UK nature is in trouble – that is the conclusion of a groundbreaking report published this week by a coalition of leading conservation and research organisations.
Butterflies and moths have been particularly badly affected - almost three quarters of UK butterfly species have decreased in population during the last decade and the number of the UK’s larger moths has crashed during the past 40 years.
Every May the Chelsea Flower Show sees the Royal Chelsea Hospital grounds turned into an array of flower and garden exhibits. This year, the 100th year of the festival, best in show was won by Australian Phillip Johnson.
Brent Elliot has released a book of archival images to celebrate the centenary. Below are some images from his book (available here…
A couple of weeks ago I came across several pussy willows (Salix discolor, Salicaceae) in various reproductive stages. These large shrubs are dioecious, with separate male and female plants. Both sexes produce flowers in elongated, slender clusters known as catkins. The male catkin buds appear fuzzy and silvery in late winter and early spring, looking somewhat like cat toes:
Living in Colorado it's easy to forget that my home state has its own tourism draw. So I have decided to create a local photo journal category to show off Colorado's attractions through photography. I hope these posts will serve as a nice addition to and a break from my travel posts.
One of my favorite places to escape the city while never having to leave the city is the
Image courtesy of Frantic Gallery
Macoto Murayama diagrams flowers. He buys his specimens from flower stands or collects them from the roadside. Murayama carefully dissects each flower, removing its petals, anther, stigma and ovaries with a scalpel. He studies the separate parts of the flower under a magnifying glass and then sketches and photographs them.
Using 3D computer graphics software, the artist then creates models of the full blossom as well as of the stigma, sepals and other parts of the bloom.
Remember how sad I was finding little holes on my new duvets at the terrace? Little vandals were not identified. I did prepare-as my blogger friends proposed some soft wool treads as building material for nests, namely insulation, to be used next time. In vain, duvets provide much softer material, again, this spring, there were little holes all over my duvets. I decided not to bother any more and to look at the bright side of life instead, although some frustration remained. Until yesterday, when we ‘we heard tiny birds calling their mother !Little vandals have a nest under the roof of our terrace!Here are the first exclusive photos of newborns,my son took them from a safe distance, not to disturb them.From now on they can help them self with my duvets as much as they want to,after all they are the cutest little birds with the cutest birdie mum!
One of the strangest plants I’ve ever seen is Encephalartos horridus. It really was an opposite of the flora I admired in the glasshouse of Florence botanical garden .Which of course does not mean it is not to be admired. Perhaps even more, as it belongs among cycads, one of the real archeo-biological divisions, originating back in Jurassic period.Which fascinates me the most, is the fact, that looking at this plant one gets so many years back in evolution ,becoming a witness of past times.The very next thing coming up to my mind at that point is, how possibly looked all the others , by now extinct , plants from that time? Certainly a good reason not to let this one vanish in next years!
Cycads belong to the biological division Cycadophyta. The three extant families of cycads are Cycadaceae, Stangeriaceae, and Zamiaceae. Though they are a minor component of theplant kingdom today, during the Jurassic period, they were extremely common. They have changed little since the Jurassic, compared to some major evolutionary changes in other plant divisions.from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycad
This cycad is listed as an endangered species by the 2003 IUCN Red List,[1] a change from its vulnerable listing in the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.[4] Historically it was over-collected in the wild but widespread availability in commercial nurseries has reduced some of this pressure.[2]
| Eastern Cape Blue Cycad | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Cycadophyta |
| Class: | Cycadopsida |
| Order: | Cycadales |
| Family: | Zamiaceae |
| Genus: | Encephalartos |
| Species: | E. horridus |
| Binomial name | |
| Encephalartos horridus (Jacq.) Lehm. from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalartos_horridus | |
No matter how I’ve tried,I’ve newer recorded such a success with my garden efforts as did I with simple act of planting Wisteria sinensis alba about ten years ago.I am absolutely noncompetitive gardener,but must admit that it feels good when my neighbors stop by our house in simple admiration of white waterfall,I’ve noticed even some envy in eyes of my dear next-door neighbor having blue variety of wisteria which doesn’t want to flower.But there is something I enjoy even more as flattery during May, when my wisteria is just as magical smelling cloud-it is sitting on our wisteria terrace and observing many bees and bumblebees constantly flying among scented flowers.There are so many a buzz is becoming a sort of music,vanishing with wind and appearing stronger again and again.The same one bumblebees are coming back to eat sweet nectar again and again,day after day!Well, this is called flower constancy (and not,as one might assume the constant beauty of my wisteria) although from my point of view it could be called bumblebee constancy!
Bumblebees will also tend to visit the same patches of flowers every day, as long as they continue to find nectar and pollen,[11] a habit known as pollinator or flower constancy. While foraging, bumblebees can reach ground speeds of up to 15 metres per second (54 km/h).[12] from;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee
| Wisteria sinensis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Tribe: | Millettieae |
| Genus: | Wisteria |
| Species: | W. sinensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Wisteria sinensis (Sims) DCfrom:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisteria_sinensis |
|
These days irises are in fool bloom , but it rains and rains.So I’ve picked an iris flower to put in a vase,before they all get soaked.And it really looks fabulous! All I have to do now is to wait for the rainbow!
Iris stands behind the seated Juno(right) in a Pompeii fresco
In Greek mythology, Iris (pron.: /ˈaɪrɨs/; Ἶρις) is the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. She is also known as one of the goddesses of the sea and the sky. Iris links the gods to humanity. She travels with the speed of wind from one end of the world to the other,[1]and into the depths of the sea and the underworld.
from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)
“Bouquet of Flowers, Irises”, Odilon Redon, from:http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_134482/Odilon-Redon/page-1
“Still Life with Irises”, Vincent Van Gogh, from:http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_133104/Vincent-Van-Gogh/page-1
