Backyard Bananas

Backyard Bananas
Originally uploaded by dewelch.

Here are the backyard bananas I mentioned in the last podcast from my friends backyard here in the Manoa Valley here on Oahu.

Imagine being able to pick these for your breakfast?

Wahiawa Botanic Garden, Wahiawa, Hawaii

Wahiawa Botanic Garden, Wahiawa, Hawaii
Originally uploaded by dewelch.

I love Botanic gardens just for the shear depth of their collections, if not their inherent beauty.

To see so many specimen plants gathered in one area can be a bit overwhelming, though, I wished the signage here was a bit better, as many of the plants I was interested in were unmarked, Still, this was my first exposure to a rainforest environment with hanging vines, loads of epiphtyes, huge ferns and the like,

Despite its small size, the Wahiawa Botanic Garden was a nice stop for the day. After we had wandered around, my son and I spent over an hour producing some watercolor paintings of the scenes and taking a few photographs to bring home with us.

Click the photo to see a larger image and view additional pictures.

From Hawaii - Keri Dearborn Interview Part 3/3

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You can find Keri's blog, AnimalBytes at animalbytes.blogspot.com

Music: Honolulu Shuffle by Kaimoku, courtesy of the PodSafe Music Network

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I'd love to hear what's going on in your garden. Post your comments here or email them to agn@welchwrite.com.

Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, hobby, california, grow, build, make, DIY, howto, how-to, outdoors, losangeles

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Pineapple Test Garden, Dole Plantation, Wahiawa, Oahi, Hawaii

Pineapple Test Garden, Dole Plantation, Wahiawa, Oahi, Hawaii
Originally uploaded by dewelch.

Who would have thought there were so many different types of pineapples from so many different parts of the world?

We visited the Dole Plantation in Wahiawa, Oahi, Hawaii today. We avoided the more touristy parts of the plantation, but the sizeable test garden was neat.

Click the photo for more types of pineapple on my Flickr account.

Rainbow in paradise

100_1585.JPG
Originally uploaded by dewelch.

Our first day here in Hawaii and it is like I expected and yet not. Sort of hard to describe really. The green-ness of everything really stands out after living in Southern California for 20 year.

We were treated to this view from "The Punchbowl". You can just see Diamond Head behind the trees on the left.

Just at the end of this path, I saw my first coconut palms with fruit. So much is different here, both the flora and the fauna, and it is really an enlightening experience. Just what I need to jolt my thinking about everything.

A few more pictures are available on my Flickr account. Click the photo to link directly there.

Aloha!

Preparing your garden for a vacation and Part 2 of our birdfeeding interview

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You can find Keri's blog, AnimalBytes at animalbytes.blogspot.com

To start to answer the question posed at the end of the interview in this episode. There is some evidence that sunflower seed hulls do suppress growth in surrounding plants.

According to the National Gardening Association web site, "Hull-less sunflower seeds are preferred because black-oil sunflower seed hulls are allelopathic; they contain a chemical that inhibits seed germination in other plants. That's why plants don't grow where sunflower hulls touch the soil."

Additional Info at HomeAndGardenSite.com, and a scientific paper, Allelopathic potential of Helianthus annuus L. (sunflower) as natural herbicide

I'll post more info as I find it.

Music: The One by The Woodshedders, aka the Hot Club of West Virginia, courtesy of the PodSafe Music Network

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I'd love to hear what's going on in your garden. Post your comments here or email them to agn@welchwrite.com.

Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, hobby, california, grow, build, make, DIY, howto, how-to, outdoors, losangeles

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Photos: Shade garden

Shade garden
Originally uploaded by croatoan_found.

Flickr User Croatoan_Found has some great gardening pictures in their account., including this nice shot of hostas in a shade garden.

Check the out by clicking on the picture or their user name in the caption.

Elsewhere Online: Grow a Succulent Window Box

It is always great to see how gardeners can succeed despite the largest of hardships. Fire escapes, stoops and kitchen windows are turned into makeshift gardens whenever and wherever possible. ReadyMade magazine offers up this short piece on creating a window box full of succulents to brighten your urban day.

Grow a Succulent Window Box

Growing succulents in the windowbox on the fire escape portion of my rooftop garden has become a tradition -- most likely because they are just about the only plants that can survive the intense sun, heat, and drought.

(Via ReadyMade Blog.)

Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, hobby, grow, build, make, DIY, howto, how-to, urban

Elsewhere Online: The Simplest Bench in the World

I came across this garden bench project in an older issue of Backyard Living Magazine.

It does indeed look very simple to build and would make a nice addition to a rustic woodland garden.



Link: Simplest Bench in the World Project (Google Cache)

Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, build, make, DIY, howto, how-to, free

Birds, bird feeding and bird watching - An Interview with Keri Dearborn - Part 1

Listen to the Podcast

You can find Keri's blog, AnimalBytes at animalbytes.blogspot.com

Music: The One by The Woodshedders, aka the Hot Club of West Virginia, courtesy of the PodSafe Music Network

• Vote for and review AGN on Podcast Alley
  
• Review AGN in the iTunes Podcast Directory
  
• AGN Frappr Map - Add yourself today!
  
• My AGN Photo Set on Flickr.com
  
• AGN Flickr Group

I'd love to hear what's going on in your garden. Post your comments here or email them to agn@welchwrite.com.



Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, hobby, california, grow, build, make, DIY, howto, how-to, outdoors, losangeles

If you find this podcast helpful, please leave a donation for the author.