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Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts

Gardening Tips For Beginners

The best aspect of wanting to be an artist is that you have plenty of choices and this includes many categories of art that require no more than a lot of skill, know-how and the willingness to get down and dirty enough to do the hard work. It is not always necessary that you need to possess raw talent to do create beauty and if you do not believe us then look at gardening.

Gardening is an art that allows you to be creative and also be the creator of something really pretty and does not necessarily need raw talent as one would have to have if you were to become a painter. You can also spread your artistic endeavors to include stylish garden chandelier ideas if you are so inclined. And with the gardening tips for beginners that we are about to give below, we are sure that you will find gardening even more of a joy to undertake.

We also feel that you should research all about gardening to learn as much as you can about gardens and gardening. Do take some time to look at pretty and pleasant public garden designs to please you as these will give you valuable insights on what can be done and the true potential of gardening. And if you want to garden but have the paucity of space, then you should definitely look at smart mini indoor garden ideas even as you go through the gardening tips for beginners that we have given here.
Gardening Tips For Beginners

Create a garden portfolio: It would be good to keep a record of your garden listing out the seasonal planting you have done along with the way they progressed. Add pictures also if you feel they are needed and you will find this very useful going forward.

Make your shovel non-stick: A good idea would be to spray your shovel with Teflon coating or some such coating to make it a no-stick shovel making it easier to clean and use as well.

Make those pots lighter: We often find that shifting pots around because they are heavy and this could deter your gardening efforts. A good way to ensure that your pots are lighter is to pack the bottom portion with packing peanuts and then fill in the soil making the pot lighter to carry.

Transporting plants: When you have to take your potted plants around in your car, both the potted plants as well as your car suffer. To prevent this, lay a sheet on the seat of your car and place a ladder on top. Place the plants between the rungs of the ladder to prevent movement and save the car as well as the plants.

Rain gauge improvement: Add some food coloring to the bottom of the rain gauge which will convert the color of the water in it when it fills up making it easy to read.

Control aggressive plants: You can prevent certain plants that tend to be aggressive and take over the garden from doing so by planting them in a plastic container. You can cut the bottom out with a knife to allow for growth without it overwhelming the other plants in the garden.

Help the root restricted plants: When you plant some plants in the pot this tends to make their roots tangled and this prevents the movement of water and nutrients to the plant. You can help such plants by guiding the roots with your hands or with the help of a knife.

Protect the bulbs: Place a netted barrier over the bulbs that are plagued by garden pests to protect them. In the spring season, you can cut out holes to let them grow out.

Upgrade your wheelbarrow: Place a bit of plywood over the top of your wheelbarrow to make a convenient shelf to carry around pots or even repot if required. This will help ease your gardening efforts by keeping everything within easy reach.

Prune your roses to perfection: You will find that pruning roses to help the center of the flower open up to the sunshine will reduce the instance of roses that do not have spots or blights on them by keeping the moisture out of flower.

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10 Best DIY Room Air Fresheners

When we live in a closed space for a period of time, there is a chance that there could be some sort of smells that could linger around. This occurs even when the people in the house are extremely clean, work on keeping their surroundings clean and air out the house to a reasonable extent. The fact is that most of us turn towards room air fresheners to provide us with the comfort of some fresh scents in our living space.



 But just think about it – most commercial room air fresheners have a certain chemical element to them and this can adversely affect not only nasal passages and the lungs of those in the home but also the eyes and skin of the residents of the home. That is why it is good for you to learn about the best DIY room air fresheners that not only freshen up the atmosphere but are also not harmful to any of the residents of the house. It may be even easier than learning how to make your own scented candles at home.

This can add on to the effect of the ways to use candles in bathroom for special nights and make everything around you especially fresh and fragrant. The thing is being able to make the best DIY room air fresheners is something that will come in handy when you are thinking of the wedding first night bed decoration ideas by adding a subtle scent to it.
10 Best DIY Room Air Fresheners


Essential oils :To start with, you will require the basic mix of liquids that will form the carrier for the scents that you mix and blend to spray around the home. You can start with preparing a spray bottle by cleaning it and disinfecting it completely. Ensure that you get rid of any lingering smell that may be part of the bottle. Then mix together about three quarters of distilled or tap water along with 2 tablespoons of vodka, rubbing alcohol or vanilla extract. To this mix you will have to add a combination of one of the essential oils we have mentioned below. The oils you will use will completely depend on your preference and the availability of oils. Once you have mixed them with the base liquid, all you need to do is start spraying.

Citrus and mint room air freshener: Mix ten drops of wild orange essential oil with eight drops of peppermint essential oil.

Sweet lavender fresh spray: Mix ten drops of lavender oil with 2 tablespoons of vanilla and five drops of chamomile oil.

Summery citrus spray: Mix five drops each of wild orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime essential oils to make this spray.

Holiday carefree spray: Mix six drops of orange oil with five drops each of cassia and clove essential oils for this exotic spray.

Garden fresh essential spray: Mix eight drop of lavender oil with five drops of geranium oil and four drops of grapefruit essential oils.

Happy home spray: Mix together five drops each of lavender, lemon and rosemary essential oils to make this spray.

Deodorizing spray: Mix four drops of tea tree oil, eight drops of lemon oil, and six drops of eucalyptus oil to make this lovely mix.

Spicy chai freshener spray: Mix four drops of cardamom oil, three drops of cassia and clove oil and two drops of ginger essential oil to make this one.

Forest fresh spray: Mix seven drops of fir oil, six drops of cedar and five drops of frankincense essential oil and enjoy the woodlands at home.
Spray to make you concentrate better: Mix ten drops of peppermint oil and eight drops of rosemary essential oil to make this work.

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The Humongous Fungus


Beneath the soil in the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon, the United States, lurks a very large fungus that has been slowly weaving its way through the roots of trees for centuries to become the single largest living organism known to humans.

The fungus, Armillaria solidipes, remains mostly underground, hidden from sight, but every autumn just after the rains it sends up clusters of small yellow-brown mushrooms from the bases of trees it has infected. These mushrooms, commonly called “honey mushrooms”, are the most visible part of the fungus seen by the casual observer. The bulk of the fungus lies underneath the forest floor—a vast network of black filament-like structures called rhizomorphs, that creep through the soil, feeling out new root systems to colonize. The underground growth can stretch up to several square kilometers. The specimen in Malheur National Forest covers 2,200 acres (8.9 square kilometer), and has been named the “Humongous Fungus”. Another specimen, also named the “Humongous Fungus”, resides in a forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. That one is spread over 37 acres.
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The honey mushroom is the above-ground part of a vast subterranean fungus. Photo credit: Dan Molter/Wikimedia
Michigan’s Humongous Fungus was discovered in the early 1990s by a team of researchers working on an unrelated project studying the biological effects of extremely low frequency radio emissions on wildlife in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In one particular area of the forest, Armillaria had infected pine trees that loggers had planted years after they removed a batch of infected oak trees. When the researchers collected samples of the fungus from a widespread area and analyzed the DNA, the specimens they collected turned out to be from a single organism.
Before the Humongous Fungus was discovered, mycologists knew that a fungus could grow to be quite large, but no one expected them to grow as large as 37 acres of land. Less than a decade later, a team of researchers from the US Forest Service, trying investigate the cause of a large number of tree deaths in the Malheur National Forest in east Oregon, discovered another Armillaria colony. This one was spread over a phenomenal area—2,200 acres. The fungus was not only large but also very old with date ranging from 2,400 years to 8,500 years.
Scientists are still not sure of all the factors that allow these funguses to become so large and old. Typically, the Armillaria spreads from one tree to another by means of an extensive subterranean network of rhizomorphs, which are black root-like structures. The rhizomorph attach themselves to the roots of living and sometimes dead plants and sap nutrients out of them. They grow just beneath the soil at the rate of approximately 1 meter a year spreading infection from one tree to another even if the trees are spaced out over a large distance. These rhizomorphs give the Armillaria enough competitive advantage over other fungi species. Over the course of several centuries the fungus can expand over vast areas.
The Armillaria fungus isn’t rare. They can be found in forests around the world in North America, Europe, and Asia. So its very possible that even more humongous funguses will be discovered in the future.
If the Humongous Fungus of the Malheur National Forest is considered a single organism, it is the largest known organism in the world by area, and rivals the aspen grove "Pando" as the single largest organism with the highest living biomass.
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Rhizomorphs of the Armillaria fungus propagating up into the wood of a tree. When fresh these rhizomorphs are cream colored but darken to brown or black as they age. Photo credit: nhgardensolutions.wordpress.com
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Photo credit: nhgardensolutions.wordpress.com
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Photo credit: Eric/Wikimedia
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Honey mushrooms in a forest near Elgin Street, Ontario, Canada. Photo credit: Paul Derbyshire/Wikimedia
Sources: Wikipedia / Wikipedia / Wikipedia / Smells Like Science / USDA
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The Hottest Place On Earth

The Hottest Place On Earth
The planet Earth is a series of extreme places where high temperatures can put hot records. Let's look at the absolute "winners."
 
 
Rub al-Khali, Arabia
Being the largest uninterrupted sand desert in the world, the Rub al-Khali covers almost a third of the Arabian Peninsula and is located on the territory of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. Of course, this is hot. Hot and dry. The mercury reaches 56 ° C, and a respite from the heat does not happen, because the usual annual rainfall barely reaches 3 cm
The desert Rub al-Khali is so inhospitable to people that it never crossed on foot, until February 2013, when the South African team was able to move her.
 
Dallol, Ethiopia 
This sizzling city in the Afar depression, Ethiopia, holds the top spot for the highest average annual temperature ever recorded. In the period from 1960 to 1966, the average temperature in the Dallol was 34,4 ° C (during the day the mercury regularly rising above 38 ° C). It should be noted that these figures - annual averages, which means that the temperature throughout the year at Dallol is reduced only slightly. Thus, the heat is almost never stops at any time of the year.Today Dallol - a ghost town, but in the 1960s it was a mining settlement. Among the modern attractions include the amazing hydrothermal deposits, as shown in the photo above. It is also interesting to note that the Afar depression, where the Dallol - is volcanically active region, and is located not far from the volcano of the same name. Thus, it seems that the heat in the city literally comes from all directions - from the sun on top and bubbling lava below.
 
Tirat Zvi, Israel
Tirat Zvi - it is a religious kibbutz in Israel, located in the Beit She'an Valley, 220 meters below sea level. Although located near the Jordan River maintains the fertility of the region in the summer months, the sun literally burns up the valley. In June 1942, a settlement was recorded the highest temperature throughout Asia - 53,9 ° C.
To escape the heat, the settlers often immersed in ponds fed by springs, and every home is equipped with an awning that provides shade.
Timbuktu, Mali
Timbuktu city boasts a rich and fascinating history. Being at the crossroads of ancient Saharan trade routes, it was once a thriving center of science and the starting point of Islam throughout Africa. Although the city and maintains a permanent population, as well as a place to store the greatest collection of ancient manuscripts of Timbuktu slowly recedes before approaching the Sahara desert. The main problem is the local desertification, as in there are big dunes and the streets are often buried under windblown sand.
The temperature then increased too, often fever was recorded at above 55 ° C. The good news is that in the cool waters of the Niger can dip only 24 km from the city.
 Kebili, Tunisia
Ironically, a desert oasis Kebili in central Tunis - this is a place where people fleeing the North African heat. At least here there are palm trees, providing shade and cooling water. Even so, not foreign Kebili high temperatures: here the mercury rises to the level of 55 ° C, and the figure of one of the highest recorded in Africa.
However, the city is picturesque and it is worth a visit, despite the extreme climate. People live here almost as long as modern man stepped foot on the surface of the earth: there is clear evidence that Kebili been inhabited 200,000 years ago.
El Azizia, Libya
September 13, 1922 the city of El Azizia made ​​history when there the weather station recorded the highest temperature measured on Earth right - sizzling 58 ° C. Record worked 90 years as the World Meteorological Organization in 2012 has not announced that the 1922 data were flawed.
Although the record Aziziyah was written off, there is no doubt that the region is able to demonstrate such indicators as well as the local summer temperature regularly reaches 48,9 ° C. Moreover, the entries in the Libyan city of Ghadames also very close to record levels. 

 Death Valley, the United States of America 
Death Valley is located in California's Mojave Desert - is the lowest, hot and dry region in North America, holds the world record for the highest temperature - 56,7 ° C. In 2012, the World Meteorological Organization has awarded the Valley of Death, when it turned out that the previous record holder Aziziyah showed erroneous figures.
Although the sun-scorched landscape really comes to borders might forms of life can exist here. By the night of hiding out bobcats, foxes and rodents, and on the highest points of the region are subsistence Bighorn. And when the rain still falls from the dungeons appear scorched plants and cover the bottom of the valley of colorful blooms. Sometimes it seems that this place - a haven of magic. Death Valley - is home to the mysterious moving rocks. They leave their itinerary as proof of movement, even though the process of moving, no one has ever seen with my own eyes.

 
 Fire Mountain, China 
Obviously, his name Fire Mountains, located in the Chinese mountains of Tien Shan, obliged spectacular ravines, rugged base of red sandstone and resembles flames. But the name has appeared for other reasons - these mountains piping hot.
Although the lack of direct measurements of the weather station temperature are held, NASA satellite, equipped with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (a device capable of measuring the temperature on the surface of the planet from space), one of the highest recorded temperature in the history of measurements - 66,8 ° C. This figure registered in 2008 was the highest in the world for that year. 

 Badlands, Australia 
Australia - is the driest inhabited continent on Earth, most of it - it is a vast desert. Since this region resides few people accurate temperature data virtually absent. In these remote regions is simply no reason to have a complex meteorological station.
However, there is evidence of local searing temperatures, especially during periods of drought, when there is no cloud cover to hide the hot sands of the merciless sun. In 2003, which was a particularly hot temperature fluctuations due south of El Niño, NASA satellite recorded in the so-called region Badlands temperature 69,3 ° C.
 

 Dasht-i-Lut, Iran 
And here it is - the hottest place on Earth. Dasht-i-Lut Desert - it is so parched and desolate region that there is simply no one to watch the temperature regularly. Yes, there is such a work can be just awful.
While the content in this desert weather station is impractical, NASA satellites were able to measure the temperature of there the space during the seven-year study. For five of those years - in 2004-2007 and 2009 - the hottest place on Earth is becoming desert Dasht-i-Lut. In 2005, it was registered the temperature of 70,7 ° C and this was the highest rate of officially confirmed on Earth.
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Amazing Fractals Found In Nature


 Fractals: Inside the Shell
It's like looking into infinity! Or not, what do we know?
 
Fractals: Nipple Shell
This is also a raid boss in World of Warcraft


 Fractals: Eat Your Veggies
This tastes alright in salads but will blow your mind after a few drinks.


 Fractals: Chill
Ice is all kinds of mathy. It mocks our intern who dropped out in grade 8.


 Fractals: Spinning
Damn nature, you smart.


 Fractals: Going Geen
Because they do nothing else they had to have mathematical patterns in them.



 Fractals: Snow Blow
How do you stop the snow from melting on the microscope? Oh, you make it cold.

 Fractals: Range O Mountains
Mountains aren't just breeding grounds for dirty goats.
 Fractals: Leafy
Not as cool as Leif Garret, but it's something


 Fractals: Rage of the Heavens
Lightning crashes, yo
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Geological Wonders Of The World

 Geological Wonders Of The World
 

 

Socotra Island, Yemen
Socotra - one of the most isolated archipelagos in the world of the continental (or non-volcanic origin). It is located 240 kilometers from the Horn of Africa and 380 kilometers from the Arabian Peninsula. Due to this geological and biological containment and the climate of the archipelago formed its unique flora and fauna. For this reason, Socotra has been listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.
 
Moeraki Boulders - New Zealand
These unusually large stone spheres with a diameter of one to two meters lie along the east coast of New Zealand in a place called Moeraki. About where they came from, the people there are many Maori legends, but scientists claim that these boulders - the result of coastal erosion.
 


White Desert - Egypt
White Desert - a small area in the east of the Sahara desert about 10 km x 30 km, located 45 kilometers from the town of Farafra. This place is famous creamy white color and bizarre limestone formations. Once it was the bottom of the ocean, and the white race - the remains of marine organisms. Over the centuries, sandstorms have made these limestone mountains in such a alien landscape.

 
 Giants - Northern Ireland
The trail is a giant 40,000 interconnected basalt columns formed as a result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The tops of the columns form a sort of stone road going off into the sea. In 1986 this place was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 
 Reed flute cave - Province Guilin, China
Reed flute cave is more reminiscent of the fantastic scenery of the film. Once upon a time this place was the ocean, but then the water gradually went away, exposing these amazing mountains with strange gorges, caves and caverns. This is a magical spectacle attracts people for more than 12 centuries. The name of the cave gave a special cane growing at its entrance, from which the masters did particularly melodious flute.

 
 Mono Lake - California
Mono - extensive and shallow lake that has no outlet to the ocean. This has led to the isolation of a high concentration of salt in water. Although the abundance of alkali fish is not found, the lake has a surprisingly productive ecosystem - with brine shrimp that lives in the water and provides food to about two million migratory birds. One of the wonders of the lake are considered calc-tuff towers that were exposed after the decline of the water level in the lake.

 
 Devils Tower - Wyoming
This monolith of volcanic origin is the oldest "national monument" of the U.S.. Devils Tower was formed about 200 million years ago from molten magma that rose from the depths of the earth, and stood in the form of elegant columns. Native American legend has it that once the seven little girls climbed on a flat rock, trying to escape from a grizzly bear. They desperately begged stone to save them, and then he began to grow, reached the sky and girls have become the Pleiades. A deep vertical furrows-string - it's a huge bear claw marks.

 
 The Twelve Apostles - Great Ocean Road, Australia
The Twelve Apostles - a group of limestone rocks in the ocean near the coast in the National Park of Port Campbell, located on the so-called Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Rocks were formed by erosion - strong ocean winds gradually wore away the soft rock, turning the cave into an arch. Then arches collapsed and were these amazing structures up to 45 meters high.
  
 

Cave of Crystals - Nike, Mexico
Crystal Cave is located at a depth of 300 meters below the Mexican city of Nike. The cave is famous for the giant selenite crystals, the largest of which reaches 11 meters in length, 4 wide, and weighs 55 tons. The cave is constantly heat up to 58 ° C at a humidity of about 100 percent. Because of this, it is very difficult to explore the cave. Even people with special equipment may be in the Crystal Cave no more than 20 minutes.

 
 The Gates of Hell - Turkmenistan
The gates of hell called the gas crater in Turkmenistan. The history of this place is: v1971 year near the village Darwaza Soviet geologists discovered an underground accumulation of gas. The land in this place failed and formed a large, gas-filled hole. To bad for people and livestock gases do not go outside, they decided to set fire to. Geologists think that the fire was soon extinguished, but made ​​a mistake. Since 1971, natural gas and continues to burn.

 
 Chocolate Hills - Philippines
Chocolate Hills - a geological formation in the Philippine province of Bohol. On an area of ​​50 square kilometers is, at least 1,260 of these hills. During the dry season green grass covering the hills changed to chocolate brown - hence the name.
 Salar de Uyuni - Bolivia
Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt marsh in the world - with an area of ​​10,582 square kilometers. This is a dried salt lake is located near the town of Uyuni in southwestern Bolivia. In the rainy season salt marsh covered with a thin layer of water and turns into the world's largest mirror surface. Salar de Uyuni, according to experts, contains a reserve of 10 billion tons of salt are produced annually about 25,000 tons. 
 Stone Forest - China
Stone Forest "grows" in China's Yunnan Province and covers an area of ​​350 square kilometers. Numerous limestone structures were formed by centuries of erosion and leaching of sea waters. High cliffs resemble stalagmites growing up from the ground, many of them look like petrified trees, and this creates the illusion of the forest of stone.
 
 


 

Antelope Canyon, Arizona, USA

Antelope Canyon’s undulating sandstone walls have been smoothed and polished to perfection by years of rainwater and flooding. The slot canyon is still prone to flash floods on occasion, but visit on a fair weather day and you’ll be in for a treat, as the walls turn burning shades of amber, bronze and gold in the shafts of sunlight that peek through from above.


The Blue Hole, Belize

Staring out of Belize’s Lighthouse Reef atoll like the pupil of an enormous aquatic eye, it’s hard to imagine that this giant sinkhole once sat above sea level. Perfectly spherical, the Blue Hole is full of stalactites and stalagmites that were initially created above-ground, and has become a popular site for divers, including the likes of Jacques Cousteau.


Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, USA

Sitting as it does in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, above an intense volcanic hotspot, the rocks beneath Hawaii are constantly simmering away, and continuously creating new land. Kilauea is a shallow-profile shield volcano from which ropey, pahoehoe lava meanders overland and through subterranean tunnels all the way to the ocean, where it drips and sizzles into the waters below like pancake batter.


Knockan Crag, Scotland

Huge geological forces once pummelled and folded the mountains around Knockan like puff pastry. A huge section of young rocks (a mere 500 million years old) were squeezed on top of some of the world’s oldest (which had over 1.5 billion candles to blow out on their last birthday). Scoured by glaciers and gnawed at by the sea, the resulting scenery is bleak but beautifully striking.

 

Mount Roraima, Brazil/Guyana/Venezuela

It’s not hard to see why Roraima has been cited as the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. One of the oldest rock formations on earth, it’s hard to believe that this mist-shrouded table-top mountain (or tepui) is made up of sediments that used to sit on the seabed. Almost 3000m tall, Roraima is threaded with stunning silvery waterfalls and lush jungle.


Mingsha singing sand dunes, China

While you probably won’t see them appearing on X Factor any time soon, the Gobi Desert’s singing sand dunes are still a captivating curiosity. As visitors camel trek along the spine of the dunes and the wind whips up the towering sands they emit an unmistakable humming sound; the phenomenon is thought to be the result of avalanching grains bouncing off each other.

 

Underground river, Palawan, The Philippines

A secret world all of its own, the Cabayugan snakes along for 8.2km underneath the karst landscape of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. The waterway has eroded a series of vast chambers on its journey, which are full of stalactites and stalagmites – not to mention more than 400,000 bats – before it eventually flows out into the open South China Sea.


Colca Canyon, Peru

More than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and thought to be the second-deepest canyon in the world, Peru’s Colca Canyon is totally breathtaking. Created by a massive geological fault between two huge volcanoes, there is still evidence of pre-Inca terracing on its slopes. The Mirador Cruz del Condor is the most popular spot to take in the views and watch soaring condors.


Parc National de l’Ankarana, Madagascar

Arriving at Parc National de l’Ankarana feels not unlike taking your first steps onto another planet. Gangly-limbed lemurs bounce effortlessly from ridge to ridge of this intricate rocky maze, comprised of spiky limestone pinnacles that have been eroded by water. Down below, scorpions take refuge in hidden crevices and crocodiles cruise the underground rivers that flow between secret pockets of forest.


The Danakil Depression, Ethiopia

From Tanzania to Eritrea, the earth is being wrenched apart along the Great Rift Valley and will one day form a new ocean. Volcanic activity abounds along this rift, particularly in the Danakil Depression. This dramatic region is home to more than thirty young volcanoes, sulphurous yellow hot springs and otherworldly salt plains. Check with the Foreign Office before travelling, as this is a geologically and politically volatile area.
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