Saturday, April 21, 2007

Downtown Boston

Trees next to The Barking Crab

DoubleTree Hotel

My parents were in town this weekend, and they were staying at the DoubleTree. I don't know if the name inspires the plants that are in here, but they have quite a few.








Thursday, April 19, 2007

Kenmore Square




This is a little floral display outside Pizzeria Uno in Kenmore Square. Ironically they keep the light on during the day as well.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

To landscape more like nature.

MSN did an article with the aid of professional landscape designers on what they consider landscaping sins. What struck me to be very strange about this article is the many times, "nature," was used. One of the no-no's was the marching flowers (flowers in a row) because they don't look "natural" because that's not "in" right now.

"Now we plant in mass groupings, more like nature does," says Donovan. "Bunched together, in a bouquet effect, that attracts the eye."

However, Sin # 4 is about having too much.

The upshot? "They'll get this hodgepodge effect," says Donovan, who sees it often. But using lots of colors all over the place "produces chaos," she says. "That's too busy for the eye. It's like wearing too much jewelry." And often all of the color don't complement the home -- one of landscaping's chief goals.

It seems strange to glean elements of nature for some parts, but not for others. It's okay to feign the idea of nature, as long as it is trimmed regularly.

Friday, April 6, 2007

Being green and caffeinated.



Starbucks, in association with Global Green USA, has created an interactive website called Planet Green Game. In this website you choose a character, and also a mode of transportation. The idea is to go to different areas and accomplish challenges to make the city more environmentally friendly. Through these tasks you begin to learn multiple steps that anyone can take in order to decrease greenhouse gases. The website also gives you examples in real life of what cities are doing in order to "be more green."





Also, in the bookmark they have inserted wildflower seeds in paper so you can make your own little green space.