The science of gardening

In Bloom, the Exploratorium zeroes in on the reason most people get into gardening in the first place: the visual delight of the finished product. "The Secret Lives of Flowers" gets up close and personal with some common blossoms and reveals what they look like through the eyes of various creatures. (Apparently, we see very much the same thing as a butterfly, albeit on a different personal scale.) Secret Lives also makes public some private correspondences between pollinator and pollinatee, along with their scientific translations - though I have to think that what goes on -or doesn't go on- between a consenting adult hummingbird and rose is their own business.

"Hello Dahlia" uses a slideshow to demonstrate the extraordinary variety of this particular genus and finally, "Any Little Patch of Dirt" reveals a San Francisco neighbourhood where residents turned a garbage-strewn traffic median into a successful community garden.

(If all this has you itching for a garden of your own, but you can't even manage a window planter in your current abode, don't despair - the Web is standing by with virtual alternatives. If you'd like to realize your vision of a single perfect blossom, the always entertaining ZeFrank.com has an interactive blossom builder. If you're thinking of something more elaborate, BBC's Virtual Garden allows you to create a 3-D 'backyard' layout online or with free downloadable software, and if you'e more the spectator type, there's always the option of a virtual stroll through the Japanese garden of Seiwa-en at the Missouri Botanical Garden.)

The Science of Gardening can be found at http://www.exploratorium.edu/gardening/.

H.G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds'

And on an unrelated but topical note, the recent cinematic release of yet another adaptation of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" has generated a rediscovery of websites dedicated to earlier versions of the classic work, so if you're interested...

The War of the Worlds Book Cover Collection displays almost 180 different variations on the theme, dating from 1898 to 2005, along with a smaller selection of inside illustrations. Audio files of the Orson Welles' 1938 radio adaptation are available at Radio Memories, while sounds and stills from, and background information about, the 1953 film can be found at SciFlicks.com

If you prefer the text approach, a new eComic of the story is currently in progress at Dark Horse Comics, and a free eText of the book that started it all is available through the Fourmilab in Switzerland.

("...to recall the time when I saw it all bright and clear-cut, hard and silent, under the dawn of that last great day.")

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