Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings Kathy Lawler — Guest Blogger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sounds like something warm and fuzzy… right? Sundews. Conjures up a happy day with sunshine and light with the promise of morning dew. Not so much! Sundews are part of a family of carnivorous plants and there are over 194 species of them. These plants attract insects to their dewy stems. Sundews are perennial, and we have been growing both Sundews and Venus Flytraps indoors for the last two years. We originally bought our Sundews to photograph and the size of this red part in photo is about only a 1/4 of an inch! Then we discovered another thing they were really great for… Turns out that these plants have been our best defense in trying to combat those natty little files that live in the soil around your indoor plants. We had tried several other solutions, including placing sand around the top of the pot but nothing seems to work as well as having a few Sundews in the room with the plants. Needless to say our problem was solved, and in a way that didn’t involve any chemicals or sprays. Sundews have tentacles that are covered with a sticky secretion that is sweet to attract insects and is gooey to ensnare them. Small insects are attracted to the secretions and upon touching them, become stuck to the plant and are not able to escape. The enzymes in the secretions dissolve the insects. Gross right? Your kids and grandkids will love these! We've found Sundews and Venus flytraps these days everywhere – at our local nursery, hardware store, and even in the gift shop of a local science museum. There are some things you need to do to grow these in your home. Ours are sitting in a tray of water to keep the plants moist and you should never let them dry out. We also use distilled water to eliminate the excess minerals in water. We also have them in a very sunny location with 6 or more hours of light per day. And we keep them happy by supplying the bugs! Thank you for visiting! Kathy P.s. Have you used any natural method to combat pests? Have you ever grown carnivorous plants? Share your stories with us; let's compare notes.
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Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings Kathy Lawler — Guest Blogger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have had so much rain in Virginia this year. Saturday was our first day to get outside and finish the yard projects we had been trying to do this year. This was not only our first chance to enjoy the Spring — due to the crazy number of rainy days — it was also our last chance to enjoy a bit of Spring — before we get into a long hot summer! This year, to add to our Artsy Fartsy plant containers we made last year, we decided to build a birdbath (or bird spa as I like to call it) to add to the fun aesthetics and to enhance our variety and number of visitors! I built this using terra cotta pots that I spray-painted and stacked. The finished birdbath stands about 3 1/2 feet and is made up of 5 different sized pots. Two upside down terra cotta saucers make up the birdbath part of the piece. Birds do like a shallow-water bath so these saucers worked out quite well. If you do an internet search for terra cotta birdbaths you will find a surprising number of great ideas and different looks for your pending creation. Be sure to read about how to finish the terra cotta pots before you begin. I also did a bit of reading about what birds like best in a birdbath — unfortunately I read this after I had planned, painted, and constructed my birdbath. So here are the do’s and don’ts for you to consider when you build a birdbath for your yard.
You will need to change the water and clean your birdbath often — apparently birds aren’t opposed to pooping on, or in, art. We are still waiting for our birds to discover their new spa. I’m thinking that they are as tired of all the water falling from the sky as we are. Of course, we’re hoping for some great photo ops coming soon and we will share them with you when they happen! Thank You for visiting,
— Kathy, Guest Blogger P.s. Have you added a birdbath to your yard? How did you get the birds to start using it? Do you have any great suggestions you would like to share? We would love to hear your ideas and compare notes! Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recently, at an Art Fair, I was talking with a couple kindergarten teachers about how I view my world prior to photographing it. I spoke of how I employ virtual tunnel-vision in my Mind’s Eye to home in on a small subject; to eliminate all the visual clutter and distractions around it; to show it in its unique singularity, unhampered by the chaos around it. In discussing this concept, we came up with a great two-part project for their students. In Part One, the class would learn about telescopes and what they have done to improve / advance civilization. The students could then “build” their own “telescopes” by coloring the outsides of TP or paper towel tubes using Crayons, markers, or finger paints (OMG!). Hey! We even managed to work Art into Science class! With Part Two comes Nature Study. The telescopes become microscopes with the Little Nature Explorers crawling around in the grass and among the bushes looking at life through their ‘scopes. A vociferous discussion soon erupts about all the colors, and bugs, and leaves, and pebbles, and worms, and…, and…, and… This is essentially what I do every time I go out on a Photo Safari. My TP tube is a bit more sophisticated. My voice is a bit quieter. But I’m still a kid, on my knees, rooting around in the garden, discovering the mystery, the majesty, the esoteric, the familiar [re-seen differently], the minute, the wonderful… all seemingly for the first time.
It’s Grand to be a Kid again! Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. Do you think you might try this with your own kids? You did?! How’d it turn out? What did they discover? Share their stories for us all to enjoy. Kathy Lawler, Guest Blogger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Bee Or Not To Bee . . . Bee Good To Your Garden. We enjoyed planting a number of annuals throughout the summer last year. Since we live in the city, our yard is rather small. Between the front and the back yard together we have only 375 square feet to work with. We really enjoy the variety, sizes, and types of annuals we could chose from and of course, loved the repeated trips to our favorite nursery, Holly, Woods, and Vines in Alexandria, Virginia. Not only have we enjoyed the ever-changing color and texture combinations of the annuals we planted, but we now have a parade of little visitors who are enjoying them, too. Our plants have inspired hummingbirds, frogs, praying mantis, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, and the all-important bees — the best pollinators. Turns out, any size garden can support pollinators. Bee populations are in jeopardy and it is important to encourage their populations. We all understand the importance of bees, but the scope of the importance can’t be overstated. According to gardeners.com “one out of every three bites of your food depends on a pollinator”! Certain flowers that are nectar- and pollen-rich will help attract these pollinators. Here are a few suggestions for planting:
There is also a region by region guide to planting. You just put in your zip code and voila! You will have a PDF outlining which plants in your region the pollinators prefer. We have had several of our annuals grow a crazy amount last year and they looked wonderful. This Lantana flower, attracting both butterflies and bees, started its life with us in a 4 inch pot — now look at the size of it -- this purple pot is 12 inches across! This was grown in one of our “new pots” we created. We have been so inspired with our little garden and all our visitors, that we are making more and bigger plans for this year — we might include a vegetable garden, a water feature . . . who knows!
Stay tuned for additional BUZZ through out the year! Thank You for visiting, — Kathy Lawler, guest blogger P.s. What pollinators have you planted? What do they attract... bees... butterflies... hummingbirds...? What have you found to be the easiest to plant and propagate? Share your experiences and we'll all learn something from one and other! |
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About Chris
I am a Virginia-based photographer and gather my images while hiking in parks and natural areas here at home and in the locations I travel to. I also love to visit arboretums and botanic gardens to find unusual and exotic subjects. Archives
March 2017
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