The lovely Rose - Herb of the Year - 2012

The Rose - "rosa"

Considering just how valued and coveted this flower has been to humanity over the centuries, it's no surprise that it has earned the esteemed title, "Herb of the Year".

Talk about your versatile flowers...

Not only do roses look good in the garden, but really, who wouldn't like to bathe in Rose Water? That just seems beyond luxurious! Rose water has been used by the reigning beauties of the day as a natural skincare product, pretty much since the beginning of time. Think Cleopatra! - Shown above are rose petals combined with lavender, submerged and soaking in vodka. - By letting this mixture sit for a few weeks tightly sealed in a jar, and in a dark closet to percolate, by straining it and adding it to a spray bottle, one has an eco-friendly room spray. - Much better than that horrible chemical stuff being promoted ad nauseam on television. But I digress...
Roses are a perennial (pardon the pun), favourite of Brides, and with good reason! They're quite simply the perfect cut flower for bouquets, (an example in my painting below), and, dried petals tucked in sachets, (above), makes for excellent wedding favors!

So, my hardy congratulations to the beautiful Rose. By any other name, I'm thinking it would still smell as sweet.

Native Plants - A Continuing Trend in the Garden - 2012

Native Plants in the Garden

2012 looks to be an exciting year for our gardens! In fact, every year brings new and exciting trends worthy of following. There are always new or interesting plant varieties to look forward to collecting, or sharing, as we gardeners seem to do, and of course, many garden designs we see in magazines are worthy of emulating in our own garden!
It’s very tempting to jump on many a gardening band wagon, however, most encouraging of all would be the commitment many individuals are making towards growing native plants in the garden. This is usually done in partnership with organic practices, as one does indeed compliment the other.
Aesthetical interest combined with an ecological mindset, especially with respect to the natural landscapes of our shorelines, woodlands, meadows, and even the wetlands, our native plants are a wonderful addition to our gardens, and in some cases, with respect to soil stabilization, highly effective. All this is especially true here in Haliburton County, where we witness and live amongst the beauty of the natural environment every day.
Native plants, including trees, flowers and shrubs, increase the biodiversity of our region. To some degree, they provided food and refuge for our native creatures, including butterflies, birds, pollinators, and small creatures. More importantly, this means our gardens also become a sanctuary of sorts for the many native plants increasingly becoming rare in their natural habitats.
Using native plants helps to conserve water and eliminates the need for pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals that we are realizing are unhealthy practices on our planet. They also create less work in the garden, by being for the most part, drought tolerant, so even part time residents can be away for weeks at a time and need not worry that their garden won’t be alive when they return!
Native plants evolved here and adapted to the environment in which they grow. That means the weather patterns and the other flora and fauna that have evolved with them are equally comfortable together. These variations of adaptability to our regional environment are what make native plants so desirable and effortless to grow. So, consider adding more Native plants to your plot! These gems make a great addition to any garden on so many levels!

Some hardy Native Species for central Ontario:

• Aronia melanocarpa - Black Chokeberry - Zone 2


• Potentilla fruticosa - Potentilla - Zone 2


• Aquilegia canadensis - Wild Columbine - Zone 3


• Arisaema triphyllum - Jack in the Pulpit - Zone 3


• Echinacea purpurea - Purple Coneflower - zone 3


• Quercus rubra - Red Oak - Zone 3

Happy Gardening!

V for Victory ~ Stand up for yourself and your work - It means something

Well, I just want to thank everyone for the support I was given yesterday, here on my blog, with regards to copyrighted work of mine being used without permission.

Many of you were kind enough to share your own hideous experiences, which only added fuel to my fire. I'm grateful for that offering. It really helped me want to do what was right, not just for me, but anyone else this has happened to.

We're talking about principle here, and I hope anyone else who goes through this will stand up for themselves as well. Your work is important and it means something. That's not to do with ego, either. It's just about what is right and ethical, and holding people accountable for actions they make.

Even if it hadn't worked out this way, I would have known that I did my best for what was right, as some of you have also done for yourselves.

So, I'm happy to say that my painting has since been removed from the site that did not ask to use it, and did not have the right to use it.

I am very pleased that the person who did this was gracious enough to apologize even, and has removed my work from their site. Now I can put an end to this matter and get on with a new year!

I am also grateful that this ended well because when a person confronts someone else's wrongdoing, there can be many different outcomes, and it's not always the desired one either. Life lessons abound!

To everyone who posted a comment or read about what happened and supported me, I just want to thank you.

I'm still absolutely amazed, to say the least, at how many people have had this happen to them. A real eye opener for sure and you certainly have my support. I would think it would only be common sense to ask permission to use someone else's work first, but, that's something that seems to be rather lacking in our society these days. But no need to get into a rant about that here.

So, V for Victory!.... Which leads me back to the garden. Victory garden. Perhaps a planting idea for the coming season. : )

Happy New Year, Everyone. All the best for 2012,

Karen

A note of importance to fellow bloggers, writers, photographers and readers

I am posting this due to the interest it might have for my fellow creators, artists, photographers, writers, bloggers, authors, or anyone who can claim their own copyrighted images or text.

Don't assume your work is safe from unscrupulous organizations/publishers on the WWW.

Like many people, once in a while, I search my name on Google to see how high my blog is ranked and how it’s measuring up in search engines. It gives me an idea of how many hits I get on my blog, and what people are looking at. It’s a part of marketing I’m curious about.
Once in a while, I also see that someone has added a link to me on their blog. I usually reciprocate by adding their links to mine.

However this time, I found something of a darker note; Use of my copyrighted work on a site, used without my permission.

My painting, the one you see above, “Creature Comforts”, an image owned soley by me the artist and creator of this work, under international copyright laws, has been used in a post written by a certain Mr. Ohlman without my permission.

It’s located a site called “Wonder of Creation”, (have a look), an affiliate of RBC Ministry out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Now this parent company, RBC Ministry is a publishing company. That’s right! A publishing company! And a religious publishing company at that. Irony abounds! Do they feel that those pesky little 10 Commandments don’t apply to them?

Are they above that one in particular? Ie: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.

They are completely aware of the legalities surrounding the use of images or text that doesn’t belong to them! I know this because they have a whole page devoted to Rights & Permissions regarding the use of their material.

The rules listed on their website, which are likely made up by well paid lawyers, pertaining to gaining permission first before using any of the information on their site, and I'm betting that if the roles were reversed here, they'd be suing me or anyone who infringed on their rights.

Yet here they are using my work, without my permission. - Do as I say, not as I do???? Hmmm?

Obviously RBC and Mr. Ohlman should know better than to take something that doesn’t belong to them.

That my friends, simply put, is theft.

Mr. Ohlman, nor anyone representing RBC Ministries has ever contacted me about using my copyrighted image on their site.

Here’s the kicker... Even though I’ve politely asked him to remove my work immediately, first on Facebook because I didn’t want to sign up on their blog in order to post my ire, and have since written RBC at their Abuses page, as of writing this post, my appeals have gone unanswered. So far this organization has refused to comply the law and my rights within the law.

So, if you’re an artist, publisher, photographer, writer, blogger, painter, author, poet, or anyone who owns their own copyrighted material reading this post. Be warned. It would seem that even organizations, ones that preach things, things they obviously don’t feel they need to put them into practice themselves, might just choose to use your work next.

Feel free to share this with anyone you think might care.

Thank you,

Karen Sloan ~ Wall Flower Studio