Sustainable & Creative Living
Enjoying fresh air and sunshine is a summer staple for just about everyone. Nothing kills summer fun like annoying bugs of any kind. Filling your yard with any of these 10 Plants that Repel Bugs is a good, pesticide free way to help those pesky critters from spoiling your outdoor activities.
When allergy season is in full bloom, it sometimes seems like even the best medicines don’t fully take away allergies’ irritating symptoms. The constant runny nose, congestion, and coughing are the worst! The last thing I want to do is end up at the doctor’s office because allergies led to a sinus infection. If you want some help keeping allergies at bay, let Mother Nature lend a hand by bringing any one of these 5 Plants that Remove Allergens from your Home into your living space.
Succulents have been popular with house plant lovers for quite a while. What’s not to love? They’re beautiful, interesting, and come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Still, it seems like a lot of plant enthusiasts have a love/hate relationship with these green gems. When I profess my love for succulents, I usually get at least one or two, “I always kill my succulents” or “I just can’t grow those”. Succulents are actually simple to care for if you follow a few basic guidelines. Read these tips on How To Care For Succulents and start growing healthy plants right now:
I love gardening and caring for houseplants, but I freely admit that because of my schedule, my plants don’t often get the care they deserve. This is why I stick to easy to care for plants. This means I tend to have a lot of the same kinds of plants. Another reason I have a lot of the same plants is because I propagate the ones that I like and want to have more of. Here is a guide to Easy Plant Propagation: [Read more…]
This is the time of year I like to go to my local nursery or the garden departments of all nearby big box stores. I try to stick to easy to grow plants as much as possible. Check out my post about Low Maintenance House Plants & 5 Essential Tips for their Care. But no matter how easy plants are to grow, they’ll still need some care. One item of business with plant care is [Read more…]
Bird watching has never been an intentional hobby I took on but it became an especially enjoyable and interesting hobby when I moved to my home on The Gulf of Mexico. I’ve just always been fascinated by seeing these creatures and all their different shapes and colors. And so many find their way to my backyard; like Great Blue Heron, Egret, Roseate spoonbill, Osprey, and even Eagles; Hummingbirds capture my attention more than any other bird.
While these tiny birds appear fragile and delicate, they are actually quite resilient—migrating thousands of miles every year. Hummingbirds can fly forwards, backward, sideways, and even hover midair. Their wings beat 70 times per second and three times that rate when they are diving. No wonder they’re so eye-catching!
Although the area I live in is naturally an attractive location for wildlife, I do a few simple, but key things to make sure I attract hummingbirds:
My fiance and I just got back from our big trip out west. We’re from Florida and we’ve vacationed up and down the east coast, but the farthest west we’ve ever been is Wisconsin and Houston, Texas. This trip was a big deal for us.
The Trip was originally for our friend’s wedding but it turned into a week-long vacation visiting friends in Boulder and then heading to Copper Mountain for the wedding.
Now that summer is in full swing, many of us are spending a lot more time outdoors enjoying picnics, beach days, and just hanging out in the backyard. Unfortunately, outside activities can expose us, and our loved ones, to all kinds of dangerous situations—some minor and some not so minor.
One of those situations that may seem minor, but sometimes isn’t, are Mosquito bites. Mosquitos carry and spread all kinds of diseases such as malaria, dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, West Nile virus, and Zika—to name a few. Over one million people worldwide die from Mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquitos also transmit diseases and parasites to dogs and horses.
With spring officially in full swing, everyone is busy enjoying all kinds of outdoor activities. Not only are we spending time at parks and beaches, we’re also spending a lot of time in our backyards barbecuing, swimming, and gardening. Whether you’re outside enjoying your beautiful garden or even inside enjoying colorful spring potted flowers, keep in mind that some of these lovely flowering plants are poisonous to dogs and cats.
People often give and receive plants as holiday or hostess gifts this time of year. One of the most popular is the Christmas cactus. Normally at holiday time they are healthy and in full and beautiful bloom. This plant can live many years and bloom again seasonally with the right care.
Although gardening is one of my favorite hobbies, the lush green plants that I would bring home from the nursery often turned into brown, dried-up dead things. I just wasn’t able to give them the attention that they needed. Instead of giving up on houseplants, I’ve learned a few tricks to help keep them alive and healthy.
Aromatherapy is one of my favorite methods of stress relief. It never fails to lift my spirits. It’s also simple, quick, and effective. Scents can impact our mood and emotions so powerfully because they travel directly to the part of the brain (deep limbic system) where they’re processed. Our other senses don’t operate this way. Since I’m a very busy person, like everyone else these days, things that work are my favorite things.
