I am going to just step up and admit that I *love* this concept.  For people who love nature, live green, but do not like actually being outdoors, the perfect house has been developed.  From Fast Company,

The luxury retreat is located on the famously beautiful western coast of Scotland, it’s a self-contained geodesic dome. There’s no exterior plumbing or cast foundation–the pod sits on the land, with as minimal an impact as possible.

Why would I like this?  My swollen fingers are begging for it after having been stung by wasps not once but TWICE last week.  Not the bees in my pretty pink tree, but mean evil wasps.

I got to show a buyer a gorgeous home today that had something unique (in that I’ve never seen this before).  The 3rd floor bonus room was the entire floor and the back wall was a glass garage door.   It opened onto a wooden deck that has a gas outdoor fireplace.  Talk about a party yard/room!

I had never heard of bottle trees until about a year ago when a friend of mine asked her brother to build one.   Then I saw one at a wedding reception earlier this summer and fell in love with them.

And this close-up…

Then I saw this bottle tree at Digging.com,

I am smitten - absolutely smitten!!

Pam writes some thought provoking stuff over at Tales From The Microbial Laboratory:

It’s so nice how a garden changes, how something freezes back while other things appear - suddenly,
some branches that I have on the ground (in a pile) are covered with
life - beautiful shades of green, intricate wrappings, tangles of new
growth.  The garden doesn’t stay quiet for long - a day, perhaps two.

But what about - over geological time, not a day or a season?

There’s a lot more. Head on over to her place for the rest.

Let me first be clear that I am not anti-gun. I am not, I am not, I am not. I don’t happen to own any guns because they’re expensive and I’d rather spend my money on electronics than guns.

That said, this is the stupidest concept for a magazine I have ever seen. I first came across this on Hanna’s blog, "This Garden Is Illegal." She’s all up in (heh) arms about it, too:

Their website says that this is a magazine that embodies the essence of
“21st Century Southern America”. Really?!? What is it you people do
down South? Topiaries of Uzis? I can see the articles now, “Getting a
Bang out of Making Bean Pole Tepees from Unused Shotguns”.

Now, I’m down south and trust me, I don’t know anyone that’s going around guns a’blazing all the time. Sure, some of the time, but not nearly enough to need an entire magazine for it called "Garden & Gun". When I look at it, I really don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I think a bit of both is appropriate.

Casa Sugar has been running an ongoing series about plants that purify the air indoors. Today they are talking about my very favorite indoor plant: Ficus.

Ficus are very sensitive to overwatering. If your leaves are turning yellow, you’re overwatering it. Make sure the pot your ficus is planted in has plenty of drainage. Putting a layer of gravel in the bottom of the pot will help with the drainage. It also helps to build up humidity for the plant, which ficus loves- humidity good…overwatering bad.

Ficus also uses less water during the winter months so be sure you’re not overwatering during this time period. Enjoy your ficus!

Hanna over at This Garden Is Illegal has a very interesting post about why gardening shows aren’t terribly popular. Hanna says:

Gardening shows don’t get Gen X. I remember cooking shows as a child. They were ghastly boring (no offense Julia Child).
Guess what, gardening shows are ghastly boring – present tense. Cooking
show got revamped so that trendy Gen X’ers would gobble them up while
eating their Chinese take out. It just so happens that the rest of the
generational masses thought we had pretty good taste.

Yep. She has a lot more, and I agree with her 100%. Bring the education and the entertainment and I’d be a whole lot more interested in watching gardening shows.

So, you’ve gotten roses from a suitor or perhaps a secret admirer. What do those roses mean? Sure, most of us know red roses mean "I love you", but what do the rest of the colors mean? What if you get black roses?

Susan at Earthly Garden has answered this age-old question. I wonder if she knows the answer to this one: I once got one single stomped-on black rose from a gentleman. Do you think perhaps he was angry with me?

A research team from the University of Illinois has built a better
plant using a computer model that mimics the process of evolution and
they are the first to stimulate every step of the photosynthesis
process.

Photosynthesis is how plants algae and phytoplankton convert light
energy into chemical energy Photosynthesis, for the most plant takes
place in the plant’s leaves and involves an elaborate array of chemical
reactions requiring dozens of protein enzymes and other chemical
components.

for more information

  As a jewelry lover and a home guru I have a passion for all things about the home and anything that  sparkles. So when I came across the blog at A Story Book Life titled "Backyard Bling" I was mesmerized. Pearl says 

" You don’t have to stop with your chandelier crystals! You could also add any number of other items that you might have around the house such as; spoons, forks, vintage keys, strands of beads from old necklaces & bracelets, large seeds, buttons, shells, marbles, beach glass, small ornaments, charms - or anything else that pops into your creative mind :)"

I couldn’t agree more that accessorising your piece of the outdoors with crystals or your favorite momentos, brings both a personal and glamorous atmosphere to your home. On the personal note it reminds me of special memories of my simple childhood visiting my grandmother, times spent gazing and awing at the beautiful light display created by the glamorous Crystal chandelier in her dining room. It was this feeling of whimsy that I felt when I recently visited my sister in-law’s home for a family celebration. We all gathered around the outdoor dining room table on her veranda when I looked up and noticed a custom made rustic chandelier from Decor Interiors & Jewelry by Judith Edwards Designs.com adorned in crystals with a prism light display dancing above our heads. And just like that I felt right at home and isn’t that what its all about?