David Attenborough looks at another meat eating plant – the pitcher plant and how it catches insects. From the BBC.

Zombies have invaded PopCap Games, and they’ve even made a music video! Visit www.plantsvszombies.com for more details on the game! Song Lyrics: (chorus) There’s a zombie on your lawn There’s a zombie on your lawn There’s a zombie on your lawn We don’t want zombies on the lawn I know your type: tall, dark, and dead You want to bite all the petals off of my head And then eat the brains of the one who planted me here I’m just a sunflower but see me power an entire infantry You like the taste of brains we don’t like zombies I used to play football Road cones protect my head I have a screen-door shield We are the undead (repeat chorus) Maybe it’s time to reevaluate I know you have a lot of food on your plate Brains are quite rich in cholesterol You’re dead so it doesn’t matter, Instead we’ll use this solar power to make a lawn defense at any hour I like the tricycle There’s butter on my head I’m gonna eat your brains (repeat chorus) written & performed by: Laura Shigihara www.mybluedream.com

You may have chosen to install a pond in your backyard in order to grow water lilies and other aquatic plants. But even if you put in a pond to raise fish, or simply to enjoy the soothing sights and sounds of a water feature, plants are still an important part of a pond. They help to filter the water, and keep the water oxygenated, which will help fish to thrive. They also help to blend the pond into the landscape, and make it look more natural. A good selection of water lilies and other flowers will add a touch of color to your pond.

Several types of plants can be planted in and around your pond. A good combination of these plants will help to enhance the pond.

Bog plants and marginal plants are planted around the edges of the pond. The bog plants are placed in moist soil around the edge of the pond, and help to blend the pond in with the landscape. Marginal plants are planted in pots which are submerged in the shallow waters of the pond. The primary difference between a bog plant and a marginal plant is that the bog plants are not planted in the water, while marginal plants are.

Some plants will float on the surface of the pond. Plants such as water hyacinth and water lettuce float freely, with their roots hanging into the water below. Plants like water lilies are planted in pots submerged in the deep parts of the pond. The foliage and flowers float above, on the surface of the water. Both kinds of plants help to shade the water, and keep algae from forming. Water lilies also add a bright touch of color to your pond.

Underwater plants are plants that, as the name suggests, grow underwater. These submerged plants help to filter the water and keep it oxygenated for the fish. They also give the fish a place to hide from predators and from the bright sunlight. These plants also provide a source of food for fish.

Whatever your reasons for installing a pond in your backyard, plants are an important part of a complete water garden. They’ll make it look a lot nicer, and help the pond’s ecosystem to flourish. The proper plants will help to increase your enjoyment of your little backyard oasis.

Use a soaker hose in a way that encourages your plant’sgrowth. Learn more in this free educational video series. Expert: Tom Ashley Bio: Tom Ashley has been farming organically at Dancing Bear Farm in Leyden, MA since 1981. Filmmaker: Christian Munoz-Donoso

The great visionary artist, Pablo Amaringo, was born in 1943 in Puerto Libertad, in the Peruvian Amazon. He was 10 years old when he first took ayahuasca – a visionary brew used in shamanism – to help him overcome a severe heart disease. The magical cure of this ailment via the plants themselves led Pablo toward the life of a shaman, which he pursued successfully for many years, healing himself and others from the age of ten.

In 1977, he gave up his healing work to become a full-time painter and to set up his Usko-Ayar school. Pablo is now widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest visionary artists. His book, Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman, co-authored with Luis Eduardo Luna, was published in 1993 by North Atlantic Books.

In 2006, Pablo wrote the foreword to my book, Plant Spirit Shamanism. After a lifetime spent working with plants and with plant spirit shamanism, what do plants mean to Pablo? This article is from the foreword.

I owe my life to plants and they have informed everything I have done.

From very young I liked to work with plants and I realised that they gave me daily sustenance, not just as foods, but in my soul. I loved and admired them greatly.

But in my adolescence they became even more important to me. I was very unwell in my heart but I healed myself with the sacred plant, ayahuasca, after many years of suffering – something which medicines from the pharmacy were unable to do.

After years of healing myself in this way, I became a shaman when I saw a curandera [a curandera is the Amazonian term for a female shaman] heal my younger sister, also by using ayahuasca. My sister had been in agony with hepatitis, but with this single healing from the plants, she was cured in just two hours. That was why I started learning the science of vegetalismo [a vegetalismo is a shamanic healer who works primarily with plants].

Later I began dieting and taking la purga [another name for ayahuasca] and she taught me how to use plants for healing and to understand their application through visions. That’s how I came to be a shaman, ordained by the spirits.

My visions helped me understand the value of human beings, animals, the plants themselves, and many other things. The plants taught me the function they play in life, and the holistic meaning of all life. We all should pay special attention and deference to Mother Nature. She deserves our love. And we should also show a healthy respect for her power!

Plants mean many things to me: they give life to all beings on Earth since they produce oxygen, which we need to be active; they conform the enormous greenhouse which gives board and lodging to diverse but interrelated guests; they are teachers and show us the holistic importance of conserving life in its due form and necessary conditions.

More than this, though, plants – the great living book of nature – have shown me how to study life as an artist and shaman. They help us to know the art of healing and to discover our own creativity, because the beauty of nature moves people to show reverence, fascination, and respect for the extent to which the forests give our souls shelter.

The consciousness of plants is a constant source of information in medicine, alimentation, and art, and an example of nature’s own intelligence and creative imagination. Much of my education I owe to the intelligence of these great teachers. Thus I consider myself to be the ‘representative’ of plants and for this reason I assert that if they cut down the trees and burn what’s left of the rainforests, it is the same as burning a whole library of books without ever having read them.

For people who are not so dedicated to the study and experience of plants, this is not so important to their lives, but even they should be conscious of the alimentary, medicinal, and scientific value of the plants they rely on for life.

My most sublime desire, though, is that every human being should begin to put as much attention as they can into the knowledge of plants because they are the greatest healers of all. And they should also put effort into the preservation and conservation of the rainforest, and care for it and the ecosystem, because damage to these not only prejudices the flora and fauna but humanity itself.

Even in the Amazon these days, plants are seen by many as only a resource for building houses and to finance large families. People who have farms and raise animals also clear the forest to produce foodstuffs. Mestizos and native Indians log the largest trees to sell to industrial sawmills for subsistence. They have never heard of the word ecology!

I, Pablo, say to everybody who lives in the Amazon and the forests of the world that they must love the plants of their land, and everything that is there!

This expression of love must be a sincere and altruistic interest in the lasting well-being of others. We are not here simply to exist, but to enjoy life together with plants, animals, and loved ones, and to delight in contemplation of the beauty of nature. A shaman has in his mind and heart the attitude of conserving nature because he knows that life is for enjoying the company of this world’s countless delights.

Any painting, or book, or piece of art that spreads this message is to be respected and every reader who picks up a book on this subject is to be honoured.

I invite you to read on and to learn from the greatest teachers of all – the plants, our sacred brothers.

Plant Spirit Shamanism: Traditional Techniques for Healing the Soul, by Ross Heaven, is published by Destiny Books, ISBN 1594771189.

Today, solar lights allow people to enjoy their garden more than ever. During the cool evening hours of dusk, these lights can flash on to provide the light needed for safety in the garden. You can see stepping stones and avoid falling with the light that is provided.

While the lights make a great addition to any garden, ornaments add fun. You might choose flowers, garden gnomes or holiday ornaments that can all add light to the garden. The solar cells on these ornaments provide the needed power so that the lights will shine for several hours after darkness overtakes the garden.

When summer arrives you might choose to add birds and insects that have been suspended using fine wires from tree limbs to give a floating light effect. Solar lit flowers on long stems can rise out of flower beds. Frogs and turtles may line a path. A fiber optic light makes a dazzling display.

When fall approaches, you may want to add some scary Halloween ornaments. You could choose ornaments that are sound or motion activated but still depend on solar energy so that you do not have to have the trip and shock hazards of electrical cords running across wet grass. Add enough of the scary ornaments, some fake spider webs and sounds to be the best dressed house for the holiday.

Solar wreaths make it possible to have a lighted Christmas wreath on your door. The solar cell is built into the wreath to provide the needed power. Solar Christmas trees, lights and ornaments are a wonderful way to decorate for the season without increasing your power bill.

Spring is the perfect time to add the pastel colored lights to the garden. The pastels reflect the pinks and yellows of many springtime flowers. They provide light so you can go out and enjoy the fresh air of spring.

You will find designs of solar lights that will meet your needs for solar ornaments. The ornaments may be installed permanently or changed to reflect the season. Either way you will have a great looking garden for the entire year. Solar accents can also be used to highlight a favorite flower bed or garden display.

solar garden ornaments

Looking to find the most comprehensive information on solar garden ornaments?

Rock Garden Plants: A Color Encyclopedia

alien plants