flowers

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

The Scope of Home Depot's Garden Business Is Shocking

The company spends years developing plants that will turn anyone into a green thumb

(Newser) - Home Depot sells massive quantities of paint, lumber, and tools. But one category outpaces them all: its garden business. The flowers, shrubs, soil, grills, and patio furniture sold by the retailer is a roughly $20 billion business. As Ben Cohen writes for the Wall Street Journal , "it's...

Scientists Await Blooming of a Newly Discovered Flower

Scientists are hoping for return of new flower species spotted in West Texas last year

(Newser) - Scientists who want to learn more about a tiny flower recently discovered in West Texas are hoping it will bloom again in a couple of weeks after rain finally fell in the area. Dubbed the wooly devil, the flower with furry leaves, purplish-striped petals, and pops of yellow is a...

Exhibit Smells Like 'Gym Socks and Rotting Garbage'

Thousands line up to watch stinky corpse flower 'Putricia' bloom at Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

(Newser) - The rare unfurling of an endangered plant that emits the smell of decaying flesh drew hundreds of devoted fans to a greenhouse in Australia on Thursday, where they lined up to experience a momentous bloom-–and a fragrance evoking gym socks and rotting garbage. Tall, pointed, and smelly, she's...

If You Can Have Petunias, Why Not Glow-in-the-Dark Petunias?

Light Bio's bioluminescent firefly petunias shipping out now

(Newser) - It looks like your average petunia— until the light dims . The flower petals, formerly white, suddenly emit a greenish glow, about as bright as the full moon. This, of course, is no ordinary Petunia hybrida, but one genetically modified to exhibit bioluminescence. Developed by Idaho biotechnology firm Light Bio , the...

World's Largest 'Corpse' Flower Is on the Brink
World's Largest
'Corpse' Flower
Is on the Brink
NEW STUDY
Sep 29, 2023 2:00 PM CDT

World's Largest 'Corpse' Flower Is on the Brink

All 42 species in Rafflesia genus can be considered threatened: study

(Newser) - Rafflesia arnoldi is the world's largest single flowering plant, with a bloom more than three feet wide. Dubbed "corpse flower" or "stinking corpse lily," it's also incredibly smelly due to the foul odor—something like rotting flesh—it emits to attract carrion flies for pollination....

US Sued for Dragging Its Feet on Rare Ghost Orchid Decision

'The world famous and critically imperiled ghost orchid is out of time'

(Newser) - The rare ghost orchid found mainly in Florida and Cuba should be immediately protected by the US as an endangered species, three environmental groups claimed Wednesday in a lawsuit arguing that federal officials are unduly delaying a decision. The lawsuit filed in Florida federal court contends the US Fish and...

An Idea for the National Mall: Wildflower Meadows
It's Time to Ditch the Grass
on the National Mall
OPINION
Aug 11, 2023 10:07 AM CDT

It's Time to Ditch the Grass on the National Mall

'NYT' essay makes the case for wildflower meadows, as a message against 'Big Lawn'

(Newser) - The National Mall is our "dullest national park" in the view of writer and gardener Alexander Nazaryan. In a New York Times essay, he proposes a fix: Replace all that grass with wildflower meadows. Specifically, plant fauna from different parts of the US in each of the eight lawns...

Black Pastor Plans Suit After Arrest While Watering Flowers

Michael Jennings said he was taking care of neighbor's Ala. home when cops showed up

(Newser) - A Black pastor is ramping up for a lawsuit after he says Alabama police wrongfully arrested him outside his home in Childersburg while he was watering his neighbor's flowers. NBC News reports on footage released this week by lawyers for Michael Jennings that shows his May 22 arrest, "...

Catholic School's Mother's Day Flowers Had Quite the Surprise

Lingerie was stuffed inside artificial roses sold by Philly school

(Newser) - Picking out the right Mother's Day gift "isn't very hard to get right," according to the Philly Voice —pick up some flowers and you're good to go. Just maybe not the ones sold by St. Anselm School. The Voice reports that the pre-K through...

Wildflower Called 'Extinctus' Has Been Rediscovered

Living specimens were found in tiny patch of surviving rainforest in Ecuador

(Newser) - Gasteranthus extinctus, a South American wildflower that got its Latin name after botanists thought it was already extinct, might have to be renamed Gasteranthus vivus. Researchers say the flower was seen for the first time in nearly 40 years during a search of intact patches of primary rainforest in western...

Wedding Florist's Alleged Shtick: Not Showing Up

Ohio AG says Desiree Gilliam Pace scammed 48 clients out of $50K

(Newser) - A purported florist allegedly accepted tens of thousands of dollars from couples ahead of their weddings, but never showed up with the ordered flowers. That's according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who's suing the now-shuttered Flowers by Des in Xenia, Greene County, for violations of the Consumers...

He Was Sick of a Sucky 2020. His Remedy: 2M Sunflowers

Wis. farmer Scott Thompson has planted upward of 2M 'blooms of sunshine' to make people happy

(Newser) - Strawberries, raspberries, and pumpkins are what you'd find growing on Scott Thompson's Wisconsin farm in a normal summer and fall. But 2020 is definitely anything but normal, and this year, neither are the Bristol farmer's fields. When the pandemic forced everything to start shutting down in March,...

Japan Makes Desperate Move to Maintain Social Distancing

Officials in Sakura canceled flower fest, cut at least 100K tulips so people wouldn't congregate

(Newser) - Who can resist an aromatic flower on a sunny spring day? Not many, is what Japanese officials are betting, which is why a popular flower festival has been nixed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Sakiho Kusano, a tourism official with the city of Sakura, tells Reuters that visitors flocked to the...

Drone Makes Stunning Find on Hazardous Cliff Face
Where No One Will
Go, Drone Makes
Stunning Find
in case you missed it
Apr 27, 2019 12:00 PM CDT

Where No One Will Go, Drone Makes Stunning Find

The 'Hibiscadelphus woodii' was considered extinct

(Newser) - A drone hovering near a Hawaiian cliff face spotted something the world considered gone: a flower. And it wasn't even in bloom. In January, drone flyer Ben Nyberg noticed three Hibiscadelphus woodii plants on a cliff where specialists are known to rappel down vertical faces for threatened plant species,...

After 'Unbearable' Weekend, Flower Fields Are Off-Limits

The bloom is off tourism for Walker Canyon, Calif., after crowds trample poppies

(Newser) - Walker Canyon in Southern California is filled with blooming poppies—providing a rolling, orange view that extends as far as the eye can see—but as of Sunday, it's no longer filled with visitors. Lake Elsinore tried to accommodate the thousands of "super bloom" tourists by bringing in...

Scientists Create World's First True-Blue Mum
Scientists Just Achieved
'Holy Grail' of Plant Breeding
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 30, 2017 6:33 AM CDT

Scientists Just Achieved 'Holy Grail' of Plant Breeding

Japanese team engineers the first blue chrysanthemum

(Newser) - A development of "great impact" has been made in the world of flowers—specifically among chrysanthemums, which researchers have just turned a true-blue hue for the first time, per Science . The magazine explains that vibrant blue flowers are hard to find in nature—only a few species exist, and...

'Irreplaceable' Rare Flowers Burned Due to Paperwork

Biosecurity officials in Australia destroyed collection from Paris

(Newser) - A priceless and "irreplaceable" collection of pressed flowers from France encountered biosecurity officials in Australia recently—and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris is not happy about what happened next. The box of rare daisies collected in the 1850s—which was being shipped to the Queensland Herbarium...

Wet Winter Brings Spring Treat to California Deserts

Wildflowers are back, along with tourists

(Newser) - Rain-fed wildflowers have been sprouting from California's desert sands after lying dormant for years—producing a spectacular display that has drawn record crowds and traffic jams to tiny towns like Borrego Springs. An estimated 150,000 people in the past month have converged on the town of about 3,...

Monsanto's New Goal: Wilt-Free Flowers

MIT says it's working on way to make plants 'bloom on command'

(Newser) - Monsanto may be out to conquer a new area of the plant world: commercial flowers. A post at MIT Technology Review explains that the company has applied for a patent on a technique that could make it dramatically easier to sell and ship flowers—by preventing them from wilting. The...

Super Hot, Super Dry Death Valley Is in 'Super Bloom'

It's the most wildflowers the desert has seen in more than a decade

(Newser) - Death Valley in California is both the driest place in North American and the hottest place on Earth, according to the National Park Service . And that makes it an even more breathtaking sight when it's covered in a colorful blanket of wildflowers, as it is right now. The San ...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser