Plants And Animals

I need to replace plants I lost to drought this summer. Is there some way to improve survival odds? Drought-proofing? Organic matter in soil acts like a sponge, holding water for plants to use. It also loosens the soil, so rainfall and oxygen can get into the soil and down to roots. Working a composted product into the whole planting bed is better than just adding it to the planting hole. Don't go overboard with the organics, though. Five percent organic matter is considered a good soil.

Jennifer Rolf wants to make a lasting contribution to the Baltimore Zoo, and she will get her chance when she and 49other Solley Elementary School students take a field trip to the zoo to plant 250 spring bulbs and reseed part of the lawn.They will also learn about careers at the zoo and tree-climbing safety during the trip, which will fulfill the county Board of Education's recommendation that the students complete a service project."We want to teach them that it's not always about getting something.

It's one of the sweet spots in Chesapeake country to float your boat, here where the Nanticoke River sweeps down out of Delaware and swallows its largest tributary, Marshy Hope Creek, before bending off south toward Tangier Sound. Stop paddling, cut the engine. Let the eddies slowly rotate your view across miles of nearly unbroken forest that surround the broad confluence and cloak the banks, upriver and down. Around the confluence, ospreys and herons are common traffic, and eagles are becoming so. By day, the wooded swamps ring with birdsong.

Advice and strategies to help your children read Editor's Note: Jerdine Nolen today concludes her series on Multiple Intelligences with a discussion of Naturalistic Intelligence. Pet owners, like the animals they adore, come in all shapes and sizes. But one thing these individuals may have in common is Naturalistic Intelligence. This type of intelligence relates directly to our ability to understand, relate, categorize, comprehend and explain the things we encounter in the natural world.

Close your eyes and think of Hawaii. Visions of white sand and warm, blue ocean probably dance through your head. But there's a lot to Hawaii beyond its beaches. The islands are melting pots of cultural and natural history, and an easy way to learn about them is by visiting the lush lands of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. The nonprofit organization's three sprawling gardens on the island of Kauai and one garden on Maui are peaceful, parklike preserves on stretches of Hawaii's most scenic coastline.

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas -- Sex is much in the news. Americans seem evenly divided on the subject. Half of us take sex entirely too seriously. The other half don't take it seriously enough.As with all things, I have mixed emotions. I like to think that God leaves the choice up to us. We can either have sex, or we can have a job as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.But sometimes I wonder if the world wouldn't be a better place without sex. Not that I think God makes mistakes. But maybe He delegates.

A plant wilted after being touched, but seemed to spring back to life a few minutes later. Hundreds of tiny insects scurried inside petri dishes. Herman, the panther chameleon, caught crickets by swiftly unraveling his tongue. For years, Lisa Nowakowski has spread the word of environmental awareness in schoolrooms. Yesterday, she took her message -- and some plants and animals-- to Towson's Bykota Senior Center. As part of her "Survival Show," which focuses on nature's adaptive abilities, she discussed the pitcher plant's ability to lure insects into its deep, tube-like leaves with its sweet nectar.

Conservatives show no interest in conservation Cal Thomas' column on a University of California, Berkeley study of conservatives ("A liberal misdiagnosis," Opinion Commentary, July 30) failed to explain the reason that the last thing a conservative thinks about is conserving anything. The study did not explain it either. Many conservatives call concerns such as that about global warming a mere hoax; they also dismiss other concerns about the environment as the mere rantings of those crazy environmentalists.

Hannah Goodmuth isn't particularly fond of pulling weeds from her family's Woodstock yard. But yesterday, she tackled the weeds of a far larger yard: Patapsco Valley State Park. Participating in the park's first Garlic Mustard Challenge, 10-year-old Hannah and her team pulled up more than 86 pounds of a weed that has been crowding out many of the native plants along the Patapsco River. "We want the butterflies to live and the other plants to grow," Hannah said, in between yanking up dozens and dozens of the 2- to 3-foot plants.

The hunters were stalking their prey on a wooded path in Patapsco Valley State Park south of Baltimore, peering closely into the underbrush. But they weren't looking for animals. The group of amateur naturalists was on a search-and-destroy mission for exotic plants that have invaded Maryland and are killing off native life. The problem of invasive species is drawing increased attention as globalization has brought more international trade, which has led to more seed-hopping from continent to continent.