Archive for Accessories

Feb
25

7 Plants That Can Poison Pets

Posted by: CoolGardenThings | Comments (0)

Got this from my sister and thought you might find it helpful ;)

7 Plants That Can Poison Pets

Caladium

Symptoms of poisoning include severe burning and irritation of the mouth, lips and tongue, excessive drooling, vomiting and difficulty

Cyclamen

Ingesting the plant can cause excessive salivation, vomiting and diarrhea. Large ingestions of tubers can result in heart rhythm abnormalities, seizures and death.
Dracaena

Munching on the plant can result in dilated pupils, abdominal pain, increased heart rate and drooling in cats, and vomiting, depression, loss of appetite, drooling, loss of coordination, and weakness in both cats and dogs.

Philodendron

Ingestion can result in intense burning and irritation of the mouth, lips and tongue, excessive drooling, vomiting and difficulty in swallowing.
Aloe vera

A perfect reminder that we shouldn’t make assumptions about safety. Though aloe vera juice is marketed as a health tonic for humans, and its gel is used to treat burns, the plant is toxic to pets. Signs of poisoning include vomiting, depression, diarrhea, anorexia, tremors and change in urine color.

Mistletoe

Though it inspires kisses around the holidays, the traditional plant causes gastrointestinal disorders, cardiovascular collapse, erratic behavior and a host of other ills.
Lucky bamboo (aka ribbon plant)

Vomiting (occasionally with blood), depression, anorexia, hypersalivation and, in cats, dilated pupils.
Watch after your loved ones!

Originally posted 2009-01-27 16:19:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Feb
13

Amazing Hummingbird Encounter

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This is amazing! Some people have some kind of magic with animals…This little hummingbird clip is astounding!

–GartenGrl

YouTube Preview Image

**video owner disabled embedding…you can click on this link and check it out: Cool Hummingbird Video

Extraordinary – After an hour of fly bys around the yard this hummingbird found the confidence to confront the gardener.

Originally posted 2009-06-15 09:11:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Feb
07

Bird Watching Basics

Posted by: CoolGardenThings | Comments (0)

by:Albreht Moy

Bird watching or birding is a very popular hobby that includes the observation and study of birds.Because visual observation of birds is complemented with auditory observation, the term “birding” is more accurate. Birding is the second most popular outdoor activity in America, second only to gardening as the number-one recreation.

For many people bird watching is an opportunity to feel close to nature. They also enjoy the relaxation and peacefulness by watching birds.Some birders,however,will travel long distances just to see a rare bird. These birders are known as twitchers. Twitching is popular in Britain and several other European countries.

Most birders start out by watching and attracting birds to their own back yards.Bird feeding can benefit birds and also provide great bird watching.You can attract a variety of interesting birds to your yard by selecting and offering the right kinds of food. The common types of food offered in bird feeding are seeds,nectar,suet and fruit.Early morning is the best time for bird watching since many birds are then searching most actively for food.

Once you start feeding birds, you’ll probably want to identify who is coming to visit. Equipment used for birding includes binoculars,a blank notebook, and one or more good field guides.

Field guides are books with pictures and descriptions of the birds. A field guide shows birds of just one country, or one region of a country, or one habitat.

Binoculars are described by two numbers: 8×32 for example. The first number tells you the magnification power of the binoculars. The second tells you the size of the objective lens at the end of the binoculars in millimeters. Most bird watchers think that 7 or 8 power is about right for most birding.

The next step is to broaden your birding experience beyond your own back yard. Plan a trip to a bird sanctuary, national park and other locations where you can see birds in large numbers. Wherever you go,never harm the birds and always respect other birders.

And don’t forget to join a local birding club. Clubs organize field trips,show films of good bird watching destinations and some of them are involved in local environmental projects. Also visit your local library and check out books on birds and ornithology.

Source: Articlecity.com

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Decorating with FirePots can be exciting and romantic, as well as charming. Before we begin our decorating plans with FirePots, however, we will need to take several things into consideration. We will also want to determine a nice budget for our FirePot decorating.

Most of the ceramic FirePots that are available are a very nice size for indoor and outdoor decorating needs. There are also several different shapes and, obviously, many different colors to choose from within these different shapes and sizes.

Read More→

Originally posted 2008-11-18 06:19:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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First, it is very important to know that FirePots are made of ceramic, with an artisan glaze and are intended to be used both indoors and outdoors. One of the main concerns that you will want to be aware of while using your FirePots indoors is to make sure you have the regular gel fuel when using them indoors.

Because the citronella gel fuel in the FirePots is not appropriate for indoors, this is why we suggest having the regular gel fuel for indoor usages, as being the most important thing to know about FirePots.

Secondly, ceramic FirePots are designed to be aesthetically pleasing, regardless of your current indoor or outdoor decor motif. When browsing the wide selection of ceramic FirePots, you will notice that the artisan glazes will blend, mix and compliment many different varieties of home decor motifs. Especially outdoor decor motifs. But, we will review more on that in a moment.

Read More→

Originally posted 2008-11-18 05:55:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Categories : Accessories
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Article By: Richard Chapo

Hummingbird Hawk - Moth
Photo by Kuzeytac ( So, SO busy…)

The weather may be frightful at the moment, but spring is not too far around the bend. If you love to watch birds, why not start your own personal bird garden?

Just as certain plants and flowers attract various creatures, birds are immediately drawn to certain types of flowers as well. In fact, one of the best ways to learn what types of birds are in your area is to plant a bird garden, and watch (notebook at the ready) as feathers of all colors flock to your yard. Starting a bird garden is easy, and there is no better time to start ordering your spring garden seeds than right now. Read More→

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It is winter. The ground is frozen. What should a gardener do? The only thing left for an obsessed gardener to do is make a wish list of things to plant in the summer. Some plants that should be on any northern gardeners wish list are these three midwest natives: Coneflower, Black-eyed Susans, and False Indigo. Why should you care that they are natives? Any gardener worth their dirt knows that choosing native plants for your garden saves water, time, money and helps the environment by providing food for local wildlife.

Photo by melolou
Coneflower or echinacea is a native plant that is a wonderful contribution to any garden. As a flower it is quite simply pretty in pink and as a native it provides food for the wild life that visits your garden. It makes a great companion plant with many grasses and roses and sedum. It also has roots that can survive in drought weather and clay soil. It will reseed itself and spread in a friendly and non aggressive manner. It should certainly be at the top of any gardeners to plant list. Read More→

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I just put this new page up and I think you will like it and here
is why…

http://www.coolgardenthings.com/Free_Desktop_Backgrounds_31.html

Over the years I have traveled to many different countries. Being
that I love to take pictures, there are usually a few good ones that
turn out that others like too.

Recently I saw some really beautiful pictures as computer desktop
background images. This got me to thinking about some of the many
pictures that I’ve taken in beautiful areas.

With that in mind, I proceeded to making some of these images into
formatting for…

you guessed it, computer desktop background images!

http://www.coolgardenthings.com/Free_Desktop_Backgrounds_31.html

There are a couple of pictures up already that you can have and use
starting now. All you have to do is go to the website using this
link, find one that you like and follow the directions to getting
it to your computer. It is pretty easy.

Enjoy,

Jeremy

P.S. The images that are up now are from a batch of pictures I took
while in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Ho Chi Minh City all on different
trips.

*also, by the way, we will be putting up several more. I’ll be sure
to let you know when they are ready. Here is the link to the ones
that are ready now…

http://www.coolgardenthings.com/Free_Desktop_Backgrounds_31.html

Originally posted 2009-02-17 21:59:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Categories : Things & Stuff
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Jan
08

How to Grow Avocado

Posted by: CoolGardenThings | Comments (0)

avocado shells and seeds
Photo by bionicteaching
by: Hans Dekker
Fruit gardening and vegetable gardening is a very exciting venture. Growing Avocado’s was one of the challenges I took on as a hobby fruit and vegetable gardener. When you are not an inhabitant of state with a tropical climate you can grow avocado’s in containers.

avocado seed
Photo by silencematters

So, if you’re a fan of the avocado, chances are you already know how to grow avocado plants. Although the avocado tree is a tropical plant that thrives only in zones 9, 10, and 11, many gardeners grow avocado plants indoors, they grow it as a houseplant. Avocado plants are typically started from the seed in the center of the fruit. Many gardeners begin their avocado plants by piercing the seed with toothpicks and then suspending it (pointed end up) over a glass, vase, or jar of water. You can keep the water sweet by adding some charcoal in the bottom of your container. In two to six weeks, if the seed germinates, you should have a young plant, ready to pot. However, not all avocado seeds will germinate in this way. If your seed hasn’t sprouted in six weeks, toss it out and try again. Read More→

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One of the problems that a new northern landscape may encounter is a lack of plant material to fill the landscape with. A new garden can be a little sparse sometimes as you wait for the young plants to mature-which can take about three years when you live in a northern climate. So instead of looking at mulch for the next three years, get pro-active and plant some ground cover! And a lot of it. Use ground cover to help fill in between plants, fountains and garden decor, or around stepping stones.
Before you start planting just anything you need to choose your ground cover based on the light, water, and traffic conditions in your garden. Here are just a few of the many ground cover ideas a gardener in a northern climate garden might want tHelluhnoðri
Photo by zophonias
o consider.

If you have a sunny garden you might want to consider planting some sedum. It comes in many different foliage and flower colors ranging from yellow and white and bright green to pink and burgundy. Sedum is great for a garden that does not receive a lot of water as it is drought tolerant and actually thrives in poor soil conditions. It is often used on a lot of those new fangled green roof tops to give you an idea of what kind of environment it likes. Hot, hot and hot! It is not a great ground cover choice if there is going to be a lot of foot traffic, though. Read More→