Paperwhite narcissus

You could also buy the bulbs and do it yourself.  Paperwhite narcissus bulbs  can be found at garden centers or online. The most readily available, and most reliable variety are the "Ziva" paperwhites. They are easy to grow.  All they need is a container and some growing  medium, such as potting soil.  You can even plant them  in pebbles and water, and they will bloom for you.  Plant  the bulbs halfway in the growing medium.  Water, and wait.




Paperwhite narcissus are related to the yellow daffodils of spring. They are native to the western Mediterranean, from Greece to Portugal, Morocco and Algeria. They grow from bulbs, forming grassy foliage and wonderfully fragrant flowers.

If  you  want to try growing paperweight narcissus bulbs, you could get a starter kit-- instructions, bulbs, soil and pot included--everything you need. These are very popular at holiday time, and you can find them  at Walgreens.  They make great gifts, and a fun project for kids, too.

In a few days, you will see signs of growth.  You can move the container to a brighter  location, and watch the roots, leaves and flower stalks  forming.  All the energy to produce this plant is stored in the bulbs.   You are "forcing" them to bloom, by creating springlike conditions.

The flowers will last several weeks indoors.  Keep them in a cooler place if you want the flowers to last longer.  When the flowers are finished, most people toss the plants, as they are not easy to carry over once they have been forced into bloom.

Gardeners Encouraged To Plant More Flowers To Help Bees Survive

Gardeners don’t have to shift to a beekeeping career to help the world’s bee population. The trick: plant more flowers and establish a better plant-honeybee relationship.



Plants rich in pollen and nectar need bees’ buzzing action, too. Although bees tend to target a single flower species during a foraging session, they do promote cross-pollination by moving from one plant to another.

Master beekeeper Jim Tunnell said that while not all gardeners are cut out to be beekeepers, the long-term wellness of bees along with other pollinators are everyone’s concern. "I think it's always a good thing to keep the pollinators in mind when we plant our gardens," he urged.

Here is how it works: bees gather nectar, pollen and water for making honey and survival in general. Pollen feeds them, water is tasked to cool the hives and dilute the honey for bee feeding and the nectar is stocked for overwintering – a time when they are faced with dormant flowering plants.

Mace Vaughan, spokesperson for Oregon-based Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, considers this move critically important. Honeybee hives delivering greater pollen diversity, he said, are more vigorous and better cope with forces such as pests, disease and even pesticides.

Vaughan added that since bees are active all year, natural nectar or pollen supply can run low at certain times. To help honeybee hives better thrive, gardeners should work to have blooms consistently available during the entire growing season.

Plants that love summer

Things will start heating up in the garden over the next couple of months and it will be time to reassess plants that cope and recover, and those that don’t.

If you are looking to replace plants that will survive the hottest spots in your garden, you can’t go past those with silver/grey foliage.

Here’s a couple of newcomers that may fit the bill.



Teucrium Silver Box

This is one of my favourite hero plants because of the combination of silver foliage and blue flowers.

It's a tough little plant that responds well to pruning but has a compact upright habit with silver foliage all year round.

The sky blue flowers appear in autumn through to early summer.

Teucrium prefers a full-sun position with added compost and manure to improve the soil. It’s an ideal plant for smaller gardens because it only grows to 1m high and 60cm wide.

Olive Garden Harvest

This is a dwarf fruiting olive that only grows to 1-2m in height, making it ideal for pots or as an edible hedge.

Grey-green foliage is the backdrop to small white flowers followed by masses of fruit in spring and summer, equally as suitable for the table as it is for oil. You would need quite a few plants to get your oil.

Olives prefer free-draining soil and a slow-release fertiliser. If they get too much nitrogen you will get lots of growth but little fruit.

Which animals live on glaciers?

In total, glaciers and perennial snow patches are frequented by 19 bird species and 16 mammalian species—or 17, if humans are included.



It’s not surprising that other vertebrate groups, such as reptiles and amphibians, are absent from glaciers, since they’re cold-blooded and could not survive long exposure to such low temperatures.

The most common order of birds in these habitats is the passerines, or songbirds. However, other groups are represented. The golden eagle is a member of the falcon order, and the common raven, like crows, jays and their relatives, is a corvid. Several species of ptarmigan represent the gallinaceous birds, a group which includes chickens, turkeys, partridges, pheasants, quail and grouse.
One bird species, the white-winged diuca finch, constructs its nest on the surface of glaciers in the Andes; it has been systematically studied on Quelccaya Glacier in Peru.

The mammals are more diverse, both in terms of taxonomy and behavior. Most common are the ungulates such as bison, musk ox, elk, reindeer, mountain goat, ibex, chamois and bighorn sheep, who come for relief from the heat; as large animals covered with fur and hair, they have difficulty cooling off during hot periods, and either lie directly on the ice, or rest in the cold air that drains off glaciers.

Wolverines have also been seen caching their prey on glaciers; the author suggests that this behavior may provide lactating females with critical components of their diet during the period when they are nursing their cubs.

In the meantime, Rosvold’s website, Frozen Fauna, provides a variety of information about the mammals and birds which inhabit, or at least regularly visit, glaciers, as well as about thearchaeology of the hunters and herders who have also inhabited these zones for many centuries.

New baby animals on display at Wildlife World Zoo

On this first day of fall, it’s the perfect time to start planning outings for the cooler weather. One of your must-visit attractions this autumn should be Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park, where lots of baby animals are making their debuts!



The baby animal nursery is bustling right now at the attraction, because three different feline species are now on display at the same time.

The latter two species will be featured among dozens of others in the upcoming expansion nicknamed "Adventure-land" that is currently under construction along the state route 303.

The bobcat and mountain lions are the first of their kind to be on permanent display at Wildlife World. Their arrival, along with several varieties of foxes, skunks, and other native species earlier this year marks a new direction in collection planning that is focused on adding North, Central, and South American species. Other new species to be added include bison, llamas, black bears, and a host of mammals, birds, and reptiles.The entire project, including an all-new Mexican restaurant, is scheduled to open by early January.

It will also include four new ride attractions: a family coaster, a 100-foot tall zip line, a flying scooter ride, and a 100-foot tall swing ride. As with previous ride attractions at Wildlife World, animals remain the focal point. For example, as the swing ride ascends to the top, riders will briefly hover at the level of the tree tops creating unique views of nearby habitats featuring acrobatic spider monkeys, known for their climbing skills and prehensile tails. The new zip line zooms passengers over and among a number of animal habitats.

10 interesting places to see animals near Atlanta

There are several places around Atlanta where you can see live animals. How about trying something new?



1.Hillcrest Orchards – When you go apple picking this fall, head over to Hillcrest Orchards in Ellijay where your family can enjoy animals "gentle enough to be held and fed by hand" including chickens, cats, goats and deer. Your admission charge includes the petting farm, wagon rides and playgrounds. $8 per person.

2.Chestatee Wildlife Preserve & Zoo – Open seven days a week, Chestatee Wildlife Preserve & Zoo isn't your typical zoo. They have 10 pathways covering 25 acres where you can see animals including lions, tigers, zebras, elk, alligator and servals in natural enclosures. Adults, $10; children, $5.

3.Chattahoochee Nature Center – The animal sanctuary is the home to eagles, a beaver, opossums, snakes, turkeys, vulture and hawks among other species. Keepers frequently invite guests to watch feeding time and learn more about species at the Center. Adults, $10.00; students, $7.00; children, $6.00; children two years old and younger receive free admission.

4.Phinizy Center for Water Sciences – Plan a day trip to Augusta where your family can explore the scenic canal area and spend time communing with nature at the Center. Explore trails, boardwalks and bridges that all make ideal spots for viewing animals including birds, beavers, water moccasins and fish. The park is free to visit and open seven days a week.

5.Tanglewood Farm – Nestled into a space of land between Alpharetta, Woodstock, Milton and Cumming, Tanglewood Farms is a 10-acre Wild West Town filled with over 150 miniature, rare and heritage breed animals. $15.00 per person; infants under one-year old receive free admission.

6.Amicalola Deer Park – Just off 575 in Cherokee County, you'll find a family-friendly attraction unlike other animal-centric attractions. In addition to petting deer, Amicalola Deer Park invites you to hike on their trails, picnic, skip stones in the river and enjoy the great outdoors. Adults, $8.00; children over three years old, $5; children under three years old receive free admission.

7.Noah's Ark – Twenty minutes south of Atlanta you'll find an animal sanctuary that is home to 1,500 animals on 250 acres of mostly shaded land. A herd of emu? Check! A lion, tiger and bear living in the same enclosure in harmony? Check! No large admission fees? Check! There is no cost to visit Noah's Ark but donations are accepted and appreciated.

8.Yellow River Game Ranch – Near Stone Mountain Park, a mile long trail guides guests around the 24-acre facility where white-tailed deer, rabbits, buffalo, sheep, goats and black bears await your perusal at the family-friendly facility. Adults, $8.00; children ages 2-11, $7.00, children under two years old get free admission.

9.Wild Animal Safari – Just north of Callaway Gardens, Wild Animal Safari is a drive-thru animal park. Don't want to drive your car? Take a complementary bus tour that will take you on a tour of the grounds which features over 650 animals of over 65 different species. Adults, $21.95; children, $19.95.

10.The Rock Ranch – In addition to zip lines, a rock climbing wall, train rides, a carousel, tiny town, pedal boats and pedal cars, visitors to The Rock Ranch will find a petting zoo where adults and children can get up close with a donkey, miniature horse, pig and more. $15 per person.

A Cat Hung Around A High School So Much That They Made Him A Student

This is Bubba of San Jose, California. He was adopted by Amber Marienthal in 2009, and has always done things his own way.



Amber’s family tried their best to keep him as an indoor cat, but Bubba had different things in mind. After he made a ruckus indoors, the family decided it was best to let him roam free outdoors.

The Marienthals’ home is situated between Leland High School and Bret Harte Middle School, and Bubba being ever the explorer started to hang out at both campuses.

The schools welcomed him with open arms, and Bubba is now a hit with the staff and student bodies.

Marienthal told the San Jose Mercury News that it’s Bubba’s nature to be friendly. “He’s really social and he has no fear.”

He roams both campuses freely, and gets along great with everyone.

The students like him so much that they’ve created a Facebook page to document his exploits, and it has over 16,000 followers.

There is even a petition going around to erect a statue in his honor.

They’ve even gotten him a school ID complete with an actual picture.

Plant light sensors came from ancient algae

The light-sensing molecules that tell plants whether to germinate, when to flower and which direction to grow were inherited millions of years ago from ancient algae, finds a new study from Duke University.

The findings are some of the strongest evidence yet refuting the prevailing idea that the ancestors of early plants got the red light sensors that helped them move from water to land by engulfing light-sensing bacteria, the researchers say.
The results appear online in Nature Communications.

"Much like we see the world through our eyes, plants 'see' the world through light-sensitive proteins in their leaves called photoreceptors," said Duke postdoctoral researcher Fay-Wei Li.

Photoreceptors monitor changes in the direction, intensity, duration and wavelength of light shining on a plant, and send signals that tell plants when to sprout, when to blossom, and how to bend or stretch to avoid being shaded by their neighbors.

"Light is what gives plants the energy they need to survive," Li said. "But light is constantly changing with the time of day and the seasons and the surrounding vegetation. Photoreceptors help plants determine if it's summer or winter, or if they're under the canopy or out in the open."

Instead of digesting them, the theory goes, the plant ancestors supplied a safe home for the cyanobacteria to grow, and the cyanobacteria supplied their light-harvesting machinery to help capture energy from the sun, until the two grew dependent upon one another and eventually joined together to become permanent partners.

Plant phytochromes turned out to be more closely related to algae than cyanobacteria, consistent with suspicions that earlier ideas about their bacterial origins may not be right after all.


The researchers also found a surprisingly diverse array of phytochromes in green algae, which could help scientists better understand how plants transitioned from life in the water to life on land.

Backyard Bouquets :: 5.17.15

When the snowball viburnum, spirea and mock orange start blooming, it feels like we’re cheating a little bit (actually, a lot) in the design studio. Such abundant voluminous blooms make designing large arrangements a cinch. Exhibit A: this latest installment of Backyard Bouquets. You’ll notice the delicious Le Belle Epoque tulips are back in action too, this time flanked by green hellebores instead of purple. This tulip plays nice with everything and I love her dearly for it!

What’s blooming in your backyard now? Please post a link in the comments as I’d love to see!

Climate change leaves trees out to dry

 The drought may be killing lawns, but whatever — they’re useless. When drought starts going after trees, however, that’s another matter. As year four of California’s drought rolls around, the magical, shade-providing carbon sinks are starting to perish, thanks to a lack of rain and a more recent lack of lawn irrigation.
                 

 It turns out all that profligate sprinkling was feeding California’s trees — and when cities cracked down on turf, they inadvertently starved out the more useful urban greenery. And while this one’s partly on us — maybe we should have realized that all those trees need to drink, too — we can give climate change (which is ultimately on us as well) a lot of the credit for this fun development. Climate change, you’ve done it again! Everyone else: Welcome back to Spoiler Alerts.
  Nature has already killed an estimated 12 million trees in California’s forests since the drought began four years ago — most falling victim to an outbreak of the bark beetle pests that attack trees weakened by drought.
 Now, trees in city parks, along boulevards and in residential neighborhoods are dying because homeowners, businesses and municipalities have stopped watering.
  A recent report by the U.S Department of Agriculture Forest Service show that the number of street trees in California have not kept up with population growth. The 9.1 million street trees make up 10 percent to 20 percent of the state’s total urban forest. The report also found that tree density has declined 30 percent since 1988 “as cities added more streets than trees.” Tree density fell from 105.5 trees per mile to 75 trees per mile in that period.

Nature puts on magnificent show in Cornwall where land meets the sea at West Pentire

One of the South West's rarest natural spectacles is blossoming as summer unfolds along the Cornwall coastline.
                                                     

Carefully managed for nature and people by the National Trust, the West Pentire arable fields near Newquay are exploding in a riot of red poppies and yellow corn marigolds – but also creating a haven for some of the most endangered wild flowers in the country.

The farmland is managed specifically as a nature reserve for plants and animals associated with arable cultivation, and is not commercially farmed - one of only a few such sites in Britain.

The area is visited by legions of people every year who are keen to see a real reminder of traditional non-intensive farming methods of the past, which worked in harmony with nature.
   Local botanist and National Trust volunteer Ian Bennallick knows West Pentire well, and has been helping survey the land since the late 1990s.

Ian grew up on a farm in Cornwall, where an early interest in wild flowers and ferns developed into a wide-ranging enthusiasm for the natural world.

He said: "West Pentire has it all. In one place you have a whole suite of rare and beautiful arable plants, found in numbers unheard of in other parts of the country.

"It's wonderful to see people coming from far and wide to appreciate not only the summer show of flowers but also their dramatic setting, where the land meets the sea."

Last year, Ian found small-flowered catchfly in large numbers. This little white campion has declined dramatically in recent decades due to modern agricultural practices and loss of habitat.

Ian is also co-ordinator of the Botanical Cornwall Group and leads field trips in the county.

The West Pentire site has been surveyed since the early 1990s, and as Mike Simmonds, National Trust Lead Ranger, said: "It's fantastic to be able to share this special place with visitors over the summer.

"As we celebrate 50 years of the National Trust's Neptune coastal campaign, it's vital that we continue to care for the coast for nature and people alike."

The arable fields on West Pentire are included in a Higher Level Stewardship Scheme (HLS) which provides the funding and guidance to help the Trust, and tenant farmer Bob Coad, continue to conserve and enhance the site for its amazing abundance and variety of arable flowers.

148 species of plants completely new to science discovered in India

The Modi government's responsibility to preserve biodiversity is likely to increase manifold as 148 new species of plants have been discovered by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).

                                                   

While these 148 species are altogether new to science, scientists at the BSI have also discovered 19 new varieties (sub-species) during 2014-15.
Besides, 101 species have been recorded for the first time in India.

While 114 novelties (new traits in a plant species) were described and published by scientists at the BSI, those from other institutes reported 164 novelties during 2014. Seed plants contributed the maximum with 42 per cent of the total discoveries followed by fungi at 19 per cent. Microbes contributed to 13 per cent of the new findings, while lichens had 12 per cent. Algae formed 9 per cent of the total new species while pteridophytes and bryophytes contributed to 2 and 3 per cent, respectively.
Region-wise, most of the new species were discovered in Western Ghats, which accounted for 22 per cent of the total discoveries made, followed by Eastern Himalaya at 15 per cent. The North-East India contributed to 15 per cent of the total discoveries while Andaman and Nicobar Islands shared 13 per cent of the new species found. About 11 per cent of the new findings were recorded from Peninsular India, followed by Western Himalaya with 9 per cent.

The Gangetic Plains, Eastern Plains and Central India, collectively, contributed to 10 per cent of the total new discoveries of 2014.

Novel Drug From Nature Shows Early Promise

A biotechnology company developing an unusual drug—derived from the venom of a sea anemone to treat autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and multiple sclerosis—reported encouraging results from a phase 1 clinical trial.
                             

Seattle-based Kineta Inc. said it expects early next year to begin recruiting patients for the next stage of the drug’s development, a phase 2 clinical trial. Kineta said the drug, called dalazatide, is intended to block only the white blood cells that cause many autoimmune diseases. Traditional treatments for autoimmune disorders suppress the entire immune system, putting patients at risk for infections.

Phase 1 trials are preliminary, meant to test the safety and tolerability of a new drug in a small group of patients. The bulk of new drugs tested fail to advance to phase 2 trials, which test a product’s efficacy among a larger group.

Autoimmune diseases affect as many as 23.5 million people in the U.S., especially women, according to the National Institutes of Health. Prevalence of the diseases, in which the immune system attacks the body’s own organs, tissues and cells, is increasing, for reasons that aren’t clear. There is no cure.

“The results of this trial indicate an important advance in developing next-generation treatments for autoimmune disease that specifically regulate the immune response without broad immune suppression,” said Dr. Shawn Iadonato, Kineta’s chief scientific officer.

Dalazatide is derived from the venom of the sun anemone, which lives on reefs in the Caribbean. It is part of a burgeoning research effort, much of it centered in Australia, to find new treatments, including painkillers, from the venoms of snakes, spiders and other creatures. Dalazatide is the first compound emerging from this area of research, which was the subject of a Wall Street Journal article in April, to be tested in humans, Kineta said.

For its phase 1 clinical trial, Kineta enlisted 24 patients with psoriasis, an autoimmune disorder that causes scaly patches on the skin. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups—those receiving 30 micrograms of the drug, another getting 60 mcg and a third given a placebo. Injection treatments were administered twice a week for four weeks, and patients were followed for an additional month.

2000 police used to quell pollution protest in China which left one dead

One person died and 50 were arrested after some 2,000 police, using rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons, put down a protest by villagers against pollution from a chemical plant in China’s Inner Mongolia, an overseas human rights group said.
Inner Mongolia has seen sporadic unrest since 2011 when the vast northern region was rocked by protests after an ethnic Mongol herder was killed by a truck after taking part in demonstrations against pollution caused by a coal mine.
Ethnic Mongols, who make up less than 20 percent of Inner Mongolia’s 24 million population, say their grazing lands have been ruined by mining and desertification and that the government has tried to resettle them in permanent houses.
Coal rich Inner Mongolia is supposed to enjoy a high degree of self-rule, but many Mongols say the Han Chinese majority has been the main beneficiaries of economic development.
In the latest incident, villagers in Naiman Banner took to the streets to protest against a chemical processing zone they said was polluting farmland and grazing land, the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre said in a statement late on Monday.
The group quoted a witness as saying police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators, leading to one death.
An official who picked up the telephone at the local government said he was unable to confirm any deaths and declined to comment further.
However the government posted on its official microblog on Monday that it had ordered the chemical zone to close and shift to another undisclosed location and that it would punish any rule breaking by the companies there.
The government also said that it would go after protesters who blocked roads, smashed up vehicles, stoked tension or spread rumours.
About 90,000 “mass incidents” - a euphemism for protests - occur each year in China, triggered by corruption, pollution, illegal land grabs and other grievances.
Aware at the anger over environmental problems, the Chinese government has declared a war on pollution, vowing to abandon a decades-old growth-at-all-costs economic model that has spoiled much of China’s water, skies and soil.

New to Nature No 138: Gastrodia flexistyloides

Many evolutionary biologists, including Charles Darwin in Fertilisation of Orchids (1862), have written about the bizarre and improbable contrivances by which orchids attract insect pollinators. Some orchids go so far as to mimic a female insect in appearance to attract an amorous male as an unwitting partner in pollination. A recently discovered orchid, Gastrodia flexistyloides, takes a very different approach. Like the similar G. flexistyla, it has a three-lobed column bearing the pollen. Two lobes are upright while the third is sharply curved in – and downward. There is a very good reason for this. These orchids are self-pollinating. Moreover, their flowers are cleistogamous. That is, the sexual bits are tightly enclosed within flowers that never open.
In many cleistogamous flowers the meeting of the gametes relies solely on gravity, pollen dropping within the flower. In the case of these species they do not have as far to fall, the sharply bent structure virtually assuring that self-pollination occurs. Clever variation on the system.
The species was described by Kenji Suetsugu of the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University. It was found in bamboo forest on Takeshima Island, Japan, predictably within the geographic range of the genus. The other 50 Gastrodia orchids are found in tropical and temperate areas of Asia, Oceania, and Madagascar.
Like other members of the genus, the new orchid is a parasite. Technically, it is described as a myco-heterotroph, a plant that derives its nutrients from fungi. Unlike the more familiar symbiosis between fungi and tree roots by which there is a network of give-and-take exchange of nutrients, Gastrodia species extract what they require from the fungus but so far as is known contribute nothing in return.
Gastrodia flexistyloides differs from G. flexistyla in a few important details. Specifically, the new species sends up a taller stalk when flowering, has consistently and completely cleistogamous flowers, and shows a perianth that is both narrower and smaller. Suetsugu observed hundreds of individual plants during the period of flowering from mid-March until late April, all of which bore unopened flowers. At nine to 18 cm, the inflorescence of the new species is just a bit larger than an average member of the genus. Record sizes are about 3 cm at the short end and 100 cm at the tallest. The exchange of pollen between these two, Suetsugu argues, is simply impossible due to this anatomical chastity belt. Reasonable as far as it goes, it does raise some other questions about whether there is a single evolutionary origin of such a plant.
Like other Gastrodia, the new one has a fleshy tuber or underground stem and is conspicuously devoid of leaves. I cannot mention orchid tubers without reference to an old wives’ tale. Certain orchid tubers are shaped like testicles, and it has been long claimed that, when consumed, they are an aphrodisiac. This is, of course, a load of bollocks.

Tigers Only Rarely Become Man-eaters

Usual prey is deer, buffalo, gaur. However a hungry tiger will go for anything from young elephants, rhinos, crocodiles, leopards, bears and even humans. A male's territory frequently overlaps those of several females, to which he mates as they come in estrus. Pregnancy lasts for around three and a half months and usually four or five cubs are born. In the wild not all of these survive since the female is often not able to hunt enough to feed all of them as they depend on her for their food until one and a half years of age. Also randomly, other male tigers may kill the cubs to bring the female into heat.

The demands of the habitat in which the tiger lives have not favored the development of a complex society and instead we see a dispersed social system. This arrangement is well suited to the task of finding and securing food in an essentially closed habitat where the scattered prey is solitary or in small groups. Males can learn the reproductive condition of females, and intruding animals are informed of the resident's presence, thus reducing the possibility of direct physical conflict and injury, which the solitary tiger cannot afford as it depends on its own physical health to obtain food.

When the young are small and unable to follow she must obtain food from a small area, as she has to return to suckle them at regular intervals. Later, when her young are larger and growing rapidly she must be able to find and kill enough prey to feed herself and the young. These are usually associated with the acquisition of one male's home range by another. By killing the offspring of the previous male, incoming male ensures that females in his newly acquired range come into heat and bear his offspring.

The female rears them alone, returning to the "den" site to feed them until they are old enough to begin following her, at about eight weeks of age. The cubs remain totally dependent on their mother for food until they are approximately 18 months old and may continue to use their mother's range until they are 2 - 2.5 years old, when they disperse to seek their own home ranges.