Natural Barriers to Garden Pests Control

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717): Entomologist Honoured with Google Doodle

Maria Sibylla Merian ((1647-1717) was a German naturalist and scientific illustrator who studied plants and insects and made detailed paintings about them. While her contribution to entomology is not widely known, it at least has the distinction of being recognised with a Google Doodle.

She has also been honoured on old German banknotes - before they took what many must now regard as the ill-fated decision to scrap it all in favour of the Euro.

Anna Maria Sibylla Merian auf der 500 DM Banknote

Here's a picture of her looking less old and wrinkled:

Portrait of Maria Sibylla Merian

Examples of her artwork and engravings might serve to illustrate why she is deserving of recnet (albeit belated) honours:

Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium

Plate LXXXV. from Erucarum Ortus Alimentum et Paradoxa Metamorphosis (1679-1717

Illuminated Copper-engraving from Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, Plate VI. 1705

Illuminated Copper-engraving from Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandlung und sonderbare Blumennahrung, Plate CLXIX

Illuminated Copper-engraving from Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, Plate XXIII. Solanum mammosum 1705

Illuminated Copper-engraving from Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, Plate XLVIII. 1705

Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus) and a False Coral Snake (Anilius scytale)

Illuminated Copper-engraving from Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, Plate XXVII. Musa paradisiaca, 1705

Colored copper engraving from Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, Plate XLIII. "Spiders, ants and hummingbird on a branch of a guava" (Tarantula: Avicularia avicularia)

Illuminated Copper engraving from Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, Plate IX. Maria Sibylla Merian, 1705

Source: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

The Art of Gardening: Victor Gabriel Gilbert

Gardening by Victor Gabriel Gilbert
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife Gardening and the Cycle of Life

Wildlife gardening emphasises concern for the shared environment. It involves more than just caring for your own garden patch. The by-products and waste it produces are an equally important consideration. Plantlife, like all forms of organic matter are part of a life-cycle that includes death and decay. But what becomes of it in the afterlife?

The term biogas is used to describe gas produced as a result of the breakdown of organic matter; whether as a result of processes in nature or in the sphere of human social activity. And the production of such gas has useful applications, involving both domestic and industrial consumption.

Huo Long Biogas is a Hong Kong-based company making active inroads in this area. For more information, visit their website.


Note: While this post has been sponsored, the views expressed reflect those of the publisher, not the sponsor. 

Today is Earth Day (but why not every day?)

Today we celebrate Earth Day. In 2009 the United Nations designated this as International Mother Earth Day. This purpose of this event is to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth's natural environment.

To mark this year's Earth Day, Google have commemorated it a Doodle.

We hope you enjoy.

The Wildlife in your Garden

Welcome to the new website that is devoted to wildlife gardening. In the weeks and months ahead we will be bringing you all the best that the web has to offer for wildlife and gardening enthusiasts.

Watch this space!