Select Page

calla_lily_8040

 Cherry Parfait Rose (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Here are some posts and articles that I enjoyed this week; I hope you enjoy them as well

National Park and National Wildlife Refuge Links

Park Advocate has Park Service Releases Most-Visited National Park Data for 2012.

Flower and Plant Links

Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens has Bunny Bustin’ Natives

Discover Magazine has After 32,000 Years, an Ice Age Flower Blooms Again

National Parks Traveler has Desert Treasures: Spring Blooms In Big Bend National Park

Wildlife Links

New York Times has On the Montana Range, Efforts to Restore Bison Meet Resistance

The New York Times has Mystery Malady Kills More Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms

Environmental Issues Links

The Guardian has Scientists link frozen spring to dramatic Arctic sea ice loss

Photography and Art Links

John Paul Caponigro has 3 Ways To Get More Resolution From Your Photographs

The New York Times has Photography in the Docket, as Evidence and Hopis Try to Stop Paris Sale of Artifacts

Mike Spinak has Artist, Respect Thyself

Thoughts of a Bohemian has Full Eclipse of the Moon

Russ Bishop has Visual Drama through Leading Lines

Photo District News has Gun Rights Advocate Charged in Copyright Case Over Anti-Gay Attack Ads

Art and Artifice has Can a collector prevent an artist from making new art?

DC Area Flower Safari

If you are in the DC area, I hope you will join me and other flower lovers at our DC Flower Safari Meetups. The next Meetup is scheduled for Sunday, April 6th at National Arboretum in Washington DC.

I finally have a location for this Saturday’s meetup. Due to the late spring – most of the usual places for early April don’t have much in bloom. So we’re heading to the National Arboretum in Washington DC.

Not sure exactly what we’ll find – hopefully some native plants in Fern Valley, some Cherry blossoms (they have more varieties than the Tidal Basin – so usually a longer bloom period), and a few magnolias. I’m sure there are some daffodils blooming somewhere in the Arboretum . . .

According to the What’s Blooming page – the first week in April we can likely see ” Daffodils, crocuses, early magnolias, Korean azalea, Japanese-andromeda, forsythias, cornelian-cherries, woodland wildflowers, epimediums, flowering cherries, arisaemas” – http://www.usna.usda.gov/Education/blooming.html

Plan for the meetup is to enter the Arboretum from the R Street entrance at 8 AM when it opens – and then meet in the parking lot. It would be great if we can consolidate the group into fewer cars in the parking lot – there is limited parking in many areas of the Arboretum.

From there – best suggestion will be to just head off and explore. My plan is to head towards the Cherry Trees and Asia Garden – and then back to Fern Valley. Since Fern Valley is in the woods – it’s easier to photograph later in the morning there than in other parts of the garden

We’ll meet back at the parking lot at 10 AM and head to the Dunkin Donuts at 2420 New York Avenue for coffee (it’s just around the corner from the Arboretum).