Tag: garden

Arctic Foxes ‘Grow’ Their Own Gardens

The underground homes, often a
century old, are topped with gardens exploding with lush dune
grass, diamondleaf willows, and yellow wildflowers—a flash of color in
an otherwise gray landscape.


“They’re bright green and everything around them is just brown,” says Brian Person, a wildlife biologist for the North Slope Borough in Barrow, Alaska. “It pops”…

Arctic Foxes ‘Grow’ Their Own Gardens

Moon Garden

A
moon garden is a garden specifically designed to be enjoyed by the
light of the moon at night. It is typically planted with flowers and
plants that are at their best after the sun has set. Some have blooms
that only open at night, some release their fragrance into the cool
night air and others simply have lovely silver foliage and white flowers
that glow softly in the moonlight. Plants that resonate with the energy
of the moon are also welcome in a moon garden, although they usually
meet the other criteria as well.

A moon garden is a wonderful idea for night owls, for people who work
long hours during the day and only get to enjoy their gardens at night,
and, of course, for moon-worshipers!


Design Elements
To fully enjoy your moon garden, you will want a comfortable bench or
perhaps a wooden swing to rest on in the cool of the evening.

The sound of a waterfall trickling through your plantings will provide a soothing backdrop to your evening meditation.

Consider adding a few (but not too many) glow-in-the dark garden
decor pieces to help you navigate your way through the garden in the
darkness and also to add a bit of magical flare. Consider creating
stepping stones with glow in the dark pebbles or solar mason jars along
your path to light your way.


Suggested Plants
Please note that many of these plants are poisonous and some are
invasive. It is up to you to decide whether and where to plant them and
to manage them responsibly. Please read the individual plant’s page
carefully and do further research from other sources before purchasing
and planting any of these.

Flowers that Open at Night:
Evening Primrose, Night-blooming Cereus, Night Phlox “Midnight
Candy”, moonflower, Night-blooming Day lily “Moon Frolic” or “Toltec
Sundail”, Night-blooming Water Lily, Night Gladiolus, Casablanca Lily,
Nottingham Catchfly, Four O’Clock, Dragon Fruit, Dutchman’s Pipe cactus, Night-blooming jasmine, Angel’s trumpet, Evening
Stock, Nicotiana/ Flowering tobacco.

Flowers that Smell Their Best at Night:
Night Phlox, Night Blooming Jasmine, Evening Stock, Four O’Clock,
August Lily, Moonflower, Tuberose, Garden Heliotrope, Mock Orange,
Honeysuckle.

Plants that Look Great in the Moonlight:
Yucca, Lily of the valley, Magnolia, Dogwood, Lamb’s ear, Sage.

Plants that resonate with lunar energy:
Alder, Evening Primrose, Lemon, Maple, Marsh mallow, Monarda, Mugwort, Poppy, Rosemary, Water Lily.

An ancient tree in Scotland has appeared to have undergone a sex change in one section.

The Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh is reporting that the famed Fortingall Yew, which is possibly up to 5,000 years old, has sprouted a female branch in the outer crown despite being otherwise male in gender.

A staff member, Dr. Max Coleman, explains,
“Yew trees are male or female usually and it is pretty easy to spot
which is which in autumn – males have tiny things that produce pollen
and females have bright red berries from autumn into winter.”

Despite previous known accounts of gender changes, they are still considered rare, which is why Coleman was surprised to find berries growing on the Fortingall Yew last month.

Insect house and bee colony on the grounds of the Potager du Roi, where the original gardens date back to the reign of Louis XIV (1678). The King’s gardens were located near his palace in Versailles where he would show off his abundant produce and espaliered fruit-bearing trees.