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Plants, Trees and Gardens
ANi Direct Seeds - Whether you are looking for unusual tropical rain forest plants or exotic gardening you should find something of interest here. New varieties include acacia, rain forest, unusual tree, rose, sunflower, tomato and peppers.
Bonsai Primer - This excellent primer explains what bonsai is, and isn't. It is a small tree and pot, grown in visual harmony to give the impression that you're looking at an ancient tree, not a shrub. It is not a dwarf tree. The tree's branches have been trimmed carefully, sometimes wired and trained, in order to give the impression that you're looking at a very old tree, or in the case of saikei , an entire tiny landscape. You can learn the basics of this gardening hobby at this site, including which trees and shrubs lend themselves best to the art of bonsai.
Bonsai Web - Beginner's Guidelines - This page shows you step-by-step how to take a throwaway nursery plant and start it on the path to becoming a beautiful bonsai--a miniature tree in a lifelike setting. There is a list of special tools you'll need if you want to take up this intriguing hobby.
Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park - If you're one of those people who thinks a cactus is just a prickly, ugly weed and the desert is a dry wasteland of sand, may we suggest taking a cyberwalk through Arizona's Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum? There's not very much water to go around in the desert, but most deserts are not deserted! Many scientists think the variety of life in the desert is second only to that found in the tropics. You won't want to miss the cactus garden, with its 800 different cacti, including tall saguaros, ground-covering prickly pears, and squat, spiky hedgehogs. So that the cactus can conserve what little water it has, some of its flowers last only one day--and that day happens to be captured here in lots of beautiful pictures.
Bulb.com - After a long winter, there's nothing so cheerful to see as tiny crocuses blooming in the sun. Did you know that most spring-flowering bulbs are planted in the fall? At this site you can find out everything you'd ever want to know about bulbs, including how to "force" bulbs to bloom out of season, how to keep squirrels from eating all your bulbs, and the latest in the quest to develop a black tulip.
Butterfly Guide - You love butterflies, especially when they visit your yard. You wish they'd stay around longer, though. This site tells you what kinds of plants you need in your garden to attract caterpillars and butterflies, especially the really pretty and unusual ones. For example, if you want the beautiful, light blue spring azure butterfly to hang around, you need to plant aster, butterfly weed, and dogwood trees.
Carnivorous Plant FAQ - Imagine this if you can: a little fly takes a break from buzzing around by coming to rest on the leaf of a beautiful pink plant. What the fly doesn't know is that the leaf is very sticky. Slowly, the leaf edges curl up around the fly. Gulp. It's been eaten--by a plant! Trapping insects for food is what "carnivorous" plants do. They live in poor soil, so they have to get their nutrition from somewhere (or something). Here, you can see what they look like. Are there any where you live? If so, keep your pet flies tied up inside! There are also links to other sites on the Net with even more information and pictures of carnivorous plants.
Fern Resource Hub - Ferns don't have any flowers and they don't produce seeds, but they do have a way (or ways) to reproduce. Look on the underside of the frond. You may see tiny dots or a brown powder. That material is called spores, and it's one of the ways you could grow a new fern plant. Growing ferns from spores takes a long time. The experts are at this page to let you in on the secrets of fern propagation and culture. One recipe is at http://www.visuallink.net/fern/growcomm.htm .
Great Plant Escape - Bud and Sprout are on hand to help Detective Le Plant solve some of the great mysteries of plant life. Case by case, you will check the clues, try experiments, and solve problems as Bud and Sprout journey into the world of plants. The detective promises lots of fun, but the outcome will remain a mystery until your investigative duties are completed. You can also find your way to some other great "green links." Get the dirt on soil--it's much more than you think. Do you know the difference between a daffodil bulb and a potato? Bud and Sprout will help you find out about a lot of plants, fruits, and vegetables, and they will even show you how to grow your own mango!
National Christmas Tree Association - Too bad they don't have "smell attribute" plug-ins (yet). If they did, this site would smell terrific! The National Christmas Tree Growers page provides a dictionary of 16 evergreen types, from the Arizona cypress to the white spruce. You'll also find a directory of tree farms close to you (if you want to cut your own), selection tips, and interesting facts and figures.
New York Botanical Garden - Back before there was a New York City, a forest covered the whole island of Manhattan. Of course, there isn't much of a forest left these days, but 40 acres of the natural, uncut, 200-year-old forest has been saved at the New York Botanical Garden just as it was. The garden, one of the oldest and biggest in the world, also has 27 specialty gardens featuring everything from rocks to roses, all of which you can visit online. Make sure you read all about the garden's scientists, who travel the world looking for medicinal plants that may help to fight cancer and other diseases.
Northern Wisconsin / Northwoods Activity Calendar - You don't have to live in Wisconsin to download this activity calendar and have way too much fun! In November, the daily suggestions include examining resin from a pine tree, making origami animals, and creating a musical rattle out of a gourd. Other months suggest seeing how far a grain of popcorn will pop, learning how to make rock candy, and stuffing a pillow with cattail fluff.
Plants and Our Environment - If you don't know a sepal from a cotyledon, this is the place for you! Learn all about plants at this site, which was one of the finalists in the 1998 ThinkQuest Junior competition. The handy A- to- Z glossary reveals that the cotyledon is the hard outer case of the seed, which holds the embryo (baby part of the plant) and gives it a food supply, whereas the sepals are the outer green parts of the base of the flower. Sepals protect the flower bud before it. The entire process of growth is explained, and the site includes lots of great graphics.
Rittners School Floral Education Center - You've spent the summer hoeing, pulling weeds, and watering, and now you have lots of beautiful flowers. Congratulations! Now pick some for the house and come inside. You are about to learn how to make arrangements that will make the neighborhood florists jealous of your talents. Well, maybe you're not ready to put them out of business yet, but several of the arrangements described at this Web site are simple to do. Ask your mom or dad to give you a hand and prepare to create an arrangement of beauty.
Rose Resource - And the winners are: Betty Boop, Kaleidoscope, Candelabra, and Fourth of July. Bet we've got you guessing on this one. How could Betty Boop and a Candelabra be winners in the same contest? Wonder no more. They are 1999 prize-winning roses! Stop at this site to read about these magnificent flowers, including detailed descriptions and photos of the winners. You can also learn about designing your garden with roses.
Succulent Plant Page - How do you repot a cactus? Very carefully, of course! Or, you could wrap the spiny beast in a roll of newspaper or paper towel, keeping it in place with twist-ties or a rubber band. That will prevent the spines from breaking off as well as keep your fingers safe. This page bristles with pointed information regarding the culture of our prickly pals in the cactus and succulent family.
The Amazing Story of Kudzu - Love it or hate it, you can't ignore kudzu--the vine that ate the South! It's not a native plant, but it now covers over seven million acres, climbing up and over everything in sight. How did it all start? Where did kudzu come from, and more importantly, where is it going? (What's that climbing up your leg?) Is there any use for the stuff? Find out here.
The Garden Helper - Gardening and landscape advice, tips, and help for the beginner as well as for the veteran gardener. Budding gardeners can learn the right way to grow plants and flowers, trees and shrubs. With guides showing how to create, maintain, and cultivate a variety of different types of home gardens, as well as detailed instructions for different landscaping projects.
The Wonderful World of Trees - This resource has several sections. Let's explore A Year in the Life of a Tree. Did you know that trees have flowers? Some are so small we don't even notice them, but they are necessary for the tree to reproduce. At this site, follow a Canadian tree through its four seasons. Click on the buds, the branches, the roots, and the leaves, and see what's going on at each time. In the Formidable Forms section, you can learn how to classify trees by the properties they have in common. Other areas of this site discuss protecting trees, paper recycling, and an update on the devastating ice storms of the winter of 1997-1998. (Hint: Click on the camera icon toan encyclopedia of trees, with photos and information on each. If you click on the tic-tac-toe icon, you'll discover several tree-related games and word-find puzzles. The file-folder icon reveals a table of contents for the entire site.) Check it out, otherwise you'll miss something.
Timeless Roses - Your grandma remembers she once had a beautiful rose garden, full of floribundas, grandifloras, and hybrid teas. Huh? Take your grandma down the garden path to visit this Web site, and see if she can spot some of her old favorites. The photos are beautiful. There are special sections on old-style roses, historical roses, and even the latest All-American Rose Society winners.
Trees - Did you ever wonder why trees have different shapes? You can tell a palm tree from a pine tree, but what makes them look so dissimilar? Read about tree shapes, and then try designing your own tree based on the clues you are given about the environment in which it will grow. Other sections include lessons on the ways trees spread their seeds.
UW - Medicinal Herb Garden - Visit the medicinal herb garden tour at the University of Washington in Seattle. Look up a plant by its common or botanical name, and see a picture. There are also links to further information on the medicinal uses of the plant, but you should check with your own doctor for the best advice. While you're visiting the garden, you notice a peculiar odor. Make that ODOR. Find out what really stinks in the greenhouse! (Hint: It is a very rare flower, which has only blomed ten times before, anywhere in the U.S.)
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