Archive for Things & Stuff
7 Plants That Can Poison Pets
Posted by: | CommentsGot this from my sister and thought you might find it helpful 
7 Plants That Can Poison Pets
Symptoms of poisoning include severe burning and irritation of the mouth, lips and tongue, excessive drooling, vomiting and difficulty
Ingesting the plant can cause excessive salivation, vomiting and diarrhea. Large ingestions of tubers can result in heart rhythm abnormalities, seizures and death.
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.
Ingestion can result in intense burning and irritation of the mouth, lips and tongue, excessive drooling, vomiting and difficulty in swallowing.
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.
Though it inspires kisses around the holidays, the traditional plant causes gastrointestinal disorders, cardiovascular collapse, erratic behavior and a host of other ills.
Vomiting (occasionally with blood), depression, anorexia, hypersalivation and, in cats, dilated pupils.
Originally posted 2009-01-27 16:19:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Amazing Hummingbird Encounter
Posted by: | CommentsThis is amazing! Some people have some kind of magic with animals…This little hummingbird clip is astounding!
–GartenGrl
**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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Bird Watching Basics
Posted by: | Commentsby: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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Bird Watching and Gardening Mixed
Posted by: | CommentsArticle By: Richard Chapo
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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Three Northern Natives For Your Garden
Posted by: | CommentsIt 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 melolouConeflower 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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New Picture – Free Computer Desktop Backgrounds
Posted by: | CommentsI 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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How to Grow Avocado
Posted by: | Comments
Photo by bionicteachingby: 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.
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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Great Ground Cover Suggestions For A Northern Garden
Posted by: | CommentsOne 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 t
Photo by zophoniaso 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→
Garden Problems? Might Be A Walnut Tree
Posted by: | Comments
Photo by cizauskasA few years ago I lived in an old victorian house in Ann Arbor, Michigan that had a handful of stately old 100 foot tall Walnut trees (juglans regia). I quickly discovered that there were a number of plants that simply died or started to die as soon as I planted them under that tree – petunias, peonies, roses, impatiens to name just an unfortunate few. I was beginning to think perhaps I was not as good a gardener as I thought myself to be.
After asking around a bit I discovered that walnut trees are considered a gardening challenge because there are a number of plants that simply can not survive under them. This is due to a poisonous substance that leaches from the walnut trees called juglone-I sure would not be eating any veggies or herbs grown near or under a walnut tree( I heard somewhere that it was an ingredient in rat poison many years ago…not sure if that is true or just some kind of urban legend). So if you have hanging plants under a giant and elegant tree that keep dying and you do not know why, try looking up to see if that tree is a walnut tree. If it is then that is one garden problem you can consider solved! Read More→
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Weed Watch Spring 2009
Posted by: | CommentsAlright people! I’m not going to tip-toe around this important garden issue. Spring is coming and it’s time to start planning ahead for the weeds that are coming with it. The invasive ones are my biggest concern. And this spring I want you all to keep an eye out for HORSETAIL (Equisetum arvense).
The first time you saw Horsetail you may have innocently thought to yourself…Hmmm that looks like an interesting plant. Maybe you even foolishly thought to add it to your garden! Oh such folly! Perhaps you are one of those crazy gardeners like my father who likes to pit invasive against invasive *SIGH*
Well, if that is the case you may now unfortunately have it, and you probably want to get rid of it…LOL! Good luck with that! All I can recommend based on asking other gardeners, and from personal experience fighting it in the garden is to: MULCH it, WEED it and SPRAY it with Round UP.
Why is this plant so difficult to get rid of? Because it has SPORES people! We are talking invisible microscopic prehistoric, grows in volcano SPORES. So I would not ignore it if it appears…Pull it out…Pull it out….Pull it out! Luckily it pulls easily, except you are not going to get the entire root, as it lies like 6 feet underground akin to some kind of alien mother ship…Lurking …
What should you do? It would seem the thing to do is to make your garden less like a volcan0 and more like a jungle. So fertilize, enrich the soil, mulch, and weed. I have found that you can plant taller plants near it to hide it and try to choke it out. Maybe my father’s method of invasive vs. invasive isn’t so far off the mark-No! Avoid invasives! Try NATIVE (which sometimes behave a bit invasive if you ask me-which you didn’t)
Well, enough said for the moment. GartenGrl out.
Originally posted 2009-02-04 15:22:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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