This is an excerpt from my latest post at the Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens blog. Click the link below to visit the full post. This is the third post in a short series about the importance of plants in the arts. The first post was Plants in Poetry and looked at the various ways plants were [...]
On Being Misunderstood is a new feature at The Metropolitan Field Guide which will look at the variety of flora and fauna we live with which are too commonly misunderstood. From plants to wildlife, many of our daily interactions with these species are often negative or confused. Many of these reactions are based on misinformation. This [...]
Today’s Friday Film features an inside look at the New Wild Garden from the 2011 Chelsea RHS Flower Show designed by Nigel Dunnett filmed by Dusty Gedge. The garden features a great many elements for wildlife including a stone wall for habitat with built-in insect shelters as well as an insect wall for solitary bees and [...]
This is an excerpt from my latest post at the Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens blog. Click the link below to visit the full post. If one really loves nature, one can find beauty everywhere. -Vincent van Gogh This is the second post in a short series about the importance of plants in the arts. [...]
Today’s Friday Film features green wall designer, botanist and author Patrick Blanc, perhaps the best known designer of green walls. His book, The Vertical Garden: From Nature to the City is getting a revised and updated edition which will be out in April. This video is part of the Greenroofs.com Greenroofs & Walls of the World Virtual Summit 2011, which [...]
Last year when I wrote about the Northwest Flower and Garden Show I talked a lot about how the gardens didn’t feature wildlife habitat, but could have easily done so and I featured specific examples. I also expressed hope that a nature organization would partner on a display garden. This year, my hope was realized [...]
Today’s Friday Film features a fascinating and enlightening TED talk by Janine Benyus, natural sciences writer, innovation consultant, author, co-founder of the Biomimicry Guild and founder of the Biomimicry Institute. One reason nature is so important to us as humans is the lessons we take from it. Observing the workings of the flora and fauna in our own backyards and daily [...]
This is an excerpt from my latest post at the Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens blog. Click the link below to visit the full post. Plants are beneficial for a lot of reasons such as providing habitat and food for wildlife. However, lest we forget, plants are also important to humans, not just for food [...]
News Bloomin’ lovely gardens brighten up London’s East End:: A competition for residents of London’s East End, the winners were chosen for showing “ what they can do with plants, wildlife and the environment.” Can biodiversity be accommodated in today’s urban environment?:: Posing the question, this piece from The Ecologist looks at recent efforts including the International [...]
Today’s Friday Film features a green roof in Islington, London designed by Bere Architects, Kim Wilkie and Dusty Gedge. It’s been a great success in attracting wildlife including goldfinches, house sparrows, butterflies and a variety of bees. The video features photos of a variety of plants from the roof and many of the insects which make [...]
Common Name: American Wigeon Scientific Name: Anas americana Family: Anatidae The American Wigeon is a dabbling duck, which are ducks that tip their front ends into the water to forage while their back ends stick up in the air. They maintain a large geographic range, breeding as far north as the Bering Sea and wintering from Canada [...]
Today’s Friday Film is a video from the Brussels Natural History Museum for their exhibition on urban wildlife and features Dr Peter Shepherd from BSG Ecology discussing why parks are important to people and wildlife. He talks about the importance of beautiful plants, the song of birds and other wildlife to people and without mentioning it by [...]