“The Bee Garden Diaries: Week 13 - Sacramento Bee” plus 4 more |
- The Bee Garden Diaries: Week 13 - Sacramento Bee
- Stalker reported to gardai days before murder - Independent
- Flutter Fantasy-A Butterfly Exhibition - HamptonRoads.com
- Body found in hotel is 24-year-old Inglewood woman - Marin Independent Journal
- Pink could call Australia home - News.com.au
| The Bee Garden Diaries: Week 13 - Sacramento Bee Posted: 14 Aug 2009 04:57 PM PDT Can you have green lawn, spectacular flowers and save water, too? Al Figone, a longtime educator and gardening consultant, tackled that quandary in his own Folsom garden. He estimates he has more than 6,000 varieties of plants in his diverse personal collection. Due to lingering drought, Figone has had to find ways to keep his landscape lush with less water. In addition, Folsom has its own micro- climate. He had to factor the earth beneath his feet (80 percent clay with lots of rocks) as well as the weather overhead into this conservation equation. (Winter temperatures dip below 30 degrees, and on many summer days they rise above 100.) "Residents wanting an attractive garden flush with a diversity of flowers, tasty fruit or healthy vegetables are faced with a lot of mixed messages, primarily revolving around the theme of water efficiency – usually meaning reducing water consumption," Figone says. A longtime college professor of kinesiology, Figone approached water savings from a physical perspective. He starts with soil. All that clay works a lot better at filtering water if you remove rocks, then add organic mulch to retain moisture. He keeps his soil well fed with organic nutrients. Earthworms help break the nutrients down and add to soil health. Figone tries to put each plant in the proper place for success, based on its needs. For example, hydrangeas often are considered hard to grow in Folsom without lots of extra water, but he has 20 big bushes planted with a protective northern exposure – limiting their chance of getting overheated. Put sun-loving plants where they get the rays, shady ladies where they can stay cool. Water when the soil really needs it, he adds. "Smart controllers" measure moisture in the air and soil, and irrigate accordingly, reducing waste. He prefers hand watering as much as possible. It allows a close look at each plant while doling out just enough moisture. "Develop a watering efficiency checklist," he says. "Consistently assess your irrigation practices twice a season, perhaps more in the summer. Purchase a soil probe and take a plug of soil from a depth as long as the probe, 24 inches down." With that knowledge comes assurance. "An attractive landscape driven by smart technology irrigation requires no more or even less water than a drought-tolerant one," Figone says. "Knowledge, effort and fun are what's needed." What are your tips for saving water? Or, are you looking for more expert advice? Share your experiences and find answers at our Bee Garden forums. Go to sacbee.com/forums and scroll down to Home & Garden. Call The Bee's Debbie Arrington, (916) 321-1075.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Stalker reported to gardai days before murder - Independent Posted: 22 Aug 2009 08:15 PM PDT The stalker-killer Shane Clancy was reported to gardai on a number of occasions, the latest only two days before the murderous attack on his ex-girlfriend which led to the death of Sebastian Creane and the stabbing of Jennifer Hannigan and Sebastian's brother Dylan, according to friends of the Creane family. It also emerged yesterday that Clancy, who stabbed himself to death in the back garden of the Creane home in Bray, Co Wicklow, had followed Jennifer to Thailand when she went backpacking to escape his stalking during the summer. Jennifer Hannigan was released from hospital last Friday and is recovering from her injuries at home. Dylan Creane, Sebastian's brother who was stabbed repeatedly, is still recovering in hospital. It had been reported last week that Clancy had called off a charity fundraising trip to India in June "citing personal reasons" but it now appears he did so to pursue his ex-girlfriend who broke up with him six months ago. Clancy is also understood to have gone to Australia believing she may have gone there. Unnamed garda sources were quoted in one newspaper yesterday as saying there were no complaints about Clancy's stalking prior to last weekend. The Creane family declined to comment yesterday. It is understood all parties related to the incident have been advised by gardai not to speak to journalists. Jennifer began going out with Sebastian Creane shortly before the end of term at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, and it is believed that when Clancy found this out he embarked on the course of stalking that led to the horrific attack in the early hours of last Sunday. Clancy came across Sebastian Creane on Saturday evening, whether by accident or design, at the Eagle House pub in Glasthule and followed him through the evening to a Dalkey club and then gave him a lift back to his home in Bray. Clancy then waited outside until he saw Jennifer arrive at the house. He then drove to the all-night opening Dunnes Stores in Cornelscourt where he bought a block of kitchen knives then returned to the Creane home. Clancy first stabbed Sebastian and was attacking Jennifer when Dylan Creane, who was upstairs with his partner, Laura Mackey, came down and tried to stop him. Jennifer escaped through the back of the house and climbed over fences to a house further down the street to raise the alarm. She had a knife embedded in her shoulder. Musician Laura Mackey was unhurt. Clancy went out to the back garden and unable to find Jennifer he stabbed himself first in the stomach then through the chest cavity into his heart. Remarkably, his body was not found until almost noon the next day. A friend of the Hannigans said yesterday that the family had been frightened that Clancy could commit an act of violence and reported his stalking Analysis Page 23 to gardai on at least two occasions. "He just kept stalking her. She was in Thailand and he went over to see if he could find her over there. He started ringing her parents asking them to tell him where she was. The man was going crazy. "They went to the gardai apparently two days before it happened just to report. I think he was always ringing her and ringing the family the whole time." Stalking is an offence under the 1997 Non-fatal Offences Against the Person Act which gives gardai the power to order a stalker not to communicate with the victim or approach the victim's residence or place of employment. There have been a small number of convictions in recent years. Clancy was a Trinity College student who should have been entering his fourth year studying Irish and Theology. He was described by acquaintances as a very hard-working young man who kept up two part-time jobs to pay for his fees and to keep an apartment in Dalkey and his car. He and Jennifer both worked in the Club Bar in Dalkey and dated for three years, the relationship ending earlier this year. Acquaintances of Clancy said there were concerns that he had become unbalanced and had talked about suicide. One said: "I heard he said if he couldn't have her he would not be around and nobody else would have her." The Clancy family are well known and respected in the Sallynoggin, Co Dublin, where they lived and in Dalkey where Clancy's grandparents and other relatives live. - JIM CUSACK |
| Flutter Fantasy-A Butterfly Exhibition - HamptonRoads.com Posted: 22 Aug 2009 10:24 PM PDT |
| Body found in hotel is 24-year-old Inglewood woman - Marin Independent Journal Posted: 22 Aug 2009 05:52 PM PDT GARDEN GROVE, Calif.—Police say a woman found dead in a room at an Orange County hotel is a 24-year-old from Inglewood. Lt. Scott Watson of the Garden Grove police said Saturday that evidence found at the scene indicates the death of Ashley Nicole Lilly was a homicide, but did not give further details. A hotel employee at the found Lilly's body Friday morning at the Crowne Plaza Anaheim Resort in Garden Grove. Detectives are looking for witnesses and reviewing security camera footage from the hotel, which is located near the Disneyland Resort.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Pink could call Australia home - News.com.au Posted: 22 Aug 2009 08:44 PM PDT POP star Pink, who is in the country on her Funhouse tour, has admitted that she could quite easily call Australia her home, saying: " I could stay here forever." Showbizspy reports that the singer said: "My time Melbourne has been awesome ... I finally know my way around the city. I've said that before but now I'm clear. "I've loved this whole tour but now it's near the end I just wanna go home and lick my dog Bubba. If he was here, I could stay here forever." Pink also recently revealed that she'd rather spend time in her garden than go out partying. "I have an organic vegetable garden with four raised beds," she said. "I grow cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, jalapeno peppers, spinach, kale and chillies. "I also grow sunflowers, marigolds and herbs like basil and marjoram. I like to get out there in my wellies."  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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