The moon is beautiful, the air is cooler now, the days grow shorter and the equinox has arrived. Welcome fall!
Luna e frumoasă, acum aerul e mai rece, zilele devine mai scurte și echinocțiu de toamnă a ajuns! Ce frumos!
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Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Listen to the post here E.O. Wilson is one of my heroes and not just because I like ants. He is inspiring to me and makes me want to contribute something greater to the world because – his work, his challenges and his love of the work itself - coalesced and became something far greater then the person E.O. Wilson, something even more extradordinary, it became a direction for humanity. His message is found in his books, his talks and media on the internet and his voice through these mediums simply remind us not only of who and what we are but of our impact on the fragile eco systems that exist in this place – our home – the earth.
 E.O. Wilson - Photo by: Sage Ross Quick facts:
The Encyclopedia of Life is a portal where everything we know would be collected and stored EVERYTHING about the 1,8 million known species on earth. Harvard University and The Smithsonian have been working on this. YOU can participate in this project or access information here. Here is a link to an informative slideshow that EO Wilson presented before the US Senate in 1998 about the importance of saving the forests. The first page is a text introduction and the slideshow is not automated but this link will bring you to the initial slide which you can then page through at the bottom. You can read more about EO Wilson at the following links… TED Talks Info page on EO Wilson EO Wilson Wikipedia General Information Page Wikimedia EO Wilson Quotes Page – He is a wise man, read some quotes here. Download the audio file of his Ted Talk Here or Listen Here I don’t think that he would be offended by my comparison of him to an ant. So how the heck can I say he is like an ant? Well, ants have 2 jaws – 1 to eat with and the other to carry food back to the nest. Like his beloved research subjects, EO Wilson provided nourishment to himself through his work and he too carried back food for thought to the biggest known nest of humans who occupy this place that we call earth.
So for those of you who are not located in a visible area, here is the best video clip I could find of a nearly full solar eclipse . The filmmaker, Yuri M notes: „Solar eclipse on 1 August in Moscow 2008. The full eclipse can be seen only in Siberia. But what has been seen in Moscow fascinates. In this short movie all my feelings while observing the eclipse.” Eclipse uploaded on Vimeo. If the playback is slow or choppy, you can also download the video CLICK HERE. A view from Moscow - While studies are important as they quantify events and delve deeper into specifics, even they are usually limited to specifics and it is only over time that they are correlated with other studies to bring us a broader view. This has compelled me to think more about the not readily observable through our senses and to open up our vision by looking not only at the beauty and mystery of an eclipse but to expand our vision of the earth itself by becoming conscious of our mother in the larger scale. We can open up to new views of the earth through viewing things like the following videoclip which takes a look at the earth in a grand way. In closing, here are a few Solar Eclipse and Related Information Basics -
Other interesting links -
visions from my balcony în maraști, cluj napoca vedere din balconul meu
I found a nice site about rainbows with a lot of info and pix…. Atmospheric Optics – Topic RAINBOWS Aici e un link din wikipedia cu informație despre curcubeie… Cum te simți despre subiectul ROSIA MONTANA și CIANURI? Cateodătă ne simțim fâră speranța despre decizii facut pentru noi, nu trebuie ca poti zice ceva. Există petiție care poți sa semnați petiție aici Cum afectează mediu? citește aici. Listen to the Water Part I post here Water is dynamic and ever changing, moving into the skys through evaporation and returning to the earth. It cycles from our seas and estuaries to become the clouds that shade us and bringers of the rain. The rains feed our plants and are captured in our oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and ponds. Which are our containers for the primal life force we call water. Water sustains us and I am not just talking about humans here. Truths are first clouds; then rain, then harvest and food. As the harbinger of all life, without which we cannot have our gardens, this post is not about waters relationship to plants today. That is for another day. Instead it is about water and its meaning to us and its symbology. It is the first of a series.  Photo Credit - Dave Martin/AP - From the GUARDIAN Why do I think this is an important topic? Well, in light of the recent events with the unfathomable catastrophe in the Gulf in the US, this colassul disaster has enormous implications for all life on earth. So it seems to me to be a topic worth writing and thinking about. So that said, we begin this series with a look at a Hindu tale where Ganesha creates an obstacle so great for the gods that they were so devastated that they looked to Brahma to help them.  Lord Ganesha For those of you who have not heard of Ganesha in Hinduism he is known as the Lord of beginnings and the remover or destroyer of obstacles and he was created by Shiva to bring to a successful conclusion every action. But not only has he the ability to remove obstacles, he can too create obstacles and does so when we undertake an action with fear and illusion. Here the tale is paraphrased - The gods were churning the oceans until, much to their surprise, poison began to spill out. Narada, a rishi…warned them at the beginning that they should pay homage to Shiva, but so eager were they to obtain the soma that they ignored the warning. Soon the poison spilled out, infecting the upper regions and the gods, sages, and demons fled in all directions, eventually taking refuge with Brahma. But Brahma could do nothing to help them and directed them instead to Vishnu…but he was also powerless to stop the burning poison from destroying everything. Finally the gods came to Shiva  Shiva - Credit Photographer: רוליג Shiva then said to the gods – In Hindu teachings amrita is the elixir of life and soma the juice of the intoxicating plant which gives the gods their supernatural powers. Both of which are made through the churning of the oceans. This tale as a modern metaphor, amrita can be seen as symbolic as water, soma as oil and Ganesha as the earth and him along with all of the gods as symbolic of our connection with creation & our mother earth. Soma of course is not oil in the literal sense. However, it can also be seen as a metaphor of modern mans intoxication with oil and its imbalanced dependence on it and its derivitives – plastic bags & containers, etc. (Shiva was not referring to that which is imperisable as plastic products, but that they are!) So not only do we have a gulf which filled with oil, we also have a sea of plastic garbage polluting our waters. Maybe some of you may think my interpretation is a stretch but this is what came to my mind this morning when reading this tale, that was what inspired this post. Anyway this tale seemed apropo as it seemsas a species we can be working at times to achieve things without being concious of our actions especially in relation to sustainability and with out gratitude. Our unconcious actions and lack of respect for the earth can result in disaster as the gods were brutally reminded of this by the trickster god Ganesha with the creation of a problem that even the most supreme Gods could not resolve. Accordingly, just like the water which is constantly flowing and in transition, this story as symbol is a reminder of our need to change how we as a species live on this earth – to transition to a world where we are concious of our actions. Water – we need it, plants need it, all life on earth needs it. Even those plants that are drought tolerant still need water. More posts about water to follow. By the way I found an amazing fun document designed for young people about Lord Ganeshas birthday celebration and it has information about composting from garbage to garden and a lot more fun interesting things to do! You can download doc file by clicking on this title link Ganesha_Chaturthi_Workshop_Handbook. In closing here is an awesome video entitled Plastic Bag by Ramin Bahrani, narrated by Werner Herzog. It is approximately 18 minutes and well worth your time. It is not really off topic as this post although briefly speaks about the sea of plastic in our oceans. “Plastic Bag” by Ramin Bahrani from Production Junction on Vimeo. Please comment and let me know what you think. 6-AUGUST-2010 UPDATE 22-AUGUST-2010 ARTICLE LINK
Tomorrow mornings sunrise (21 June) in the northern hemisphere is the summer solstice – try to see it if you can. It is the longest day of the year welcoming summer in many countries. For those of you who cannot see it I have posted a video of the summer solstice in 2009 posted by Finn Margrie on Vimeo. The video is is the sun rising over the Tarrant Valley in Dorset, UK sped up from 58 minutes to 2 minutes. The music is credited as follows: Zadok the Priest, Composed by Handel. Depending what direction you are facing, maybe you will be lucky enough to view the summer solstice in the morning straight from your balcony! What a wonderful way to start the day. Happy summer solstice!
Latyrus odoratus – sweet pea – A slow start from seed and a few were planted in different areas as an experiment. One in particular the one that has its first flowers has grown the tallest, a couple alongside it are doing ok. They have a bit more shade from some other neighboring plants. They easily have taken to the chicken wire on the balcony divider. Dahlia – One of my favorite flowering plants my favorite colors for them are their pinks, purples and white. Only one tuber was planted this year, although I am tempted to pick up a couple more in the next day or two. They are always showy and beautiful. Thunbergia alata – black eyed susan vine – Like the sweet pea it has had a slow start from seed and now in the last few days taking off like wild fire. Never before has this vining plant been in my garden and already thinking it may become a mainstay. This also has easily taken to the chicken wire which was placed on the exterior wall. Buddleia – butterfly bush – It is planted infront of a large drainpipe that climbs down from the roof (nearby morning glory vine will hopefully obscure the pipe as the season continues as a lovely backdrop to the rich purple scented flowers of the butterfly bush) was susceptible to some insects – over a few days I plucked infested areas and washed areas around them with some soapy water. Seems better now although it is necessary to be vigilant in keeping any reoccurence in check. Check out the natural pesticide recipes pdf, you can download the pdf and learn more on natural remedies for bothersome insects. Of note also are the plants that have been struggling -  BEFORE  AFTER Osteospermum - south african daisy – Of the two planted, 1 died and another is hanging on. They were displaying an incredible colorful bouquet non-stop for a couple of months. Then it seemed pretty sudden (there were some signs) as they both took a turn for the worse. It seems to have been weather related – there were several consecutive days of rain with little light. That is not really normal here, as it can rain a lot in periods – we normally have at least a few hours of sunshine between showers. I have now transplanted the remaining and what seems to be survivor to a pot in hopes that maybe its own space will allow it to revive itself. This seems to be working.  BEFORE  AFTER Hydrangea macrophylla – it seemed to have gotten a slight burn but has continued on. As the area where it finds its home is changing with surrounding plants providing some additional shade it seems too to be determined to continue on. There is new growth and that looks quite healthy. Hopefully it will make it through this period and be strong enough to face even the more difficult period of heat that is to come. Sempervivum – hens & chicks – Most are thriving in the large beds and reproducing quite well and a cluster that was in a separate pot even appeared to be doing extrodinary. Yet the one that appeared to be extrodinary took a turn for worse in just one day. It was moved to a different location next to a jade plant that is doing magnificently well and in just one day poof – so prehaps it was the move or maybe there is even some truth to an old superstition.  BEFORE  AFTER Truth or fiction? It is said that if you plant sempervivum on the roof of a house that neither lightning nor fire will harm it. As chance would have it, just yesterday we had a lightning storm and in the morning before the storm all was well with this plant and today, post-storm, as I was checking on the garden this is what it looked like… By the way sempervivum means live forever and many varieties are great for zone 5.
As many of you may know, planting by the moon is an age old technique known to aid in the growth and establishment of your plants. This new moon of June began its cycle of waxing toward its fullness just the day before yesterday on the 12th. This is the best time to plant the bulk of any plants from seedlings or from pots into your garden. Your window of opportunity narrows as we get closer to the full moon. Of course you can plant after the full moon, still new plantings will have a harder time, require more water and have a more difficult time to become established. So get planting now! On another note this month in the northern hemisphere we move towards the longest day of the season with the most light from dawn to dusk – the summer solstice is on the 21st of June. We will also have a partial lunar eclipse on the 26th of June. Unfortunately we cannot see it in europe. For those of you who live in the area where it is viewable you can learn more here, includes viewing times and locations.
Tibetan buddhists believe that with any lunar eclipse the energy is manifest times 1000 minimally! (Also solar eclipses make manifest energy as well and even more so then the moon.) So maybe that is a good time to talk to your plants and wish them well. Yes it is true, plants have a knowing and prosper when they are spoken to! Some people might smirk and snicker when hearing that plants have a knowing. Do not laugh! There were some studies done in the past and recently as well about plants reactions to sound and even beyond. In fact one of the oldest known studies from the 1960s was according to some scientists who tried to debunk the study said that the study was not really completed in a „scientific controlled environment.” Nonetheless, years later Dr. Cleve Backster The latest ”serious” study conducted by Royal Horticultural Society in 2009 has confirmed that plants grow larger, especially when hearing womens voices. In addition, an article in the New Scientist (subscription required) published on 29 August 2007 discusses the findings of Mi-Jeong Jeong of the National Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology in South Korea where a scientific team had identified 2 genes in rice plants that respond to sound waves. As you can see anytime is a good time to talk to your plants. So why not thank them for making your life more beautiful. To you my dearest plants - Thanks plants without you we could not exist. Not only are you a metaphor for the cycle of life, our senses are filled with delight – at least most of the time!
My grandparents on their street with my mother and my uncle. My grandmother (and grandfather of course) always had a very large and very beautiful garden where she grew vegetables, there were also fruit trees and other shrubs with flowers. On the other hand, my parents did not always keep a garden each year, but sometimes they planted vegetables. So it was not until 1990 when I discovered gardening as a young adult when moving into a house with a yard. I was lucky that although there were many weeds, there were many plants in which someone had actually planned their placement. It was obvious that they knew what they were doing. For me it was a blessing to have something to work from. In fact it was a little overwhelming but I found a great old book about gardening. Published in 1971 it is a comprehensive book organized alphabetically and the entries give the plants latin names. It also lists common names that refer back to the latin base so it is easy to find information. Since then I have not found a book which can compare to it.
Besides being a resource for plant types, it also includes useful lists and details about such topics as shade gardens and shade loving plants, flowering times so you can choose successive blooms and even rock gardens. These types of information can be especially useful. For example, knowing about rock gardens is important for urban gardeners since balconies and buildings can generate a lot of heat creating micro-climates as do rocks clustered together so you can adapt this material to your differing needs. Since then it has been revised, although I have the old edition. Anyhow it is a valuable resource and I highly recommend it. It is Wyman’s Gardening Encyclopedia |
Nice social network for gardening is here...
Need a gift for your favorite urban gardener? You can personalize the text on this mug with a name or maybe you want to declare you are strictly a balcony gardener - personalize it if you like.
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– as we smell your sweet fragrances, touch your leaves, taste your fruits, hear you rustle in the wind and see your colorful blooms. You bring me joy as I am lost in the wonder of your mystery and beauty. Thank you!
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