If you're planning to add trees and shrubs to your yard, now is the time to do it. Planting in the fall gives them time to get established, and, when spring arrives, they will flourish. This season, look beyond crepe myrtles and Bradford pear trees and pick native trees, shrubs and plants. When you think "native," think plants that occur naturally in the region, state, ecosystem or habitat without direct or indirect human intervention...
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On a recent Sunday afternoon, a group of people came together for a "bath" out in a wooded area at the LSU Hilltop Arboretum. And, while it's called bathing, no water was involved. Or bathtubs. And everyone kept their clothes on. Shoes, however, were optional. Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku (shinrin means forest, yoku means bath) as it is called in Japan, is immersing or "bathing" yourself in the forest to absorb the sights, sounds, aromas and textures. It is not hiking. It is slowing down...
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Brandon Ballengee wants to enlighten you about bugs. As an artist and biologist, Ballengee uses his skills to create what he calls “Love Motels” for insects, which have brought bugs and people together around the world. These Love Motel public art installations consist of enormous sculptured canvases — some shaped like butterfly wings, others in free-flowing forms — embedded with ultraviolet light...
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With their gossamer wings and flight skills that would make a top pilot jealous, dragonflies and damselflies are the symbols of Louisiana summer. Dating to prehistoric times, these predators hover and zip, reaching speeds of up to 35 miles per hour, performing aerial maneuvers with ease, flying backwards or lifting off vertically, helicopter style. And, while they look very similar and are both members of the insect order Odonata, dragonflies and damselflies are different...
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In 2005, child advocacy expert and author Richard Louv sounded the alarm: Youngsters were losing touch with nature and the consequences could be dire... Read the full article in the Baton Rouge Advocate.