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Little Succulent Gardens

5/29/2017

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Since I live in a generally dry climate here on the west coast, I have begun to love succulents for their drought friendly ways and their diversity of color and beauty.  In fact we took most of our front yard out and replaced it with a succulent garden.  So when my granddaughters told me that they wanted to make little succulent gardens of their own, I jumped right in.  On a recent Saturday we set out to do it.  

First we came by my house and broke off little pieces from my mature plants (one of the wonderful things about succulents is that they will regenerate from a cutting) and then we headed off to a nursery that specializes in succulents of all kinds and sizes with some examples of ready made gardens to give gardeners ideas of how to design their own gardens.  The girls each bought about ten little plants there, some decorative pebbles and a few small rocks.  Each girl also chose an accent, a little frog and a piece of driftwood, for her garden.  After a fun stop for lunch, we then went to get potting soil and trays to plant the gardens in.  

Home Depot had just the right size bag of potting soil, developed especially for succulents, and the plastic trays that we needed to use for the gardens.  The trays are actually trays that go under pots for big plants to protect surfaces from water when the plants in the pots drain.  They are perfect for a little succulent garden too.

At their house, their dad drilled small holes in the trays for drainage and the girls were set to create.  We scooped the dirt in and, with a spoon, dug little holes for the succulents.  I loved watching as they planted each little cutting or plant carefully.  What is nice is that the succulents do not need much, if any, root structure to take hold and thrive.  The results are beautiful!

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Saving Endangered Species

5/19/2017

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Today is the 12th annual Endangered Species Day.  It makes me think of all of the species that we are in danger of losing forever.  I have recently blogged about two, the small Vaquita porpoise and the Pangolin.  Most of the reasons for their impending extinction are human related: habitat destruction, climate change and poaching.  Among the most endangered and some of the primary reasons cited are:
   The Tiger - Hunting, poaching
   The Polar Bear - climate change 
   The Pacific Walrus - climate change
   The Magellanic Penguin - climate change
   The Leatherback Turtle - climate change and over fishing
   The Bluefin Tuna - over fishing
   The Mountain Gorilla - Habitat destruction
   The Monarch Butterfly - Habitat destruction and pesticides
   The Javan Rhinoceros - Poaching and habitat destruction
   The Giant Panda- Habitat destruction
   The Vaquita Porpoise - gill net fishing by-catch
   The Pangolin - Poaching and habitat destruction
   The Amur Leopard - Hunting, poaching
   The Cheetah - Hunting, trophy collection
   The Orangutan - Poaching, habitat destruction
   The Sumatra Elephant - Poaching, habitat destruction
There are many other endangered species - too many to list here but they are listed on the Internet.

There are many organizations helping in the fight to save these animals but I am sometimes overwhelmed with the enormous challenge to save them; and I think "what can one person do?"  I have recently made it a priority to do something small to help every day.  I have my favorite organizations which I have checked out with Charity Navigator, a site that rates them according to criteria of worthiness (look CN up - they are wonderful to help me decide where I can best send my small contribution and know that it is going to the right place). My contribution can be as little as what I would spend on lunch or some useless thing that I think I must have but I want it to go to something better.  Some that I like that are rated four star (the best rating) are The Center for Biological Diversity, The Wildlife Conservation Network, The African Wildlife Foundation and our own San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservation.  Some have banded together in the Endangered Species Coalition.  You can choose your own organizations and check on Charity Navigator's Review for their rating to know where to give.  If everyone gave just a little on Endangered Species Day we could make a big difference to help our planet and the animals that inhabit it.

   

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