Saturday, May 17, 2008
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Nature Notes

PITFALLS AND PERILS OF GOING WILD IN THE GARDEN Friday, May 2, 2008

PITFALLS AND PERILS OF GOING WILD IN THE GARDEN

NATURE NOTES
IT IS the time of year when thoughts turn to gardening, and garden centres and nurseries become first choice for a Sunday outing.
It is easy to buy, from almost anywhere, packets of wild flower seeds in various different mixes to fit supposedly different habitats, but how ‘wild’ are they really, and how beneficial are they?
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HARD CHALLENGES FLOWING FROM ISLAND`S SOFT GEOLOGY Friday, March 7, 2008

HARD CHALLENGES FLOWING FROM ISLAND`S SOFT GEOLOGY

NATURE NOTES
By Helen Slade
of the IW Natural History and Archeology Society

TO APPRECIATE the natural beauty of our countryside and to visit sites and monuments of interest, it is necessary — and desirable — to be...
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SNAKESTONES OFFER A SLIVER OF INSIGHT INTO HISTORY Friday, February 1, 2008

SNAKESTONES OFFER A SLIVER OF INSIGHT INTO HISTORY

NATURE NOTES
By Helen Slade
of the IW Natural History and Archaeological Society

IT IS not only living plants and animals which occupy the minds of members of the IW Natural History and Archaeological...
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WINTER ESCAPISTS WITH THE HIBERNATION HABIT Friday, January 4, 2008

WINTER ESCAPISTS WITH THE HIBERNATION HABIT

NATURE NOTES
I WAS delighted to hear recently that a friend who lives in Newport has a family of hedgehogs living beneath a clump of pampas grass in her garden.
It prompted me to recall that hedgehogs...
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THE COLOURFUL JOURNEY FROM THE PAST OF WINTER GREENS Friday, December 7, 2007

THE COLOURFUL JOURNEY FROM THE PAST OF WINTER GREENS

NATURE NOTES
IW Natural History and Archaeological Society

EVERY Christmas we gaily display wreaths and other arrangements of holly, ivy and mistletoe, but do you ever wonder why?
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MUSHROOMING INTEREST IN FASCINATING FUNGI Friday, November 2, 2007

MUSHROOMING INTEREST IN FASCINATING FUNGI

NOT quite plants, but surely not animals either?

Although on a recent fungus foray we learned that some actually move about, settling only to set spores. But these slime moulds, as they are known, are probably not most people’s idea of fungi.


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UNCOVERING HIDDEN MYSTERIES OF POND LIFE Friday, October 5, 2007

UNCOVERING HIDDEN MYSTERIES OF POND LIFE

NATURE NOTES
OUR ‘low-maintenance’ garden has, because of the weather this summer, become a garden of no-maintenance and, consequently, rather a jungle.
Hidden beneath the vegetation is a small pond...
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BEWARE THE KISS OF THE WASP SPIDER WOMAN Tuesday, September 18, 2007

BEWARE THE KISS OF THE WASP SPIDER WOMAN

NATURE NOTES
THE wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi, is one of our most striking and easily identified spiders.
It is the female we notice, often sitting in the middle of her orb-type web ...
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