tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81702105013561366952024-03-13T10:21:31.231-04:00Clatter ValleyHands in the Dirt, Head in the StarsSteve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.comBlogger201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-18426400285729508352010-11-01T14:50:00.000-04:002010-11-01T14:50:02.063-04:00Mars or Bust!<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMdOCeaUMjI/AAAAAAAADAI/ba6hxrONYTE/s1600/Mars+1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" nx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMdOCeaUMjI/AAAAAAAADAI/ba6hxrONYTE/s400/Mars+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMdktHWV74I/AAAAAAAADAM/dDdxjQG5IBw/s1600/wile+e+coyote+space+shot.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMdktHWV74I/AAAAAAAADAM/dDdxjQG5IBw/s200/wile+e+coyote+space+shot.bmp" width="200" /></a><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Yo, yo, yo people! We are going to Mars! Yes, we are leaving this tired old, used-up hulk of a planet to the trash heap. Soon enough global warming will bake this ball of space dust into a shriveled-up cinder incapable of supporting even a cockroach. Time to get out of town! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Yes, NASA is working on plans to develop a one-way manned mission to the great beyond. OK, no jokes about who you might like to reserve a seat for, because this is some serious stuff. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/hundred-year-starship-program_n_773758.html">NASA and DARPA (the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) have embarked on a mission to build a Hundred Year Starship</a>, a vessel intended to voyage to distant stars and drop off passengers, permanently, along the way. First stop? Maybe Mars.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMdmET-LZBI/AAAAAAAADAQ/NnB5y37Tz7o/s1600/Universal+City+studios.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMdmET-LZBI/AAAAAAAADAQ/NnB5y37Tz7o/s320/Universal+City+studios.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Reluctant Astronaut" Universal City Studios photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Hard to say just how serious they are about the plan. So far the two mega agencies have coughed up $1.1 million in start-up fiunds, an amount dwarfed, no doubt, the by the Pentagon's budget for donuts. Still, those in the know say they might be blasting off the first ship in as soon as 20 years. Since we've let the home planet go to pieces, the plan is to get to Mars, carve out a foothold, then terraform the place and start all over again. (Note to self: <em>This </em>is why those fat-cat, greed-monger CEOs and banking execs need to make obscene amounts of cash and don't care about trashing the planet and its people in the process--They're saving up for tickets!) </div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMeX1aEySVI/AAAAAAAADAk/_Pd9FsGdmQM/s1600/Atomic+Avenue+%231+art+by+Glen+Orbik.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="580" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMeX1aEySVI/AAAAAAAADAk/_Pd9FsGdmQM/s400/Atomic+Avenue+%231+art+by+Glen+Orbik.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Here are a couple quotes from a <a href="http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-10/%E2%80%98hundred-year-starship%E2%80%99-could-bring-humans-other-worlds-and-leave-them-there-forever">Popsci story</a> about the effort. (Illo above is "Atomic Avenue #1" by Glen Orbik. Hat Tip: <a href="http://www.darkroastedblend.com/">DRB</a>)<br />
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<em>“The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,” Worden said, according to a Singularity University blog that covered the event.</em><br />
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<em>Incidentally, thats exactly the proposal in a new paper in press in the Journal of Cosmology, a relatively new, peer-reviewed open access journal. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies suggest sending astronauts to Mars with the intention of staying for the rest of their lives, as trailblazers for a permanent Mars colony.</em><em><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>They would get periodic supply missions, but they would be expected to fend for themselves for water, shelter, nutrients and mineral/chemical processing. They would be expected to develop some kind of homegrown Martian industry, which could ultimately serve as a hub for an expanded colonization program. Plus, leaving some people on another planet would probably ensure that we’d want to go back, to visit them and see what they created.</em></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Thinking about enlisting? Sign up for a <a href="http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/visitorcenter/orientationmap">tour</a> to see future real estate hotspots such as the Tharsis Volcanic Region or the Utopian Plains. If you like what you see, <a href="http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/welcome">become a Martian citizen</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMeSkXMLx2I/AAAAAAAADAg/wk1hRWjWU1Y/s1600/space+battle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMeSkXMLx2I/AAAAAAAADAg/wk1hRWjWU1Y/s400/space+battle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMeQXjk45fI/AAAAAAAADAU/xD1IJKyCyrc/s1600/Frank+Paul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMeQXjk45fI/AAAAAAAADAU/xD1IJKyCyrc/s320/Frank+Paul.jpg" width="231" /></a>On Mars, new settlers can revive the great traditions of our earthly past. They can slaughter the hapless natives (as in the Donald Newton illustration above), raze the landscape, build soaring cities (like the one envisioned by Frank Paul), and get busy extracting and plunder anything and everything of possible value--like maybe whatever shimmering blue liquid lies lakelike in the crater below (in a scene actually photographed by NASA on the red planet). Then after another couple years, they'll have to head off for the next stop.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMeSPzNfLhI/AAAAAAAADAc/D2bA4Ez7W40/s1600/mars-water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMeSPzNfLhI/AAAAAAAADAc/D2bA4Ez7W40/s400/mars-water.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Sorry to rain on this particular parade, er, launch, but a change of address isn't going to solve our problems. No, relocating humanity, even seeding it throughout the universe, is not the answer. We don't need to change our location, we need to change our values. We have to try to live in harmony with--rather than in domination of--the place we call home. Our species managed just that for tens of thousands of years, until fairly recently. How hard can it be? </div></div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-75041553915314660862010-10-29T23:58:00.001-04:002010-10-30T00:26:13.912-04:00Fab Foliage Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMucUZYF7hI/AAAAAAAADAw/Bm72WKlHcmI/s1600/2010+257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" nx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMucUZYF7hI/AAAAAAAADAw/Bm72WKlHcmI/s400/2010+257.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today's fab foliage is not a plant, it's an idea. The idea that you don't need anything but leaves to make a compelling garden vignette, This big leaf bonanaza comes from the ever-amazing <a href="http://www.longwoodgardens.org/">Longwood Gardens</a>, from a spot deep inside the coils of its vast conservatory. Don't know whether this particular chlorophyll-filled chamber has an official name; to me it is always the Hall of Steroidal House Plants. Whatever you want to call it, the plants speak for themselves. Eloquently.</div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-2833246428753112702010-10-28T17:46:00.001-04:002010-10-28T17:52:51.715-04:00Me @ BBG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMiupg0N2QI/AAAAAAAADAs/PUybboclQ1E/s1600/cordyline+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" nx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMiupg0N2QI/AAAAAAAADAs/PUybboclQ1E/s400/cordyline+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I'll be doing my PowerPoint presentation on <a href="http://clattervalleygardens.blogspot.com/2008/10/mnnmjj.html">The Crazy Mixed-Up Border</a> at the <a href="http://www.berkshirebotanical.org/">Berkshire Botanical Garden</a> in Stockbridge, MA next Saturday, Nov 6. I've taught and lectured there in the past and always love returning to stroll the inspiring grounds. My talk starts at 10 am-for more info or to purchase tickets, go <a href="http://www.berkshirebotanical.org/education/index.html#crazyBorder">here</a>.Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-6402782295444566592010-10-28T11:50:00.004-04:002010-10-28T12:15:36.556-04:00Gardyn Music<object height="246" width="394"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cBN-CAhOYQ0?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cBN-CAhOYQ0?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="394" height="246"></embed></object><br />
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There's probably no one out there who hasn't already seen this video by the Australian sound artist Pogo (aka Nick Bertke)...but what the heck! I find each viewing more compelling than the last, so I keep watching it. The flow of time in this video seems frozen yet fluid; I consider that feeling of loopy suspension to be a big part of the magic. This is a work of sonic genius (the visuals are pretty good too), a notion affirmed by the video's selection as as one of the 25 most innovative, unique and groundbreaking video works of the past two years, as determined by the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYT2D6ZZOnE&feature=player_embedded#!">YouTube Play</a> jury. This video, along with the other jury picks, was recently celebrated at the Guggenheim Museums in New York, Bilbao, Berlin and Venice.Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-36916349195748938442010-10-27T08:28:00.000-04:002010-10-27T08:28:41.775-04:00Wordless Wednesday 10.27.10<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMgak14rZSI/AAAAAAAADAo/WdJxhio8P7I/s1600/2010+274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMgak14rZSI/AAAAAAAADAo/WdJxhio8P7I/s400/2010+274.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Photographed @ Longwood Gardens</div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-62594503729542359282010-10-26T14:47:00.002-04:002010-10-26T16:14:13.303-04:00The New Amazonians<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMcbZv8JVhI/AAAAAAAAC_0/71DzPCvRixU/s1600/Apistogramma_baenschi+Kris+Weingold+WWF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" nx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMcbZv8JVhI/AAAAAAAAC_0/71DzPCvRixU/s400/Apistogramma_baenschi+Kris+Weingold+WWF.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
I don't intend to chronicle the discovery of every new species, but they are always worth noting. In an era with more than 25,000 annual extinctions, it seems as if we're hurtling toward another mass die-off, an evolutionary gateway that has swung shut--killing off 50-90% of the species calling earth home-at least five times in our planet's past. The last mass extinction, the Triassic-Jurassic die-off 65 million years ago, killed off the dinosaurs and made possible the rise of mammals. Some scientists believe global warming, with an assist from other human-driven catastrophes--pollution, land clearing and overfishing--could lead to another mass extinction as early as 2100.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMcbyJDBObI/AAAAAAAAC_4/s1KugwafFuk/s1600/Mico_acariensis+Georges+Neron+WWFl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="375" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMcbyJDBObI/AAAAAAAAC_4/s1KugwafFuk/s400/Mico_acariensis+Georges+Neron+WWFl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So when a new species is discovered, it's as if there is a new star in the sky, a new reason for hope. It suggests we are not killing things off faster than we can discover them. I hope. Anyways, the latest discoveries come from the imperiled Amazon basin, the vast, green lungs of our planet, which are being ravaged by settlers, loggers and miners for short term gain. <a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/home-full.html">World Wildlife Fund</a> researchers and others have discovered 1200 new species--a rate of one every three days during the last decade, a feat detailed in <a href="http://assets.panda.org/downloads/amazon_alive_web_ready_sept23.pdf">Amazon Alive</a>.. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMcb4Iu3YQI/AAAAAAAAC_8/4MbfhFe5Emg/s1600/Avicularia_braunshauseni+Carl+Csaba+WWF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMcb4Iu3YQI/AAAAAAAAC_8/4MbfhFe5Emg/s320/Avicularia_braunshauseni+Carl+Csaba+WWF.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Among them are the electric-looking fish at top, <em>Apistogramma baenschi</em> (photo by Kris Weinhold), one of 257 species discoved in the mother of rivers and its tributaries. How about the stylish spider with the pink slippers, <em>Avicularia braunshauseni</em>, a tarantula with a sharpshooting talent for blasting pesky intruders with perfectly aimed jet of excrement--accurate to 3 feet (photo by Karl Csaba). Then there's the Rio Acari marmoset (lensed by Georges Neron) and the last of this little sampler, a boon for all you flower lovers, is this handsome bromeliaceous<em> Bromelia araujoi</em> photographed by E. Esteves Pereira. Long may they shine!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMcb9vbfF8I/AAAAAAAADAA/gwBnO4kM9cs/s1600/Bromelia_araujoi_E+Estaves+Pereira+WWF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="500" nx="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMcb9vbfF8I/AAAAAAAADAA/gwBnO4kM9cs/s400/Bromelia_araujoi_E+Estaves+Pereira+WWF.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-23350684839450989572010-10-24T15:20:00.000-04:002010-10-24T15:25:39.531-04:00Making an Impression<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGRqFAzIdI/AAAAAAAAC_o/oK8P3PK2AZY/s1600/2010+186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGRqFAzIdI/AAAAAAAAC_o/oK8P3PK2AZY/s400/2010+186.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGRjIPQpNI/AAAAAAAAC_k/ADN1W8VUwx8/s1600/2010+051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGRjIPQpNI/AAAAAAAAC_k/ADN1W8VUwx8/s200/2010+051.jpg" width="186" /></a>My efforts at garden making, diverse though they may be, tend to rely largely on contrasting the shapes and textures of foliage. Flowers too (and how about those way cool dahlias and <em>Lantana trfolia</em>-a plant I am <em>so</em> hunting for next year.) And since, when it comes to gardening, I'm one of those more-is-better guys, I like dramatic juxtapositions of plants with wildly differing attributes. But on a recent whirl of garden visiting I had to admire an approach almost opposite to mine, an approach that often groups plants by their similarites rather than their differences, an approach that I find ethereal, airy--almost to the point of spectral, and oh-so appealing. Perhaps its allure lies in the likelihood that this is an effect I rarely strive for--with any measure of success--in my own gardens, because the truth is that I have utterly no idea how to go about achieving it, so...I'll just appreciate this vaguely impressionistic effect that to me uderscores a garden's fragility and its transitory beauty.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Take the opening image of <em>Nicotiana mutablis</em>, its pinky white flowers creating a starry firmament above the clouds provided by <em>Euphorbia characias</em> 'Glacier Blue' and <em>Agastache</em> 'Acapulco Salmon and Pink.' The scene looks fragile, almost ghostly, as if it might disappear in a gust of wind. But this vignette at the Ladies' Border at the <a href="http://www.nybg.org/">New York Botanical Garden</a> exhibits real staying power, it will provide that punch for weeks if not months. It's all about the massing of tiny details. </div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGRbv9mdEI/AAAAAAAAC_g/Y-GdjAZSL38/s1600/2010+120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGRbv9mdEI/AAAAAAAAC_g/Y-GdjAZSL38/s320/2010+120.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Likewise. on the other side of the NYBG conservatory, I happened upon the Seasonal Walk, this year a Dutch treat courtesy of uber-designers Piet Oudolf and Jacqueline Van der Kloet. Oudolf is known for the creation of evolving, seasoanlly rich plantscapes--many of whicxh are built upon the very frilly, linear shapes which so baffle me whenever I try to group them into combination. But there's no denying the windblown beauty of their creation, and the sheer eye-popping pizzaz of those dahlias nodding amid the plumes of grasses.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Farther afield, at <a href="http://www.chanticleergarden.org/">Chanticleer</a>, a similar scene revealed itself. And though horrid lighting prevented capturing a good representation of the tableau, there's no denying the effective use of lots and lots of linear shapes. The grasses, the yucca (is that a <em>rostrata</em>?), and the rest gathered in festive celebration of the airy line. That it works, no doubt. How the conceptual process that pulled it all together evolved, no clue.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGRTK78bJI/AAAAAAAAC_c/xBzwuAqk06U/s1600/2010+368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGRTK78bJI/AAAAAAAAC_c/xBzwuAqk06U/s400/2010+368.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, this Chanticleer reverie really got me motivated to try some of these more impressionistic approaches to garden making. Foliage is doing nothing for this flowery fantasia, but the ethereal beauty of these colorful clouds-in primary hues of red, yellow and blue--make this something worth striving toward. And so I shall work next season, once again, to make my own scene that is more gauzy than gaudy, one that relies on likenesses rather than differences, one that is subtle, not shocking. Maybe I'll get lucky. </div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-47701274811727478382010-10-22T09:14:00.005-04:002010-10-22T09:50:51.055-04:00Fab Foliage Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGMGoMZoWI/AAAAAAAAC_U/jECE6dKVemQ/s1600/2010+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="540" nx="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TMGMGoMZoWI/AAAAAAAAC_U/jECE6dKVemQ/s400/2010+001.jpg" width="390" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Clatter Valley may have a tropical flavor-at least for part of the year--but as yet there's very little in the way of that most iconic of tropical plants, the palm tree. Now and then I'll pick up something sold as a houseplant at Lowe's Depot and plunk that in the garden for a palm effect, but I never took them too seriously until I happened on a specimen of silver Mediterranean fan palm (<em>Chamaerops humilis</em> var, <em>cerifera</em>). Wowza! What a foliage plant. A symmetrical dome of fan-shaped silver foliage -each leaf comprised of long splintery, slivers of silver--crowns a knobbly , primeval looking trunk. Those glorious leaves, which glimmer like moonlight, are perched atop long stems lined with hooklike thorns which look like a raptor's claws.<br />
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</div>It's a plant brimming with beautiful details: the blades of the rounded, fanlike leaves, the thorns, the knobby trunk, the silvery hue, the overall silhouette--this thing's a keeper. And this native of Morocco's Atlas Mountains is among the hardiest of the already hardy (relatively speaking) fan palm clan. It grows a mile up in those semi arid mountains, where the weather is often cold enough to provide the palm a dusting of snow. Which means I can leave it out in its pot at least until Thanksgiving. And since it is so slow growing, this plant is a great candidate for containers. All it needs is plenty of sun (though color isn't bad even in part shade) and excellent drainage. Once it grows too cold outside here, my silver Mediterranean fan palm will come indoors for the winter to live as a houseplant. It's definitely worth the effort-this one's a keeper.Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-39844312817264332602010-10-20T08:57:00.000-04:002010-10-20T08:57:36.311-04:00Wordless Wednesday 10.20.10<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TL7m9SA2WWI/AAAAAAAAC_Q/7lm1befxyy0/s1600/2010+350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TL7m9SA2WWI/AAAAAAAAC_Q/7lm1befxyy0/s400/2010+350.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Photographed @ ChanticleerSteve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-11837085425454315522010-10-18T09:00:00.003-04:002010-10-18T20:48:47.808-04:00Fall Finale at NYBG<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLw46f_dzYI/AAAAAAAAC-o/3LohPfpkIVc/s1600/2010+158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="256" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLw46f_dzYI/AAAAAAAAC-o/3LohPfpkIVc/s400/2010+158.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">With the garden season winding down to winter, I made a trip to the <a href="http://www.nybg.org/">New York Botanic Garden</a> to get a look at their last hurrah in the Irwin Perenial Garden. It's always a great show, from the large scale of the inviting entryway, to the smallest detail.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLw43f46srI/AAAAAAAAC-k/0LyLXLgLBHg/s1600/2010+160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="318" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLw43f46srI/AAAAAAAAC-k/0LyLXLgLBHg/s400/2010+160.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">As always, I was on the lookout for sizzling combos created by juxtaposing bold, broad-leafed thingies against more delicate, airy companions. like, for example, the bigger-than-a-bathmat leaves of this banana rising from a surround of Russian sage (<em>Perovskia atriplicifolia</em>) , coleus, assorted dahlias and more.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLw40OlzvdI/AAAAAAAAC-g/k7BbjN85iOk/s1600/2010+162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="525" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLw40OlzvdI/AAAAAAAAC-g/k7BbjN85iOk/s400/2010+162.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Color ruled the day in this similarly scaled community of canna, accented by an orange swoon of cigar plant (<em>Cuphea</em> 'David Verity'), with its emberlike tube-shaped flowers all aglow in the overcast. Further firing up the scene were the bigger blooms of a few orange dahlias, smoldering like floating campfires. I know, I know...not everyone likes orange. But I do! Unapologetically. It's more accommodating than red, not as strident as yellow. I find it to be at once both fiery hot and pleasingly mellow. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Back to bold, how about these cool elephant ears (<em>Colocasia esculenta</em> 'Tea Cup'), floating above the filmy firmament of thread leaf bluestar (<em>Amsonia hubrichtii</em>) without benefit of saucers? Oh, and a few red zingers, courtesy of Dahlia royalty 'Bishop of Landaff', make the display ever so much more pleasing.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">More thread leaf bluestar never hurts this time of year. While many may plant this standout for the galaxies of starry blue flowers that cover it in late spring, I find it far more valuable in fall, when its fine foliage turns a shimmering gold. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Speaking of gold, if there's a plant that's worth its weight in that precious substance, I'd have to say it's gold Japanese forest grass (<em>Hakonechloa macra</em> 'Aureola'), or any of the similar cultivars that bring so much bling to whatever setting they are placed in. Not only is there that gloooooooooorious color (typo, and it stays), there's the plant's ever-so-appealing lax habit, likened by so many to a waterfall. Long may it flow!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLw4wy1zgvI/AAAAAAAAC-c/lziSz5unGQA/s1600/2010+180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="241" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLw4wy1zgvI/AAAAAAAAC-c/lziSz5unGQA/s400/2010+180.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the most valuable yet simple garden design techniques is repetition. Repetition. You can never go wrong by adding more than one of a kind, and it gets even better when they are spaced out at roughly equal intervals, or if you're more eclectic kind of gardener, at irregular intervals. My feeling is that regular intervals are best because they bring an element of structural formality to a planting, and the more structure you've got, the freer you are to make merry with the rest of the plants. So, ironically, the rigor of regular repeats are ultimately a liberating force. And speaking of repetition, I'm going to have to get back to this garden soon. </div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-38705984047466560742010-10-15T12:12:00.006-04:002010-10-15T12:28:44.115-04:00Fab Foliage Friday<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLh79wH9EcI/AAAAAAAAC-Y/j-XiSUcPjQM/s1600/2010+039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="440" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLh79wH9EcI/AAAAAAAAC-Y/j-XiSUcPjQM/s400/2010+039.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLh77tBbM0I/AAAAAAAAC-U/5QQUlBCs4ds/s1600/2010+043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TLh77tBbM0I/AAAAAAAAC-U/5QQUlBCs4ds/s200/2010+043.jpg" width="133" /></a>Furcraea are freakin' fantastic! I've proclamied my undying love for all things bromeliaceous or agavaceous in the past, and my ardor shows no sign of abating. Here's why: These plants have a supremely sculptural quality, for my money, one of the best shapes in the whole plant kingdom. Its sturdy, meaty leaves thrust purposefully from the ground. Like broadswords, they parry the elements, slashing at wind, and cutting through the rain. The plant's resolute nature gives it an elegant, classical quality.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As a collector of plant oddities, I am always on the lookout for plants that are like little works of art, and consider my garden (at least parts of it), to be a living gallery of chlorophyllic, sculpturous shapes and textures-furcraeas fit right in. They also appeal because they are spineless-which is not to say they have no presence--on the contrary! What they don't have are spines, or, colloquially, prickers, stickers, thorns or whatever you want to call the lethal protrusions that make handling agaves a dicey proposition. Put a furcraea in a pot (or better yet, an urn), put the pot anywhere there's enough room, and presto-you have just improved the neighborhood. Sadly these things aren't hardy in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6 garden, but they seem content lolling away the winter in my basement, illumined by a few florescent lights. I photographed these specimens at the New York Botanic Garden, so not certain of the species or cultivar name but probably <em>Furcraea gigantea</em> 'Variegata'.</div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-53584711395254268142010-10-11T07:38:00.002-04:002010-10-11T08:30:31.560-04:00New Guinea's Newbies<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK4FjtNs7bI/AAAAAAAAC98/-x44uQa885I/s1600/Tube+nose+fruit+bat+Piotr+Naskrecki+iLCP.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="348" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK4FjtNs7bI/AAAAAAAAC98/-x44uQa885I/s400/Tube+nose+fruit+bat+Piotr+Naskrecki+iLCP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK4HgFtxfhI/AAAAAAAAC-E/hpH8i5CIFZ0/s1600/Litoria+genimaculata+by+Stephen+Richards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="145" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK4HgFtxfhI/AAAAAAAAC-E/hpH8i5CIFZ0/s200/Litoria+genimaculata+by+Stephen+Richards.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's always good news to hear about the discovery of new species, rather than the disappearance of those already known. Happening upon unknown life forms reveals magic and mystery in the world we inhabit, and offers proof positive that one need not journey to the bottom of a deep ocean trench or distant star system to encounter terra incognita. <br />
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New Guinea continues to provide new finds for the most special of treasure hunter-those seeking life hitherto unknown to science. The latest discoveries come from the Muller mountains of Papua New Guinea and the Nakanai mountains of nearby New Britain, off New Guinea's coast.Some 200 new species of plant and animal were <a href="http://www.conservation.org/FMG/Articles/Pages/200_new_species_png_expedition_muller_nakanai.aspx">observed by Conservation International researchers</a>.Their finds included the freaky looking tube nose fruit bat (previously seen but still little known, though scientists have verified that he is not related to Yoda) and the spooky pink-eyed katydid (both photographed by Piotr Naskrecki). The cute tiny frog, a member of the genus <em>Litoria,</em> also hails from the Muller mountains and was lensed by Stephen Richards.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK4HhOXF63I/AAAAAAAAC-I/ErUkOM1mpLs/s1600/pink+eyed+leaf+katydid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK4HhOXF63I/AAAAAAAAC-I/ErUkOM1mpLs/s1600/pink+eyed+leaf+katydid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="343" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK4HhOXF63I/AAAAAAAAC-I/ErUkOM1mpLs/s400/pink+eyed+leaf+katydid.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Discussing the new finds, Richards, the team's leader, told AP, "They tell us how little we still know about the world. There's a lot of concern, quite rightly, about biodiversity loss and climate change and the impacts on biodiversity and what biodiversity means to us. ... Then we do projects like this and we discover, 'Hey - we don't even know what biodiversity is out there.'"</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-26805406324359903512010-10-08T10:13:00.000-04:002010-10-08T10:13:26.961-04:00Fab Foliage Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK8miHq1czI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/OejFNofidTc/s1600/leaves+005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="321" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK8miHq1czI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/OejFNofidTc/s400/leaves+005.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So many coleus, so little time. As a longtime leaf lover, I'm always flying my freaky foliage flag high--which means I can always make room for a new coleus or or two--but I also reserve a spot-or five-for returning favorites. Topping the old-but-good list of late is 'Sky Fire' a boldly hued coleus that grows to about 18 inches wide and high. Its deep, dark burgundy, shimmering chartreuse and yippie-yai-yay yellows make it invaluable in the hot color combinations on which I thrive. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>As you might guess from their square stems, this genus (Solenostemon) is a member of the mint family; as you might not guess, they were first found on the Indonesian isle of Java, but have since been hybridized with countless near relatives to create the rich assortment of lovely leaves we know today. These dedicated garden workhorses serve as star players in pots, in the ground and just about anywhere you can put something with roots Contrary to popular opinion, they thrive in full sun, which gives the leaves their most vibrant coloration. Next year, as usual, I'll have many more, but one thing is certain-'Sky Fire' will be back, blazing away in the garden.Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-74123428510336810332010-10-07T08:05:00.001-04:002010-10-07T08:06:23.405-04:00Bee Happy!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK21BwxC0dI/AAAAAAAAC94/fphr3ZEkEd8/s1600/Bee.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="350" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TK21BwxC0dI/AAAAAAAAC94/fphr3ZEkEd8/s320/Bee.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Melting ice caps, dying coral reefs, droughts, heat waves, famine--amid the tidal wave of environmental disaster, today gives us a reason to be thankful. Researchers have discovered the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious affliction that is decimating North America's honeybees and thus threatening production of almost every fruit and vegetable we eat. No cure yet, but understanding the cause is step one, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html?_r=1&hpw">Read all about it in the NYT.</a> </div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-31791712770482953722010-10-06T11:12:00.003-04:002010-10-06T18:41:57.224-04:00Mindo Lindo<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyEpjUKVYI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/BmkrSfscleM/s1600/Ecuador+2421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="253" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyEpjUKVYI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/BmkrSfscleM/s400/Ecuador+2421.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyETaVd62I/AAAAAAAAC9E/63U9VQefXqY/s1600/Ecuador+2329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyETaVd62I/AAAAAAAAC9E/63U9VQefXqY/s200/Ecuador+2329.jpg" width="200" /></a>Our ongoing search for magical places that fuse our passions for amazing landscapes, abundant plant life and exotic birds led us to Mindo, Ecuador, a tiny town clinging to the cloud-forested western slopes of the Andes. This teeny little place, not much more than a wide spot in the dirt road, was worth every bit of effort it took to get us there. Even the fruit stands were a work of art. </div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyEYOgQ1QI/AAAAAAAAC9I/EPa5sbiFh8c/s1600/Ecuador+2341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="250" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyEYOgQ1QI/AAAAAAAAC9I/EPa5sbiFh8c/s320/Ecuador+2341.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Mindo is all about the river, which thunders down from the mountains to bisect this lush forested valley. The river, with its water-polished stones, and at its side the sleepy, lost-to-the-world ambiance of Mindo itself, made me think of the town as a real-life Macondo, the mythical, mystical village at the center of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's masterpiece <a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Hundred-Years-Solitude-P-S/dp/0060883286/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1286376886&sr=1-1">"One Hundred Years of Solitude."</a> </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyEfGXF6MI/AAAAAAAAC9Q/xwt4gc_zFR4/s1600/Ecuador+2370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="550" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyEfGXF6MI/AAAAAAAAC9Q/xwt4gc_zFR4/s400/Ecuador+2370.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyFfM30ClI/AAAAAAAAC90/tonxuRNxw1M/s1600/Ecuador+2593.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="157" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyFfM30ClI/AAAAAAAAC90/tonxuRNxw1M/s200/Ecuador+2593.jpg" width="200" /></a> There are few bridges in this part of the world so to cross the flow, we had to hop aboard a tarabita--a sort of hand-hauled cable car with seating for one-to reach our absurdly oversized cabin. Birdboy loved this kind of commute. I did too. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The river's soothing voice was the constant soundtrack as we hiked local dirt roads and muddy paths, on the lookout for plants (about which more in a future post), birds and other exotica-like giant spiders dangling from huge webs. One night we went hiking in the pitch-black jungle to see nocturnal life-a panoply of even stranger insects and such than we'd seen during the day.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyEa16OZPI/AAAAAAAAC9M/wytmAS8MvOE/s1600/Ecuador+2349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="260" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyEa16OZPI/AAAAAAAAC9M/wytmAS8MvOE/s400/Ecuador+2349.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyFFA8UvWI/AAAAAAAAC9w/69QUTERcwpY/s1600/Ecuador+2493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyFFA8UvWI/AAAAAAAAC9w/69QUTERcwpY/s200/Ecuador+2493.jpg" width="176" /></a>Wherever we walked, outageously oversized tropical foliage was everywhere. It was so tactile, begging to be touched. And it came in handy as umbrellas for the Artiste and Birdboy, and, in the case of this dried out cecropia leaf, a hat. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Our favorite outing took us along a an amazing dirt road (torturous for anyone, like me, with a fear of heights) clinging to the spine of a mountain range just east of Mindo. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyE6lYFEMI/AAAAAAAAC9k/5XkgX4amXGY/s1600/Ecuador+2424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyE6lYFEMI/AAAAAAAAC9k/5XkgX4amXGY/s400/Ecuador+2424.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyE9xpP1mI/AAAAAAAAC9o/YWCCZIIFnKw/s1600/Ecuador+2585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyE9xpP1mI/AAAAAAAAC9o/YWCCZIIFnKw/s200/Ecuador+2585.jpg" width="188" /></a>We bumped along for a couple hours befiore dismounting and plunging into steep and deep jungle, where our most excellent guide Fernando led us to a research station in the middle of absolutely nowhere. There we had a tasty surpise-a breakfast of all kinds of fruits, eggs, bread and hot black coffee (all very welcome, since we'd set out well before dawn). We followed paths through valleys darkened by layer after layer after layer of vegetation. Butterflies flitted about, and birdcall--more than 350 species can be found hereabouts--provided a musical soundtrack. Finally we emerged at this spectacular waterfall.</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyE1JEx8rI/AAAAAAAAC9g/HW_9vTbYDUw/s1600/Ecuador+2479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="585" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKyE1JEx8rI/AAAAAAAAC9g/HW_9vTbYDUw/s320/Ecuador+2479.jpg" width="390" /></a></div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The sheer height of the waterfall, coupled with the massive leaves of the elephant ear in the foreground seemed to complete the notion that we were some kind of Gullivers, adrift in Brobdingnag, where EVERYTHING is bigger than real life. In the end, I had just one question about Mindo: When can we go back? </div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-55081041386946475752010-10-05T11:58:00.000-04:002010-10-05T12:56:08.770-04:00Instead of Chopping a Tree Down, Chop One UpIf only it was this easy...<br />
<br />
<object height="225" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8128504&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"> <embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8128504&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/8128504">Maya Lin - Unchopping a Tree</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/whatismissing">What is Missing? Foundation</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-87458582258503936972010-10-01T16:57:00.000-04:002010-10-01T16:57:52.468-04:00Fab Foliage Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKX5-6QY-jI/AAAAAAAAC80/oYgRMU9lzUc/s1600/leaves+007-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="525" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKX5-6QY-jI/AAAAAAAAC80/oYgRMU9lzUc/s400/leaves+007-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I know I've crowed about elephant ears before, but this is a new one! <em>Colocasia esculenta</em> 'Elena' is a winner, with nicely ruffled chartreuse ears providing snappy contrast for the purplish veins that run through them. This appears to be one of those easy-to-please, foolproof plants that look good just about anywhere. As yet, I haven't tried it <em>everywhere</em>, just among these coleus, cordylines, canna and cacti, so I know for certain it works well with any plants beginning with the letter "C." Next year, I'm going to be trying some "D" plants. That would be a lot easier if I lived further south-the <a href="http://www.plantdelights.com/">Plant Delights</a> write-up says this baby is hardy clear to Zone 7b, at least. Here in Zone 6, I'm going to try overwinter this in my cool dark basement. </div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-65864237894272210162010-09-30T09:11:00.000-04:002010-09-30T09:11:13.761-04:00In the Galapagos: Change We Can Believe In<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKM-Q0-izaI/AAAAAAAAC7s/Zgr7tSugJNY/s1600/galap+evolution-ape-teaching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="520" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKM-Q0-izaI/AAAAAAAAC7s/Zgr7tSugJNY/s400/galap+evolution-ape-teaching.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNCLON0OxI/AAAAAAAAC74/i70hE0tM3Bw/s1600/Galap+darwin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNCLON0OxI/AAAAAAAAC74/i70hE0tM3Bw/s200/Galap+darwin.jpg" width="125" /></a>Just about everybody knows the strange Pacific Ocean islands of the Galapagos were the jumping off point for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.Those isolated bits of land seemingly adrift in the vastness of the Pacific offer a glimspe into the crucible of life and, literally, a textbook study of the concept of natural selection. The island birds, esp the finches (such as this cactus finch on Genovesa, aka Tower Island) and the mockingbirds, have evolved distinct species on different islands. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNCDp4EE_I/AAAAAAAAC70/iY-ahG-p_rE/s1600/Ecuador+229-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNCDp4EE_I/AAAAAAAAC70/iY-ahG-p_rE/s400/Ecuador+229-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So, when we think of evolution, we tend to think of the animal kingdom, but the Galapagos also reveal a slower kind of evolution, the gradual transformation of barren volcanic rock to rich rainforest. Look how it all starts in these islands, which, like Hawaii, are the result of a hotspot, a leaky hole in the Earth's crust far below the surface of the sea. Lava oozes out of the hole and over the millennia forms massive mountains The tips gradually emerge from the sea to become islands, the Galapagos Islands.</div></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNL62qdrGI/AAAAAAAAC8A/QtYteMIDIwA/s1600/Ecuador+938-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNL62qdrGI/AAAAAAAAC8A/QtYteMIDIwA/s400/Ecuador+938-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNL0cnpoEI/AAAAAAAAC78/DhYqtQbdqS8/s1600/Ecuador+913-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNL0cnpoEI/AAAAAAAAC78/DhYqtQbdqS8/s200/Ecuador+913-1.jpg" width="200" /></a>Soon, the lava cools. Colonies of aptly named lava cactus appear. This rugged pioneer plant is one of the very first to grab a toehold on the forbidding, sun-baked lava flats. Gradually it spreads its roots into the lava, cracking it apart, and beginning the torturously long, slow process of turning stone into soil. </div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNM8ZjdlLI/AAAAAAAAC8E/OKrLxuLlbU0/s1600/Ecuador+729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNM8ZjdlLI/AAAAAAAAC8E/OKrLxuLlbU0/s400/Ecuador+729.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">As eons pass, sea life washes up onto the lava shelfs to die and decompose, adding nutrients to the soil. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNNZm0wRvI/AAAAAAAAC8I/AB_Mbj3rNgk/s1600/Ecuador+750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKNNZm0wRvI/AAAAAAAAC8I/AB_Mbj3rNgk/s400/Ecuador+750.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">As the lava slowly breaks down to a sandy substance, the little, silvery whiskbrooms of tiquilia arrive. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOkOK-OnDI/AAAAAAAAC8M/Zq_Q9A0eqLQ/s1600/Ecuador+888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOkOK-OnDI/AAAAAAAAC8M/Zq_Q9A0eqLQ/s640/Ecuador+888.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Color arrives as soil is enriched by the decay of pioneer plants, animal matter and the like. The era of grasses dawns, along with thorny shrublets and mats of sesuvium, a succulent that turns fiery colors in the dry season. Land iguanas love to prowl through this stuff. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOlqHTVlqI/AAAAAAAAC8Q/ev3WDEiVC50/s1600/Ecuador+236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOlqHTVlqI/AAAAAAAAC8Q/ev3WDEiVC50/s400/Ecuador+236.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOlrkS-SgI/AAAAAAAAC8U/sqD47XkkZOM/s1600/Ecuador+237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="600" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOlrkS-SgI/AAAAAAAAC8U/sqD47XkkZOM/s640/Ecuador+237.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOlxAVL5sI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/M8KME9720jQ/s1600/Ecuador+1730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOlxAVL5sI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/M8KME9720jQ/s400/Ecuador+1730.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">These amazing creatures look utterly prehistoric and exhibit amazing diversity, lumbering past in a paintbox set of hues comprised of yellows, reds, and oranges.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOl4ehud3I/AAAAAAAAC8c/efQGnX043W8/s1600/Ecuador+1163.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOl4ehud3I/AAAAAAAAC8c/efQGnX043W8/s400/Ecuador+1163.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Trees rise. The Galapagos are parched during the dry season, when trees such as palo santo, the holy stick, drop their leaves. It leafs out and blooms around Christmas, with the return of the rains, Palo santo is related to frankincense, and its sap contains an aromatic resin burned in mainland Ecuador's churches as incense.<br />
</div><img height="77" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOqj2hnLWI/AAAAAAAAC8g/tJTUmy4Iyyw/s400/Ecuador+1082.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 249px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 819px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" /> <br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOqj2hnLWI/AAAAAAAAC8g/tJTUmy4Iyyw/s1600/Ecuador+1082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKOqj2hnLWI/AAAAAAAAC8g/tJTUmy4Iyyw/s400/Ecuador+1082.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Along with the trees, a variety of cacti begin to reach for the sky. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKO7lyGeWcI/AAAAAAAAC8k/bVIjP3XSjCU/s1600/Ecuador+836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="327" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKO7lyGeWcI/AAAAAAAAC8k/bVIjP3XSjCU/s400/Ecuador+836.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKO7nz82DPI/AAAAAAAAC8o/tdl5KOpzNE8/s1600/Ecuador+1381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKO7nz82DPI/AAAAAAAAC8o/tdl5KOpzNE8/s200/Ecuador+1381.jpg" width="200" /></a>Among them are various prickly pears, which here rise to exceptional heights. Their towering stature is due to another freakish characteristic of life forms that have evolved in island isolation over many thousands of years, gigantism. Think of Komodo dragons, the famed Galapagos tortoise (similarly sized tortoises can also be found in the Aldabra islands, an isolated archipelago in the Indian Ocean), or, heck, even King Kong. In the Galapagos there's a bit of a chicken-and-the-egg question that goes with gigantism--did the prickly pear get big to keep its fruits from being consumed by giant tortoises, or did tortoises grow big to reach more prickly pear fruit? Maybe it's an exotic example of symbiotic co-evolution.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKSHzvNkGxI/AAAAAAAAC8s/H_qf73yk7MI/s1600/Ecuador+1925-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKSHzvNkGxI/AAAAAAAAC8s/H_qf73yk7MI/s400/Ecuador+1925-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Life begets life. At some point, the diversity of plant and animal species increases and, as if through some synergistic magic, increases yet again. The older islands are actually quite green and diverse, while newer bits of land are still baked lava crust supporting a paucity of species. For most of the birds for which the Galapagos are so famed, and for many of the other critters, the islands aren't much more than a place to nest and take a rest--all their food comes from the surrounding seas. At any rate some day, as here in the highlands of Santa Cruz, the islands support a rich, almost rainforest abundance of life. Thus, a new Eden is born.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKSH3353IfI/AAAAAAAAC8w/kMXNaP4eLxg/s1600/Ecuador+1212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKSH3353IfI/AAAAAAAAC8w/kMXNaP4eLxg/s400/Ecuador+1212.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-90697961757313348142010-09-29T10:12:00.010-04:002010-09-29T10:45:41.950-04:00Beauteous Bulbines<div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJzBVUKnjOI/AAAAAAAAC6I/NxNibbP8Rag/s1600/bulbine+025-1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520499815184043234" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJzBVUKnjOI/AAAAAAAAC6I/NxNibbP8Rag/s400/bulbine+025-1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; height: 585px; width: 397px;" /></a><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJzB_5qpaGI/AAAAAAAAC6Y/Oh-uh1dOuCc/s1600/bulbine+045.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520500546805000290" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJzB_5qpaGI/AAAAAAAAC6Y/Oh-uh1dOuCc/s200/bulbine+045.jpg" style="float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px;" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Guess what's odd about <em>Bulbine frutescens</em>. It's got no bulb. Nor does it have a rhizome, corm or tuber. But aside from its ill-chosen name, there's plenty to like about this stellar South African native known to locals as snake flower, cat's tail, or burn jelly plant (yes, it has some medicinal value). Bulbine is actually a succulent, but I know few that flower as freely as this one. I grow bulbine in a pot, where its hummock of rather finely textured grassy foliage looks tidy and well mannered early on. Later in the season, narrow wands rise skyward to erupt with a clown hat of tightly nestled buds which, soon enough, yield delicate orange flowers. When a plant produces 10-15 or more spires at a time, the effect is glorious. There's one drawback: the whole thing is kind of dinky, with the wands reaching, on a good day, maybe 18-24 inches and each flower smaller than a thumbnail. But pretty! And so wonderfully complex. Carefee as any succulent, and easy to overwinter indoors in cool temps and bright light. </div></div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-72097902058230859242010-09-28T09:01:00.002-04:002010-09-28T09:52:04.454-04:00Man-Eating Plants!!!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKHiFe5EZUI/AAAAAAAAC7Q/jk8ge8QbP6M/s1600/The_ya-te-veo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="620" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKHiFe5EZUI/AAAAAAAAC7Q/jk8ge8QbP6M/s640/The_ya-te-veo-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKHiH5G5tYI/AAAAAAAAC7U/L90ReyN3em0/s1600/nepenthes-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKHiH5G5tYI/AAAAAAAAC7U/L90ReyN3em0/s200/nepenthes-1.jpg" width="128" /></a>OK, have I got your attention? Good. Now take your mouse, tickle it, and head straight over to <a href="http://www.darkroastedblend.com/">Dark Roasted Blend</a> for a <a href="http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2010/09/carnivorous-plants-hungry-gorgeous.html">superlative photo collection of carnivorous plants</a> in all their resplendent glory. These pix are just great, and the whole carnivorous clan is represented, from pitcher plants to sundews and venus flytraps. The only one missing and--come to think of it--the only actual man-eater is Audrey, the vexing vegetation from the Little Shop of Horrors. Though none of these are hungry for <em>Homo sapiens</em>, some are big enough to eat a rat. Yum!</div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-87209947270285424412010-09-28T08:45:00.000-04:002010-09-28T09:23:55.280-04:00Dog Soup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKHrpR197QI/AAAAAAAAC7Y/Qstsh1wdbNk/s1600/wile_coyote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKHrpR197QI/AAAAAAAAC7Y/Qstsh1wdbNk/s400/wile_coyote.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>No, it's not what you're thinking. Dog soup is actually a description of the coyote genome (that of the Eastern coyote anyway), which, as it turns out, contains bits of wolf and dog DNA, and so is a melange of critters in the genus <em>Canis</em>. That's just part of what you'll learn in a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/science/28coyotes.html?_r=1&src=dayp">fascinating story about the canny coyote in the New York Times</a>. Turns out these guys are a lot smarter than you might think. Some even team up with other species in ongoing partnerships to hunt more effectively. And, news to me, they are not crazy. Some times the woods around us echo with their spooky, cackling giggle, and it sounds as if the inmates have escaped the asylum.Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-82756154579103603202010-09-27T08:45:00.018-04:002010-09-27T14:50:23.239-04:00Color It Wild<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCWRkWyUcI/AAAAAAAAC6o/TiUdUUiyaTE/s1600/2010+043.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521578371717419458" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCWRkWyUcI/AAAAAAAAC6o/TiUdUUiyaTE/s400/2010+043.jpg" style="cursor: hand; height: 341px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<div><br />
<div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCW-WP8-vI/AAAAAAAAC7A/pt7B5eX_3mI/s1600/2010+042.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521579141024774898" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCW-WP8-vI/AAAAAAAAC7A/pt7B5eX_3mI/s320/2010+042.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 243px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 183px;" /></a>I'm an equal opportunity garden enthusiast, but I get a touch zealous about what I call handmade gardens-those designed, planted and maintained by the homeowner(s). Handmade gardens are the most personality rich and idiosyncratic of gardens, reflecting, as they do, the undiluted vision of their makers. These are gardens without compromise. And one of my favorite handmade gardens hereabouts is the creation of Les and Monique Anthony, whose Wallingford, CT <a href="http://clattervalleygardens.blogspot.com/2009/03/garden-full-of-fancy-foliage.html">garden</a> was on tour yesterday as part of the <a href="http://www.cthort.org/">Connecticut Horticultural Society </a>Open Gardens series. <br />
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<div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCVsTKbY6I/AAAAAAAAC6g/XCorsUzJsGk/s1600/2010+038.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521577731447022498" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCVsTKbY6I/AAAAAAAAC6g/XCorsUzJsGk/s400/2010+038.jpg" style="cursor: hand; height: 369px; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCWa66yQPI/AAAAAAAAC6w/HFdv8aAhtfI/s1600/2010+067.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521578532392812786" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCWa66yQPI/AAAAAAAAC6w/HFdv8aAhtfI/s200/2010+067.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 152px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 102px;" /></a>Why do I like it? Well, here's one reason: Les (who's a dab hand with a can of spraypaint) and Monique share a vibrant, playful sense of color. It's apparent in their plantings, which are exceptionally rich in colorful foliage but also in their "stuff," their ornaments, doodads, thingamajiggies, and what not. The chairs, the pots, the tables, on and on it goes. Even something as simple as a metal orb is rethought by virtue of several wildly varied shades of spray paint. I never tire of looking at it. And we'll be back, to see what Les and Monique do with foliage.</div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCWsHWAr1I/AAAAAAAAC64/V2juJ4doWmo/s1600/2010+057.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521578827786006354" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TKCWsHWAr1I/AAAAAAAAC64/V2juJ4doWmo/s400/2010+057.jpg" style="cursor: hand; height: 342px; width: 400px;" /></a></div></div></div>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-70264788282790330082010-09-26T08:57:00.000-04:002010-09-26T10:05:11.022-04:00Highway in the Sky :Next time you look up, think about this:<br /><object width="394" height="255"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QxfOYhpjro?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QxfOYhpjro?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="394" height="255"></embed></object><br />Hat tip: <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/23/the-insect-highways.html">Boingboing</a> and <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128389587">NPR</a>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-25183953836706596362010-09-24T08:46:00.003-04:002010-09-24T09:03:26.490-04:00Fab Foliage Friday!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJyeNqcIq1I/AAAAAAAAC5w/yX8nO3v-F_c/s1600/leaves+013.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 387px; HEIGHT: 532px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520461200817171282" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJyeNqcIq1I/AAAAAAAAC5w/yX8nO3v-F_c/s400/leaves+013.jpg" /></a><br />This gloriously gleaming bit of garden bling brightens any landscape all year round. It's Blue Ice Arizona cypress (<em>Cupressus arizonica</em> 'Blue Ice'), an easy to love, undemanding conifer that simply glows, especially when placed against a dark backdrop. Though I'm a card carrying ABG (anything but green) gardener besotted with colorful foliage, I do, sadly, have a paucity of the silver spectrum represented in my foliar follies. Silver and burgundy leafy combos satisfy, but I'm really smitten with chartreuse, and, to my eyes, silver and charteuse should not even be in the same zip code together. So I have to place my silvers with care. And restraint. This was one of the few plants that really thrived during our baking, rain-free summer and though it's often rated hardy to just USDA Hardiness Zone 7, I've been growing it here in 6 for several years.Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170210501356136695.post-72886770779199747842010-09-23T09:44:00.011-04:002010-09-23T10:29:55.360-04:00Pergolas, and Fine Gardening's Photo Blitz<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJtade1WWSI/AAAAAAAAC5Y/EtjLiytkMkw/s1600/FG+visit+210-1.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 268px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520105230812207394" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJtade1WWSI/AAAAAAAAC5Y/EtjLiytkMkw/s400/FG+visit+210-1.jpg" /></a><br />I worked several years as the managing editor at <a href="http://www.finegardening.com/">Fine Gardening</a> magazine, and for many more as a contributing editor, so I wasn't too surprised to get a call from the most-excellently-named associate editor Brandi Spade (left), who'd run across an old photo that included part of one of my pergolas (I've since built several more). Anyway, she needed pictures to accompany a story she was developing about pergola-making, so she and newbie editor Ann Stratton arrived yesterday for a pergola photo blitz.<br /><br />Below is my best-looking pergola, its entry framed by a few colorful, tropicalesque pots. Any structure adds a synergistic effect to a garden, with enduring bones that create a strong dialog with the more ephemeral plantings that surround them. And any structure looks good all year. I value pergolas, especially, because of the way they soften the transition between indoors and out. Under cover of one, you're sort of betwixt and between, not really inside, not really outside.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJtakCVpIpI/AAAAAAAAC5g/gUAi-7vv2Xk/s1600/FG+visit+226.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 268px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520105343422112402" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJtakCVpIpI/AAAAAAAAC5g/gUAi-7vv2Xk/s400/FG+visit+226.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Best of all, the inner sanctum of a pergola is what <a href="http://jmmds.com/">Julie Moir Messervy</a> refers to in her superlative book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inward-Garden-Creating-Beauty-Meaning/dp/0316567922">The Inward Garden</a>" as an archetypal space, a place that resonates with the magic and mystery of the settings we loved as children exploring our new world. I used to love making forts under the forsythia bushes, so it's probably no accident that a plant-draped, sheltering kind of space is still deeply satisfying to me. I don't know whether Julie would call this a "cave" or a "harbor", or even an "island" (for its feeling of separation from the rest of the world), but what matters is that the cover of the pergola provides me a meaningful retreat.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJtaWfIXoAI/AAAAAAAAC5Q/ckkPfO9zeK0/s1600/Pergola+015.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 296px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520105110632898562" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJtaWfIXoAI/AAAAAAAAC5Q/ckkPfO9zeK0/s400/Pergola+015.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJtaOnKUwmI/AAAAAAAAC5I/Xtv23_7ungI/s1600/Pergola+023.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 114px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 144px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520104975349629538" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJtaOnKUwmI/AAAAAAAAC5I/Xtv23_7ungI/s200/Pergola+023.jpg" /></a>Because I like pergolas, and the feeling they give me-by inviting me, from the outside, or the sense of security and embrace they provide from within--I've got a few. My veggie garden, though worn out by now, still looks inviting thanks to the pergola attached to my garden shed. Those morning glories-'Heavenly Blue', what else-provide a pleasing echo to the shed's blue hues. By the way, if there is any way to get a truer, long lasting blue into the garden, or anything better than this plant-and-forget-about-it morning glory, please let me know.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJthQmLyQ5I/AAAAAAAAC5o/TIAzhmtYOv4/s1600/Pergola+029.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 259px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520112706028454802" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RX5uFsup6zI/TJthQmLyQ5I/AAAAAAAAC5o/TIAzhmtYOv4/s400/Pergola+029.jpg" /></a><br />Finally, there's my entry way pergola, last to be built, but not least. Slowly but surely it is being covered by climbing hygdrangea, but in the meantime, it frames our doorway and the garden entry. And eases the in/out transition. Like the others, it is of very simple contstruction. I contemplated making it fancy with lots of layers and ornamental cuts, but in the end decided I wanted to stick with the architectural vernacular of the house. Its staunchly colonial, salt-box style would be compromised by anything else. Far as I 'm concenred, the only rule worth having for pergolas is this one: Make your plans, then use wood one size up-6x6 uprights instead of 4x4, 2x8 rafters instead of 2x6, etc. As with so many things in the garden, bigger is almost always better.Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531018499519950491noreply@blogger.com7