Master Landscaping
http://www.masterlandscaping.net

Celebrate summer by welcoming butterflies into your garden. Butterfly gardens are different from many other “theme” gardens. To be successful, the garden not only needs to have a pleasing design that works with the surrounding home and landscape, but it needs to perform a very specific task. Attracting butterflies may seem fairly straightforward, but you cannot assume all butterflies are attracted to all flowers.

Butterflies are beautiful, somewhat ethereal creatures whose colorful wings and graceful flight patterns add a sense of wonder to any garden planting

Butterflies have plant preferences: There are literally thousands of species of butterflies, and each species tends to have a distinct group of plants as preferred food source. When selecting plants for a butterfly garden, it is also important to remember that a butterfly goes through four life cycles, with one set of food requirements for the larval stage and another type of food once the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis.

The nectar sources for butterflies include annuals, perennials, wildflowers, herbs, shrubs and trees. Annuals and tender perennials known to attract many species of butterfly include zinnias, white alyssum, marigolds, lantana, cosmos, nicotiana, petunias, ageratum, fuchsia, snapdragons and sunflowers. Herbs and wildflowers that attract butterflies include chives and other alliums, bee balm, spearmint, Anaphalis, Lunaria, Verbena, dandelions, clover, Queen Anne’s Lace, butterfly weed, goldenrod and thistle.

Perennials for butterfly gardens include daisies, Phlox, Aster, Liatris, Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Eupatorium, Achillea, Aubretia, Helenium, Echinops, Limonium, Sedum, Phystostegia, Scabiosa, Coreopsis, Hemerocallis, Heuchera, Lilium, Lythrum, Lavandula, Myosotis and Penstemon. Shrubs, vines and trees for butterfly gardens include Abelia, Aesculus, Aruncus, Buddleia, Clethra, Crataegus, Lindera, Lonicera, Malus, Prunus, Ribes, Salix, Spirea, Syringa, Vaccinium and Wisteria.

Design help: If a butterfly garden is to be created as part of an older, established landscape, look for a site that offers shelter—an overgrown fence, a clump of trees, the base of a sloping lot, or a rocky outcropping with a flat, grassy spot nearby. Water features and several hours of sun would complete the picture—minus only the butterfly-attracting plants.

Call it serendipity, but the preferred style of planting for design purposes—starting with low edging plants and gradually working up, level by level, to the tallest plants—is also one of the best arrangements for a butterfly garden. This is not only because it makes it easier for the butterflies to identify their favorite nectar-producing plants when they are clearly visible, but the taller plants offer shelter from both wind and predators.

The popular concept of a mixed border, combining annuals, perennials, herbs, roses, shrubs, vines and ornamental trees, all underplanted with bulbs, will provide a long bloom season as well as a variety of food sources and forms of shelter that will attract a large assortment of butterflies over a long period.

Other design guidelines: Although some theme gardens need meticulous care and a neat, sometimes formal appearance to create the intended ambience, butterflies like their surroundings to be a little messy. Rocky paths muddied by a sprinkler or parts of the garden where water pools on flat rocks will attract many species of butterfly like a luxury spa attracts movie stars. Research indicates that minerals released through the water’s evaporation process, primarily sodium, may play a vital part in the mating habits of butterflies. For this reason, some experts recommend putting small salt licks in a butterfly garden.

Areas in or around the garden where grass is allowed to grow long can act as a shelter and, for some species, a place to lay their eggs. If you can live with a section of your garden that is somewhat overgrown with grass, wildflowers, trees and shrubs, you will probably find more butterflies in this little wilderness than among carefully tended flower beds

Like plants, there are woodland butterfly species and those that prefer a sunny spot. Even sun-loving butterflies will appreciate the presence of a shaded shelter.

Butterflies have a powerful sense of smell. Much like dogs, the scents that they find attractive aren’t always scents the human population likes to encourage. Rotting fruits and vegetables are gourmet treats for some butterflies, while others are drawn to the more pleasant aromas of clover or wild violets.

Pesticides and herbicides should be avoided, whenever possible, because in almost every stage of life butterflies are extremely vulnerable to such toxins.

Some butterflies stay around for winter: Not many butterflies overwinter in the extreme climates of the Midwest, but those that do ( sometimes called “hibernators” ) will also benefit from winter shelter—mounds of ivy growing over old tree stumps, piles of logs or large, dead tree branches, a stack of old bricks or chunks of concrete.

Some butterflies will hibernate in old trees, while others will welcome the presence of specially designed “butterfly houses” as winter shelter. Winter or summer, butterflies need protection from the wind and a place where the sun will be reflected, somewhere safe from predators—including the trampling feet of children.

Types of butterflies: Monarch butterflies are usually a common sight in Illinois. Other likely candidates include Cabbage White butterflies, Clouded Sulphur, Orange Sulphur, Eastern-Tailed Blue, Meadow Fritillary, Pearl Crescent, Viceroy, Great Spangled Fritillary, Summer Azure, Question Mark, Least Skipper, European Skipper, and the Dion Skipper.

Tags: amp, annuals, bee balm, buddleia, butterfly garden, butterfly gardens, butterfly weed, clove, colorful wings, distinct group, fence, flight patterns, food requirements, grass, helenium, herbs, landscape, Landscaping, lindera, lunaria, nectar sources, perennials, plants, pleasing design, pool, preferred food, rta, shrub, shrubs, shrubs and trees, species of butterflies, species of butterfly, surroundings, trees and shrubs, vegetables, water feature, water features
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Lolita’s life changed on Aug. 8, 1970, when the capture nets closed in on her family of orca whales. Her days of swimming and foraging for salmon in Puget Sound ended abruptly, and she was sold to the Miami Seaquarium to live out her days as a performer.

After more than 25,000 shows, Lolita continues to be an attraction at the Seaquarium.

While Florida may be a retirement haven for people, the performing-mammal industry has no retirement plan. But Lolita has family and friends in Washington state, and those friends want to bring her home to retire.

The family is a group of 43 orcas, known as L pod, from which she was taken. Lolita continues to vocalize in her native L pod language, which orca experts say may help her to be recognized after such a long absence. Fourteen of the whales who were in the area with Lolita are still alive.

The friends are human supporters willing to pay for her return to Puget Sound and for rehabilitation they hope would lead to her release.

Most recently, actor Raul Julia-Levy has indicated an interest in putting together a group of actors, musicians and politicians to call publicly for Lolita’s release. And the 1970 capture of Lolita and other orcas will be among the topics discussed at a whale conference Saturday in Coupeville on Whidbey Island. Coupeville overlooks Penn Cove, where the orcas were captured.

Efforts to bring Lolita home began in 1995, when Ken Balcomb, executive director of the Center for Whale Research, and then-Gov. Mike Lowry first called for her return.

Orca Network, a nonprofit advocacy group on Whidbey Island, offered $1 million for Lolita in 1996. Miami Seaquarium turned that down, as well as a quiet offer of $1 million-plus a few years later from the Free Willy/Keiko Foundation.

Endangered status

Lolita’s family, the southern resident orcas, was listed as endangered in 2005. This distinct group of 88 whales comprises the J, K and L pods, which are referred to as the southern residents for their annual return to the waters of Puget Sound and southern British Columbia. Of the southern residents the National Marine Fisheries Services recorded as captured during the 1960s and ’70s, Lolita is the only known survivor.

Miami Seaquarium says that endangered status is the best reason for Lolita to stay in her present home.

“It would be irresponsible for us to treat her life as an experiment and jeopardize her health and safety,” said Carolina Perrina, public-relations coordinator for the Seaquarium, “especially given the fact that scientists have added the members of the resident community of orcas, who reside in the waters of Puget Sound, on the endangered-species list due to a distressed ecosystem.

“Lolita has learned to trust humans completely, and this long-standing behavioral trust would be dangerous for her if she were returned to Puget Sound, where commercial boat traffic and human activity are heavy.”

Orcas’ capture contributed to their endangered status. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the captures “likely depressed their population size and altered the population characteristics sufficiently to severely affect their reproduction and persistence.”

Lolita was one of 80 orcas herded into Penn Cove on Whidbey Island on Aug. 8, 1970. That day, six whales were captured, and five were killed in the process. According to the National Marine Fisheries Services, at least 47 southern resident orcas were killed or captured between 1965 and 1973.

While capturing orcas is not illegal in Washington waters, no permits have been granted since San Diego’s SeaWorld netted some in 1976. They were later released after SeaWorld lost a court case related to the capture.

Stardom on the wane

When Lolita arrived at Miami Seaquarium, she was just a few years old. Hugo, an orca captured from her extended family, greeted her. Lolita became a performer and earned her stage name, the Star of Miami.

Today, that star is fading. Her companion died 27 years ago, leaving this social creature alone except for three dolphins who share a tank with her that measures 80 feet across at its widest point.

Nor does Miami Seaquarium give Lolita star billing anymore. The entrance sign touts its new “dolphin encounter” program. The only postcard available features Salty the Sea Lion. Except for the hour she performs each day, Lolita, unlike the other animals, is hidden from view in her locked stadium.

If you ask Florida residents about Lolita, many have a look of distant recognition. Lifelong Miamians remember her fondly but seem surprised she is still alive. Female orcas can live 80 to 90 years in the wild, but Lolita is believed to be the oldest whale in captivity. Now an estimated 40 years old, she has grown to 20 feet long and remains in good health.

Stacy Leets, who works nearby and brought her young daughter for her first visit to the Seaquarium on a sunny day in December, expresses concern about Lolita’s environment and even rethinks her decision to come to the park: “I don’t know if I want to come back anymore. It kind of reminds me of the circus.”

Miami Seaquarium prides itself on helping endangered species but doesn’t publicly acknowledge that Lolita qualifies for this designation. The Seaquarium rescues, rehabilitates and releases manatees and sea turtles. The sea-lion show even includes a pitch for protecting the endangered conch.

“Lolita plays an important role in educating the public about the need to conserve killer whales that populate our Northwestern shores,” Perrina said. “She plays a vital role in our society’s understanding and appreciation of these magnificent animals.”

Family matters

The work done by the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor has made the orcas that swim in Puget Sound including Lolita’s family the most extensively studied group of whales in the world. Relying on the unique characteristics of their dorsal fins and “saddle patches” (gray markings behind the fin), each whale has been tracked and identified yearly for more than three decades.

Lolita would be set free only if contact could be established with her family. Orca Network believes the support of her family would be crucial for her survival in the wild.

For this reason, a rehabilitative pen would be placed on the west side of San Juan Island, a location the L pod passes almost daily in summer. There, Lolita would build her strength and learn to catch her own food.

Orca Network founder Howard Garrett thinks that three of the pod’s matriarchs, each of whom could be Lolita’s mother, would accept her and that the others would follow.

“We assume with recognition of her vocal call, she would be recognized right away. That is ascribing some pretty high abilities to them, but I think it is warranted.”

Tags: distinct group, rta, Services, three decades
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It’s that time of year again - time for Christmas carols and
elevated media coverage of road crashes. The disastrous incident
that killed five members of the Corcoran family naturally generates
interest and a collective horror that so many lives can be
devastated in a single crash. Yet every serious crash damages the
lives of many people - even if they are not all in the same car.
Also not unusual are two aspects of the Narrabri crash: the
involvement of a young, male driver and the possible involvement of
fatigue.

We’ve heard that young male drivers are overinvolved in road
crashes almost as often as we’ve heard Jingle Bells, but we
still haven’t licked the problem. The inevitable chorus of calls
for increased training of younger drivers is overly simplistic.
Research has repeatedly shown that training in “advanced
car-handling skills”, like skid pan training, does not improve
younger-driver safety. By increasing perceived skill more than
actual skill it may even promote risky driving. Drivers who think
they can get out of a sticky situation (even if they can’t) will be
less likely to avoid it in the first place. To develop more
effective training for younger drivers we need a thorough
understanding of a complex problem.

Younger drivers do engage in more risky driving than older
drivers, some of it probably inadvertent. Novice drivers may not
have mastered completely the basic car-handling or hazard awareness
skills required for safe driving, and there is a peak in crashes
during the first six months of driving. The Graduated Licensing
System goes a long way towards ensuring that the basic skill
training occurs before a full licence is granted, and the
increasing attention given to hazard awareness in training programs
is gratifying. However, the extremely risky driving behaviours
which cause the most serious crashes, and are probably recognised
as risky by the driver, appear to increase with experience -
perhaps because drivers become overconfident in their ability to
negotiate hazards successfully.

Youth, rather than inexperience, appears to be a major
contributor to intentional risk-taking, and raising the driving age
might be an effective approach to improving young-driver safety
(although it brings significant issues relating to mobility and
independence). In a recent survey we found that younger drivers
demonstrated more positive attitudes towards risk than older
drivers, and younger respondents particularly valued risky driving
for seeking experience, confidence, excitement, sensation and
prestige. Our research also indicates that younger drivers are
strongly influenced by their peers’ opinions.

These findings speak for the value of providing safer situations
for young people to test their boundaries, and advertising that
gives younger drivers negative images of risky driving (such as the
recent campaign implying that the peers of a deliberately speeding
driver think that he is compensating for a small penis). Further,
it may be helpful to address those younger drivers who have an
unusually strong affinity for taking risks as a distinct group.

Our findings also suggest that risk-taking may have a
developmental value for younger people. Recent neuroscientific
studies suggest that brain processes responsible for control and
co-ordination of behaviour, called executive functions, do not
mature until the mid-twenties. In late adolescence there is a
proliferation of neural connections in the relevant brain areas,
such as the prefrontal cortex. These connections must be “pruned”
before executive functions, such as impulse control, can operate
properly. “Pruning” occurs via experience of appropriate
situations, and training that provides targeted experience may be
used to accelerate this process. Computer tasks that have shown
promise for training impulse control could be developed to reduce
risky driving among younger drivers. And so additional training of
younger drivers may yet reap benefits. It will just look very
different from the “advanced driver training” that proponents
typically call for.

In many respects driver fatigue is simpler to understand.
Fatigue impairs a driver’s ability to make the complex judgments
that are often required on the road, and increases a driver’s
chance of falling asleep at the wheel, especially under monotonous
conditions. Drivers are most likely to be fatigued when they have
had insufficient sleep, when it is a long time since they slept,
when it is a time that they would normally be sleeping, or when
they have been driving for a while. Other factors which impair
driving, such as alcohol and distraction, exaggerate the effects of
fatigue. Christmas, with its late nights of drinking, early
mornings of present-opening, busy days of backyard cricket and long
stretches of travel, is a time to be particularly vigilant. Make
sure you are well rested before you get behind the wheel.

Dr Julie Hatfield is senior research fellow at the NSW Injury
Risk Management Research Centre at the University of NSW.

Tags: amp, distinct group, target
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