Features

 By John Nelson

Plant Columnist

It’s my favorite tree. Has to be!

Everything about it is interesting, and all its parts are attractive. I first learned about this tree when I was a tiny undergraduate student in my first botany class. Our field trip was to the wild and mysterious Congaree Swamp, where this tree is common along the bluffs that border the floodplain. There we learned that it is sometimes called “initial tree,” a reference to the practice of carving one’s initials into the bark, which is very smooth.

Have you ever seen a starfish served its lunch?

You can at the Museum of Coastal Carolina.

At 11 a.m. every Friday, museum visitors can get up close and personal with all the critters in the touch tank at the museum at 21 E. Second St. in Ocean Isle Beach.

Children and adults of all ages are invited to come and watch the museum docents feed the array of live, local sea animals that live at the museum.

The town of Carolina Shores will have its sixth annual Arbor Day celebration starting at 9:30 a.m. Friday, March 21, at town hall on Persimmon Road.

Highlights include presentation of a Tree City USA Award by a Brunswick County forest representative.

Second-graders in Jennifer Parton’s class at Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary School will again assist with a tree-planting ceremony, facilitated by members of the town’s tree advisory committee.

The Calabash Fire Department will also be on hand with fire truck tours for the class.

Smoking is bad for people and secondhand smoke is bad for pets. No news there. The real news is that the now ubiquitous e-cigarette can also pose a deadly danger to dogs. If you thought secondhand smoke was dangerous, wait until you hear about the evils of e-cigs.

The International Space Station (ISS) is 250 miles above Earth and orbits Earth every 90 minutes.

It has been visited by astronauts, scientists, and cosmonauts from 15 different countries and has been continuously occupied for more than 13 years.

What is it like to live aboard the ISS?

Mardi Gras by the Sea will provide a weekend of activities Feb. 28-March 4 in Oak Island.

The Oak Island Business Alliance hosts the third annual Mardi Gras by the Sea this weekend and has scheduled a series of family-friendly events.

The weekend begins with a Crawfish and Shrimp Boil Kickoff at The Grape & Ale, 8521 E. Oak Island Drive, on Friday, Feb. 28. The evening will also include a wine tasting. New Orleans-style music will be provided by Groupe du Jour and Blues duo Izzy and Chris.

Thalian Association is seeking talented artists in all mediums to display and sell work at the 2014 Orange Street ArtsFest, the largest arts festival in downtown Wilmington.

The OSAF will return Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, May 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The street fair is held on Orange Street between Front and Second streets next to the Hannah Block Historic USO/Community Arts Center, with some exhibitors inside the building.

By John Nelson

Plant Columnist

It’s still winter … although I have paperwhites opening up in the yard, and red maples are already showing their bright flowers. Fragrant Daphnes and a few withering wintersweets are scattered around the neighborhood, and this afternoon we had a brilliant yellow crocus near the birdbath. Here and there, the swelling bud of a daffodil. This is about the time I start getting serious cabin fever, and longing for the spring, which is still a good six weeks off, so says the groundhog (one of them, anyway).

Brunswick Beacon artist and cartoonist Keith White is exhibiting work this week in Wilmington.   

White is among featured artists participating in Art for All 4, a cutting-edge show at the Brooklyn Arts Center at St. Andrews, 516 N. Fourth St.

More than 50 local, original artists will be exhibiting in the church and under a courtyard tent.