime is poinsettia time! This brilliant bloomer is the flowering favorite of the holiday season. An amazing plant that has undergone many years of hybridizing, todays Christmas poinsettia bear only a slight resemblance to its native forms. Originally found growing in parts of Mexico, the wild poinsettia is a plant that produces large shrub-like specimens that may reach heights of up to 12 feet tall.... | |
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| | | El Yunque: A walk on mild side | | Posted Monday, November 13, 2006 3:18:20 AM by Blog57 Team | | EL YUNQUE, Puerto Rico I think the first clue that I was overdressed for my foray into Puerto Rico's Caribbean National Forest was when I looked down at my guide's feet and discovered he was wearing a pair of plastic clogs that were very clean and very lavender. The second clue was the kid with the suitcase. On a hot and muggy Sunday in late June, I set out for the rain forest more commonly known as El Yunque for what was advertised as a 61/2-hour trip of moderate-to-strenuous difficulty. I was the hiker dressed in long pants and hiking boots carrying a backpack full of bug spray, sunscreen, rain poncho, a big bottle of water and trail mix I had brought with me from Chicago. The rest of the hikers in my group of 10 were all at least 20 years younger than me and were uniformly clad in shorts, sneakers and bathing suits.... | |
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| | | The Haute Holiday | | Posted Sunday, November 12, 2006 1:12:00 PM by Blog57 Team | | If you dont want to be caught dead in a blue spandex bodysuit, floating down the Ganga, praying you dont get run over by screaming rafters, or get trapped in one of those faux Morroccan nightmares by the Arabian Sea, rolling around on opium beds and Ourika Pillows, sipping herbal fusions out of Bahia tea glasses or, massaged by soft volcanic rocks by your private spa-healer even as pungent essential oils numb your brain, theres a tantalising new word on the 21st century ritzy globe-trotters wishlist bespoke a made-to-order vacation. Far away from yapping imitations, trashy tourist destinations and the travel-terror fatigue of airline journeys, tour experts and consultancy firms have exploded on the Indian scene, giving you an insiders guide to holiday heaven. Privileges ranging from parking rights for your Gulfstream, the best boutique safari camp or luxe tents that stare at Nanda Devi, heli-skiing on Manali curry snow, jetting to remote Arunachal Pradesh for river cruising, renting a palace in Jaipur for an exclusive dinner, its limitless what money can buy.... | |
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| | | Artistic vistas of the black experience | | Posted Saturday, November 11, 2006 7:04:39 PM by Blog57 Team | | If African-Americans don't buy artworks by African-American artists, who will? A decade ago, that question prompted a group of black collectors in Washington to join together to share their knowledge and experience. They wanted to create a forum where they could discuss African-American art, make group visits to artists' studios and find ways to support local artists, dealers and visual arts programs. The fruits of their efforts are on display this month in Holding Our Own, a lovely exhibition of African-American artworks owned by members of the Collectors Club of Washington at the University of Maryland University College in Adelphi. The show includes paintings, sculptures and works on paper by many of the acknowledged African-American masters, including Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Augusta Savage, Dox Thrash, Sam Gilliam and Alma Thomas.... | |
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| | | Cypress Gardens Revamps Image With Rollercoaster | | Posted Friday, November 10, 2006 11:03:32 AM by Blog57 Team | | Flowers, tropical trees, Southern Belles, and now you can add a rollercoaster to the list of attractions at Florida's Cypress Gardens, as the tourist attraction tries to increase its appeal as a family destination.The 70-year-old central Florida theme park currently in bankruptcy proceedings has announced the addition of a historic roller coaster and a new play area.The kids area will be called Bugsville and will feature 13 rides. The park is also adding the historic Starliner. It's a 43-year-old wooden roller coaster that was once the main attraction at the now-defunct Miracle Strip amusement park on Panama City Beach.Cypress Gardens filed for bankruptcy protection in September. It reported $25 million dollars in debts incurred after it was hit by three hurricanes in 2004. .... | |
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| | | Hokies downgrade Hurricanes to tropical depression | | Posted Wednesday, November 08, 2006 6:59:07 PM by Blog57 Team | | Enter Sandman is the song always played as Virginia Tech runs out onto Lane Stadium in Blacksburg. Add the Orange Bowl to that list. As the Hokies and Hurricanes took the field on Saturday night, the stadium was blaring the Metallica entrance song over the loudspeaker, getting all of the Hokie fans in attendance fired up. The song may have just inspired the Hokies to play a combination of Beamerball and defense to win the rivalry game against a struggling Miami team 1710. We really feel fortunate to come out of here with a win, said Tech head coach Frank Beamer. We did find a way. We got the field goal blocked. It was kind of what we said, youve got to play good defense, be good in the kicking game and score when we can offensively. We did that tonight.... | |
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| | | Rollingstone lunch lady still a hit after 25 years | | Posted Tuesday, November 07, 2006 11:08:46 AM by Blog57 Team | | You want mayonnaise with that, honey? Over and over Sylvia Hengel says it, unfazed by repetition that might drive some crazy after so many years. But then again, for Hengel, each customer is more than just turkey on a bun with or without mayonnaise - it is a child she has known often since his or her first day of kindergarten, a child it is her charge to feed each day, a child maybe whose parents came through Hengels line a quarter century ago. She is the quintessential lunch lady. A demure mother of 12, grandmother of 29, great-grandmother of six, Hengel has been serving school lunches at Rollingstone Elementary for 25 years, although if her threats from years ago hold true this year may be her last. Hengel used to abstractedly say that she would quit when she turned 80 or had been with the district for 25 years, and both of those things are scheduled to happen this year.... | |
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