Shrub

place in the top five teams in the region your FFA Chapter is in to even lead to a chance at winning State. To reach my final goal of making it to the National FFA competition, I needed to get ready for regions, advance to State, and as a team, we would need to place first. Before we could even think about competing at Nationals we would be required to win the State competition to even have our shot at Nationals. After we win the State competition, we then would be competing at the National FFA Convention, which is the end and ultimate goal. There is a great deal of information that must be learned about the Nursery Landscape competition. For our competition, we have to be able to classify and identify different types of trees, shrubs, weeds, flowers, and diseases, as well as know plant science knowledge. I knew that this team and competition would take a lot of dedication to learn all the required information that would take us to the top. As a team we would need to practice, practice, practice, to even have a chance to accomplish our goal of getting to both the State and National competitions. Sometimes getting to practice was the hardest part of it all. We would have practice at seven a.m. once a week. Once we got closer to Regions and State we would practice two to three times a week. Coming to school at seven in the morning to learn about various different plants and doing math that early in the morning was never fun. Waking up early for practice was…

A few years ago a Texas homeowner was attempting to clear a tree limb from rubbing against his shingled roof. He has asked his next door neighbor for help, but the man was just leaving for a family outing. The homeowner was short on time, having a busy week planned and finally asked his wife for assistance late Sunday afternoon, since the next door neighbor hadn’t made it back from the out of town visit. The limb was approximately fifteen feet in length with a base circumference of about twelve…

Deep in the heart of an ancient forest, in a magical place known as jolly old England, there lived a family of jackrabbits who were the fastest creatures in all the land. In fact, these jackrabbits could run faster than anyone in the entire animal kingdom — including the cheetahs, even — and they were quite famous because of it. Their name, most appropriately, was Quickstar. The members of the Quickstar family included a Mum and a Dad and their five children, and they were all rather…

Relative density (RD) was equal to N/S x 100, where N was the number of individuals of a species found in a sample, and S was the sum of all N. RD for each species of tree, sapling or shrub, and seedling shows what percentage of the total density that species accounts for. Relative frequency (RF) was equal to F/G x 100, where F was frequency and G was the sum of all F; it shows the how often each species of tree, sapling or shrub, and seedling occurred out of the total occurrences of all…

Having a healthy and sustainable area in the environment is very important, especially in a town or city so people can get the fresh air that they need. The plants can also help to absorb the CO2 that is being produced by the people who are living there. Having an area that has a diverse population of trees and plants will also bring in a diverse population of animals which can liven up a neighborhood. The environment is a place that everybody should be responsible for keeping clean, and it is…

The Garden of Gatsby Flower imagery is a popular trend in literature. The symbolism and imagery of flowers are greatly important to the themes and characters of The Great Gatsby. Elements of wealth, secrecy, and dying dreams are all represented by flower imagery in this novel. Symbolism of a rose majorly defines Nick Carraway. Daisy says, “I love to see you at my table, Nick. You remind me of a – of a rose, an absolute rose. Doesn't he?” She turned to Miss Baker for confirmation: “An absolute…

The forest, the wind breezing by and pine cones scattered against the ground, the giant oak trees were the mothers of the forest and the baby saplings were the forest’s children. As a child, I never was able to go outside since I was a girl, but I could not wait for the days I would be able to climb to the top of the trees. However, when I turned fourteen I began going outdoors, and it was elevating. I’d take walks barefoot throughout my neighborhood and pick up dandelions that grew out by the…

Next time you leave your house take a quick look around and ask yourself if you see more trees or building? Large forests get torn down bit by bit in order to make room building. On your street there may be trees planted but compared to a forest its nothing. One image by Natalia Rak shows the sad truth that in the future if we continue to live like this tress will become rare and everyone will try to save them. By looking at the mural you can not tell if the girl is a giant or if the tree is…

It was November, I was exhausted and stressed. Between work and school, I had no down time. I had a hard time falling asleep at night, I could not relax. Worried about what college I would end up in and if I could succeed in my career of nursing. It was a Saturday night and I went to bed early completely miserable. I was struggling in my math class and was not sure if I was going to pass. Although I had been having a difficult time falling asleep that night, however I fell asleep relatively…

The sky was motionless, clear black sky all around with not a hint of clouds or stars touching the dark infinity. The large compound was blanketed by the darkness, it’s black and grey walls providing a camouflage in the nighttime. Hiding in the darkness, just outside the compound’s entry gates, was a short girl, in her early 20’s. A black outfit covered her from head to toe - not something she’d usually find herself wearing, but it was a much better camouflage in the black of night. Gracie had…