7 Plants That Can Poison Pets

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

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7 Plants That Can Poison Pets

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This video is about our new weather proof high definition outdoor canvas aRt. It is really, really cool and we hope you will like it as much as we do.

Be sure to leave a comment below and let us know what you think…we will automatically send you details on how to claim your FREE Gift.

The outdoor wall art as mentioned in this video is available now here. Thanks!

Originally posted 2009-08-11 15:57:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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New OutDoor “Canvas” Wall Art – Yes, WeatherProof

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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.

When picking out decor, for indoors and outdoors, it is usually a great idea to consult with your significant other. This is usually recommended with most major home decor and outdoor decor purchases and home upgrades. However, these decorative FirePots are more of an accent piece and this type of consulting is not really necessary to get into for this type of purchase. Besides, you may be surprised that when you receive your new ceramic gel fuel FirePots, your significant other will probably want to get several more, once they see how beautiful these ceramic FirePots truly are.

The third thing that you should know about ceramic FirePots is that there is a very limited number of places to get them. Most of the other types of FirePots that are available are not the artisan glazed ceramic FirePots like being described here. Cool garden things are actually not everywhere you might imagine them to be. These new ceramic FirePots are cool no doubt, and you will not need to look far for just the right place to put one once you get yourself a couple of FirePots.

Most importantly, and fourth on the list of things you should know about FirePots, is that they are designed to be a timeless piece of decor. When you have classic, beautiful, handcrafted and glazed decor, like these FirePots, it is really something that your entertaining guests will notice. Besides, we all love to get our guests a little envious, right…

So, with an understanding more about FirePots and the 4 things that you should know about them, you surely will have a wonderful time this year decorating your home and garden, indoor and outdoors with beautiful, hand glazed, ceramic, gel fuel FirePots.

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

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4Things About FirePots That Everyone Should Know

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5. FireFountains: Adding Elements of Drama to Your Decor

When ever we begin to add additional elements to our decorating plans and ideas, it is important that we plan ahead. With the use of gel fuel FireFountains, this is definitely a great, and highly recommended approach. Most decorators will be aware of the versatility of all surrounding elements in the decor plan, but a large amount of the new, or unversed home owners should take a few extra moments to put everything into consideration and always think ahead.

By the time you finish reading, you’ll know what you need to, and be well on your way through the pre-planning stages of these type of new decorating accent.

The point with adding some drama with a FireFountain is exactly that. We don’t, however, want to add any danger. These decorative ceramic structures, not only have a gel fuel open flame, but they also have water burbling over from the top. Without proper planning in advance, we could easily have a little too much drama.

Things to to take into account when adding a FireFountain to your decorating scheme are:

• Drapes, curtains and table clothes. Especially be aware of loose and flowing synthetic materials.

• Wood table tops. Be sure to use proper protective mats or surface guards to protect your wood surfaces.

• Flat, stable structures are mandatory to prevent any accidental wobbling and tilting.

• Animals and small children should always be considered too. Never start a fire when not in the area to properly supervise it. This is extremely important when animals and small children are around.

• Adequate slack length in the power line. Use care not to have any taunt, exposed cords in walking paths that could create accidental tripping.

OK, now that we have the basic safety precautions covered, lets look at the fun part!

A well placed FireFountain can add a mysterious and enchanting touch to nearly any room. Simply adding water to the fountain part, and adding the gel fuel to the metal reservoir will do the trick. Then, you just simply plug it in, light the top and enjoy.

Setting a scene, atmosphere or mood can always lead to a fun evening. Incense, candles, aromatherapy, flowers, FireFountains, with their open flame and water elements, decorative pillows, soft chenille throws, music and finger foods are really all that you need to truly have a great time. Whether it’s by yourself, mellowing out to some good music tunes, with a friend or friends, a significant other, or even with a good book. Setting the atmosphere in your home or outdoor living area can make a good space great and dramatically increase the appeal of your typical normal room.

There is no wrong way to do this. If your senses tell you it feels good, and you are able to experience an altered mood, by simply introducing additional elements to your space, your doing it right. The addition of one, well placed, ceramic gel fuel FireFountain could do marvelous wonders for you and for your guests.

[google -4568412606113424478 nolink]

Originally posted 2008-11-23 05:37:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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FireFountains: Adding Elements of Drama to Your Decor

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Photo by melolou

Photo by mbgrigby

Photo by Bitter Jeweler

Originally posted 2010-01-13 14:42:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Three Northern Natives For Your Garden

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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.

Decorating with ceramic FirePots is actually not as difficult as it might sound at first. Why, you might ask. Well, this is simply because with even just one, well placed FirePot, you could have all that you need for a particular decorating idea to turn out wonderfully. This is a really great advantage to these ceramic, artisan glazed FirePots. So, whether you are decorating for indoors or outdoors, you will have plenty of options for making your area look great with ceramic FirePots.

Now, the next thing that you will need to do, is determine how we will want to set the mood for our area. With FirePots, you will need to be careful not to overdue it, and especially not to under do it. This is because, with any other type of decor, when you under do, it looks cheap. You don’t want to look cheap. With over doing your FirePot decorating, at the risk of being gaudy, you could always still move some to a different area.

The next thing that you will want to consider with your FirePots is the surrounding areas. Because FirePots have a gel fuel, and the flames can flutter around, it is very important that you take into consideration everything that will be around the area of your FirePots. You want to have a good time and relax with them, so planning this out now will keep you in a peaceful and relaxing mind later.

Planning for any special event can always be fun. When planning an area to be decorated with FirePots, you will want to remember that FirePots are fairly lightweight, and can be moved around. Also, they are able to be mixed with other decor, both indoors and outdoors. This is very important to know with home decor. You don’t want to decorate outside with items that would look like they were not supposed to be outside or even not suitable for outdoors. With ceramic glazed FirePots however, this is not the case. They will be perfect either way.

So, when you are deciding about your overall decorating plan with FirePots, it will also be very important to consider the surfaces that you will be planning to put the FirePots on. Because the FirePots are obviously holding fire, you will want to be safe and have your FirePot on a flat, hard, heat resistant surface. This is recommended so that your entire evening with the FirePots lite will be peaceful and relaxing.

Finally, a good budget will be helpful in completing your FirePot decorating ideas. Consider getting at least one container of gel fuel for every two FirePots. This should ensure enough for several hours of enjoyment with your ceramic FirePots.

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

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Planning Your FirePot Decorating Idea

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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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New Picture – Free Computer Desktop Backgrounds

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The Zebra Longwing, also known as the Zebra Heliconian, was declared the official butterfly of my home state Florida in 1996. These beautiful and unique little creatures, actually insects, with long narrow black wings and yellow zebra-like stripes (purposely designed by nature to help avoid and warn off predators) live throughout Florida and are plentiful on my land in the North Central section. You can also find Zebras in warm and damp tropical areas of Texas, Mexico, Central America and South America.

Certain passion vines are the host plant for the Zebra Longwing; it is the only plant the larvae will eat. A corky stemmed passion vine is a favorite of theirs which grows wild in Florida, classified as a weed. Eggs are laid in groups of 5-15 on leaves of the host plant. The larvae will hang in a “J” position waiting to form a chrysalis. In about 10 to 14 days the adult emerges. No time is wasted with this life cycle for an eager male will mate with a female as she is about to emerge from the chrysalis. The Zebra Longwing can go from egg to butterfly in a little over three weeks.

Zebra Longwings live a longer life than most butterflies, up to 6 months compared to a week or two. Experts believe this is because of their diet. Not only do Zebras feed on nectar, they are the only known butterflies to eat pollen which is rich in protein. If denied pollen, their life span is greatly decreased. Zebras feed off of a variety of plants. I noticed my group feeds off many, including the lantana, porterweed, mexican sunflower, powder puff, milkweed and candy corn but the one they seem to enjoy the most is the red penta.

During the daytime hours the Zebras will fly slowly and gracefully, almost as floating, through the air instead of fast and fluttery like other butterflies; however, they can pick up speed when threatened. The Zebra Longwing is less fearful of predators, not only because of their warning colors, but because of their foul taste. Passion vines, consumed by the larvae, contain a toxin that makes adult Zebras poisonous to predators. Once a predator experiences such a taste they will never forget.

Another unusual feature of Zebra Longwings is that adults roost in groups of up to 70 at night. The Zebras on my land will huddle together (about 18-20) on a strand of moss hanging from an oak tree near one of my gardens. Each night they return to the same spot and on cold and gloomy days they will remain there. Although Zebras are commonly in flight all year in South Florida, I have seen a few survive on my land during the cold winter months.

Zebra Longwings are wonderful to have around. If you live in their territory and don’t have the native plants required, just plant some of the above mentioned flowers and in no time you should have your own family of Zebra Longwings.

Diana Cooper specializes in nature and wildlife photography. You can visit her websites at http://www.dianasphotography.com (gallery, articles, links) and http://www.cafepress.com/dianasphotos (photo cards and gift items of flowers and butterflies).

Article Source: http://articlecrux.com

Originally posted 2009-01-30 01:16:57. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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The Zebra Longwing, Beautiful and Unique

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Photo by zophonias

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.

Photo by mmwmAnother good choice for a sunny garden with a path and some stepping stones, is the kitchen herb called thyme. Thyme is great for an area that gets some foot traffic because it smells good when you step on it. Give your landscape a cottage garden feel with this herb that also comes in a variety of growth habits and color choices such as creeping thyme, woolly thyme or lemon thyme, to name a few.

Photo by mbgrigbyIf you have a shade garden you really should consider some pachysandra.  Pachysandra is a good deep shade ground cover that can handle some partial sun. It can be grown under a walnut tree and it will allow bulbs and hostas to grow through it without competition-nicely camouflaging unsightly dead leaves and other such garden blemishes. It has a neat growth habit that is easy to control.And it is less invasive than it’s popular counter-choice called vinca: vinca is a garden no no because of its rampant invasiveness into woodland areas-so when in doubt choose pachysandra.

If you are a fan of native or woodland plants and your are looking for a shade loving ground cover consider wild ginger. It has handsome dark green circular leaves and forms a dense matte with little ground hugging flowers that are popular with toads and woodland critters. Plant it around the base of a bird feeder to hide the cast off seeds. There are even some evergreen varieties for more mild climates.
Whether you have shade or sun a ground cover is always going to enhance your garden landscape. Ground covers help cool the roots of plants in your garden and hide unsightly looking spots. Ground cover can be a unifying element in your garden design for many years to come. Put some gazing globes in a patch of ground cover for an easy garden decor idea and just enjoy!

Originally posted 2010-01-02 11:51:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Photo by lepiaf.geo (better off slipping into blur)

The “tidy clean-up” basically cuts every plant-except woody herbs and shrubs- to with-in an inch of it’s life and removes every ounce of dead plant matter with-in a mile. This method looks very clean. Reminiscent of your living room after the maid service leaves. This technique will ensure that very few diseased leaves are left behind to infect next years plants.It may also help hinder the slug and pest population. The cons of this technique outweigh the pros, because by removing all plant matter you have also removed all the vital nutrients the decomposing plant matter provides. You have also removed the winter protection and that plant matter provides for roots. Which means that you will have to add expensive fertilizers and amendments to your garden to make up for this. More expensive and less healthy for your garden this technique is not the best approach to a healthy garden.

The next approach to fall clean up is perhaps a balance between vacuuming your beds and the doing nothing approach-this is what I call the “High/low maintenance” approach. Low maintenance does not mean no maintenance, though. Think of low maintenance as meaning less work in the spring, but still a good work out in the garden this weekend and probably next week end too. In this approach one would remove dead annual plants,sprinkling the seeds as you go. These should germinate if you don’t use preen in your garden. Proceed to cut down your perennial plants to two thirds with the exception of woody herbs and shrubs. You do not want to touch those until the spring when all danger of frost is past. Leave seed heads on some of your native plants and grasses for the birds for the winter. If you cut down your grass leave about one foot to provide winter protection. Rake out the beds and remove all of the cuttings and most of the leaves that have come down from the trees. Use a blower and blow leaves onto your lawn and mulch those with a mower. Mulching the last of the autumn leaves into your lawn keeps things looking tidy and is like free fertilizer for your grass. Supposedly oak leaves mulched into the lawn are a weed inhibitor. Encourage you lawn care people to mulch leaves as much as they are able to. You may need to bury some of your tree roses. You may want to put some wilt spray on your rhododendrons in December as well as build some burlap houses for them. But don’t let burlap touch the plants. You can leave them be, but taking the extra time to protect rhododendrons, roses and hydrangeas will give you more flowers next year.

The third approach to winter preparation is the “no maintenance” approach. The pro of this technique is you can just be lazy and nature will pretty much tuck all of your garden in naturally for the winter. The con’s of doing nothing now are that your neighbors will hate you for your messy yard and you will have a lot to do in the spring at a time when lots of plants are starting to peek through the debris. These plants and bulbs are very tender in the spring and will get mangled as you tear through the beds with your rake and pruning shears. Not only that, but the soil in the spring is at it’s most vulnerable time and stepping in the beds now will compress it terribly and prevent the tender roots of plants from growing at their best. Also remember that many weeds will continue to grow through the winter so if you did not pull them out they will have grown stronger.

What ever your clean-up approach be sure to put away your garden decor for the winter as you don’t want it to get ruined. Also remember to clean out your bird feeders and stock up on bird seed before the snow falls so you can sit back and watch the animals in your garden while it sleeps.

Each individual gardener has their own preferences of how to tackle their garden before winter comes.This article is intended to be a guide to help you decide which approach is best for you.Good luck and many blooms to you!

Originally posted 2009-12-03 15:47:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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What Style of Fall Clean-up Is Best For You?

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