Temptation: Double Bloodroot

Even I am a sucker for flowers upon occasion...

Filtering Plants: Close Up

Homemade Water Filtration

Early spring sprouts 'round kissing rocks

orange on orange

Planting Trees In Tropics...

...like Guatemala would help offset carbon emissions.

So say A.C. Thompson & Duane Moles (among others) in "Don't Bet on Offsets," in HOT POLITICS on PBS:

"Forestry projects are controversial among global warming analysts, because it takes years for saplings to mature and start sucking up sizable quantities of carbon dioxide--plus, when the trees die and decompose, they release that CO2 back into the air. Research shows that planting trees in places with a moderate climate is less effective than sowing trees in warmer zones."

Neighboring Astroturf

Harsh Light on Rooftop

From Sweden, of course!

Classic Design Style

From a favorite 1950s gardening book.

Flowers for Virginia

The shooting so tragic. And yet another English teacher unheard when she pointed out that somebody was in trouble and needed help. And yet our loose gun laws grow rampantly on home ground and foreign soil. And yet this many people are murdered in Baghdad every day; actually, today's toll was 170. Not a simple equation of more flowers, fewer guns.

Toto, We're Not in Sweden Anymore!

Actually, we're up in the highlands, in the NW corner of Guatemala. You can see the extreme deforestation. Learn more about the reforestation & organic agriculture project close to my heart. http://www.earthways.org/organicagriculture/index.html I'm soon to become further connected to this particular project as the project director for Earthways.

Swedish sawmill courtesy of my Swede

My Swedish husband says the debate over how to best manage the forest was a constant during his childhood. Well past then, in 1994, the Swedish government amended the law to read:

"The forest is a national resource which should be managed so that it provides a good return on a sustainable basis and ensures the preservation of biodiversity."

Imagining Summer

With "unseasonable cold" (where does global warming end or begin?) and snow predicted tomorrow (a new meaning to "April Showers"), my feet are dreaming of sandals.

Sideways...to Green

This Autumn Clematis would make a fine Easter bonnet.

From Brown...

This magnolia in a neighbor's yard shows why they are not a sure bet for Easter in Chicago. Especially when they are sited facing south so that the little buds are coaxed into opening before it's safe.