| Wild flowers - not as wild as they sound | | Posted Tuesday, January 31, 2006 9:25:36 AM by Kate Grant | Think jungles. Monkeys jumping from tree to tree, colorful parrots, lush green leaves, and beautiful wild flowers in pink and orange. Well, actually, you don't have to go that far.  You can find wild flowers very near you, on a hill right out of town, in a nearby field or even in your own garden.
Exotic as they may sound, wild flowers are just flowers growing in nature, without help from us, avid gardeners.
They grace nature with their beauty, but because it is hard for some people not pick them, they are protected by laws against wild flower picking in some countries.
There are many kinds of wild flowers that have been cultivated, and now adorn gardens with their lovely bloom. It is possible to find wild flower seeds in nurseries and places specializing in wild flowers.
BBC TV garden programs encourage people to grow wild flowers in their garden, that way creating a miniature countryside and attracting wildlife.
There are so many of which to choose, you might want to look at some wild flower photos on the net, and decide which kind you'd like for your own garden.
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| | | CORNER KICKS | | Posted Friday, January 26, 2007 2:59:28 PM by Blog57 Team | | SPOTLIGHT: TRAVIS NICKS ARLINGTON MIDFIELDER The Arlington High soccer team's captain, Travis Nicks, described himself as a "normal teenager," but a brief dialogue shows he's far from average. Nicks, a 6-foot-3 senior, guides the Colts as the central midfielder in his third season of varsity play. He's a multisport athlete who taught himself to use his left foot when as a child his right foot failed him. With District 8-5A play beginning Tuesday, Nicks prepares for one last district run and a decision on his future. What was the motivation for the soccer captain to join the golf team? This year, for the first year, I joined football, and I enjoyed that. It helped keep me in shape. And then I joined golf because I needed a fourth period and decided it would be fun.... | |
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| | | Orchid found in Camerons likely a new species | | Posted Sunday, January 21, 2007 12:57:56 PM by Blog57 Team | | CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Two environmentalists may have discovered an entirely new species of orchid, deep in the jungles of the Ruil mountains near Jasar Valley here. Embi Abdullah, 59, and N. Madi, 52, were trekking in the jungles in the middle of last year when they found what they thought was a common species of orchid growing on the bark of a fallen tree. The plant was not flowering and looked like an ordinary orchid. We picked it up thinking wed try to salvage it by replanting it ourselves, said Madi. The wild orchid enthusiasts, formerly members of the Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands Society, were stunned when the plant began to flower last week. .... | |
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| | | Flower of the week | | Posted Tuesday, January 02, 2007 2:55:59 PM by Blog57 Team | | Forget-me-nots belong to the genus Myosotis of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. There are about 50 species in the genus category, and among them there is inevitably considerable variation. The forget-me-not is the state flower of Alaska in the United States. The name of this flower was borrowed from Old French "ne m'oubliez pas" and first used in English in c.1532. In 15th century Germany, it was supposed that the wearers of the flower will not be forgotten by their lovers. Legend has it that in medieval times, a knight and his lady were walking along the side of a river. He picked a posy of flowers, but because of the weight of his armour he fell into the river. As he was drowning he threw the posy to his loved one and shouted "Forget-me-not". Thus this is a flower connected with romance and tragic fate.... | |
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| | | Conquer Holiday Burnout: Energize and Rejuvenate Naturally this ... | | Posted Wednesday, December 13, 2006 12:59:45 PM by Blog57 Team | | WILMINGTON, Mass., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- As we enter the heart of the holiday season, Americans are more stressed than any other time of the year, according to the American Psychological Association. But Nelsons, the world leader in natural medicine is providing relief to those who are exceptionally worried about not having enough money (61%), the pressures of gift giving (42%), lack of time (34%) and credit card debt (23%). Rescue Remedy®, Rescue Sleep® and the full line of Bach Flower Remedies made by Nelsons are an all-natural, completely safe healing system, which provide a calming positive energy to help balance emotions and restore energy. Best of all, they are convenient and can be taken anywhere, anytime to relieve everyday moods, stress, worries, and anxiety. The remedy Olive, in particular, helps to restore energy during prolonged holiday stress and fatigue.... | |
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| | | Tinseltown gives us small presents for the holidays | | Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 6:54:31 PM by Blog57 Team | | There's no big monkey this year. No witch, no wardrobe, no magical place called Narnia. No young sorcerer, no hobbits, not even one superhero in sight. It's almost as if Hollywood forgot to make a holiday movie season. Veteran moviegoers might be forgiven for looking over the next six weeks and wondering where the blockbusters are. Never fear, though, they will emerge. People love to spend the holidays curled up in front of a screen the size of a blimp, so the American audience will decide what it wants to see and undoubtedly make its preferences perfectly clear. Among the contenders: "Casino Royale" (PG-13) -- Timothy Dalton or Sean Connery or somewhere in between? That's the question hovering over the latest James Bond film as Daniel Craig is introduced as 007.... | |
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| | | Land Before Time: An Amazing Nature Heritage | | Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 1:03:54 PM by Blog57 Team | | There is nothing like spending some time in the jungle to understand better the need to respect Nature, and the virgin tropical rainforest of Belum-Temenggor is magnificent and awe-inspiring. SITUATED at the border of Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand, Belum-Temenggor, a rolling 300,000 hectares of virgin tropical rainforest surrounding a massive lake, is a biodiversity hotspot and national heritage. The rainforest has been around for 130 million years and is home to thousands of species of flora and fauna, some of which are found nowhere else in the world. I have always been curious about Belum; its name, meaning land before time, conjures images of a peaceful, enchanted garden inhabited by all kinds of wildlife. So it was with great anticipation that I packed my bags and headed there in September on a trip organised by the Pathfinders group of Malaysian Nature Society.... | |
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| | | Jaguars head into playoffs after wild ending | | Posted Monday, November 13, 2006 7:05:26 AM by Blog57 Team | | Though the score may not indicate it, Flower Mound was seconds away from possibly entering the playoffs on a sour note instead of its current five-game winning streak.Coach Cody Vanderford was glad the odd turn of events went in his team's favor in those final 12 seconds.Flower Mound (8-2, 6-1 in District 6-5A) scored twice in that span to beat Lewisville, 21-7, sending the Jags into their Class 5A Division II bi-district playoff game against Grapevine on a roll. Lewisville (5-5, 4-3) still clinched a playoff spot because Coppell beat Marcus."This win was very important," Vanderford said. "Momentum is huge in this game, especially in 5A football. I've been coaching a long time, and I've been part of a state championship team. And being on a roll at the right time is so important."Quarterback Jacob Morris tossed a three-yard pass to Mike Stephens with 12 seconds left in the game to put Flower Mound ahead, 14-7.... | |
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| | | Dead gorgeous | | Posted Saturday, November 11, 2006 11:08:48 PM by Blog57 Team | | Aging blossoms and plants in your yard still have what it takes for an encore on the holiday table or elsewhere in your home. All that's needed to enjoy their beautiful afterlife is your ability to see the poetry inherent in their natural shapes in neutral shades of brown, beige or cream. With some care and know-how, you can preserve or build lovely arrangements with dried flowers any time of the year. There's less fuss involved than with dried flowers and much less expense than with artificials. "The grassheads a lot of people have in their back yards make lovely tall arrangements, picked while they're still young and small," says Laurie Medrea, a landscape designer at the Plymouth Nursery and Garden Center in Superior Township. Anything you find attractive is good to experiment with.... | |
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| | | The Christmas Flower | | Posted Friday, November 10, 2006 3:02:08 PM by Blog57 Team | | With just a few short weeks until Christmas, it is time to buy the flower we all think of first when it comes to Christmas, the Poinsettia. Even though we think of it as being the Christmas flower, I imagine that you aren't aware that it has its own day of the year, Poinsettia Day, that is well over a month prior to Christmas. The Poinsettia is not only an exceptionally beautiful flower, but an interesting flower that has been changing its coloring away from the traditional red we equate with Christmas. The poinsettia is also, contrary to old wives tale, an exceptionally safe flower to have in your home at Christmas. We think of the Poinsettia as the Christmas flower and it growing in florists pots, but the Poinsettia is also called the Mexican flame leaf, Christmas star, lobster flower, Noche Buena, Pascua or Christmas star (Euphorbia pulcherrima), and is known to grow to a height of sixteen feet in Mexico.... | |
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| | | The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller, Vol. 2 | | Posted Wednesday, November 08, 2006 10:59:24 PM by Blog57 Team | | Warners' The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller, Vol. 2 moves on to Tarzan's RKO years, when his waistline expands and his face looks chubby. The six films here represented are usually considered inferior to the earlier MGM efforts, but they have their own charm; they tend to be shorter and introduce always-welcome external elements like rampaging Nazis, a prehistoric monster or two, strange lost cities and plenty of va-voom 40s jungle princesses. In fact, the titles of the last four installments feature tropical-type sirens. Tarzan trades monosyllabic niceties with these temptresses and even swims with one of them, but his heart remains with Jane. When Jane returns in the third film she's played by Brenda Joyce, and it takes a while to get accustomed to her. Meanwhile, we get to enjoy the economical but expressive artistry of the RKO studio departments, as well as a heightened level of screen violence perhaps made possible by the fact that the country was at war.... | |
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