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Mural #15 Flora and Fauna
By Rachel Rouse

flora_and_fauna.jpg


What is Flora and Fauna?


Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time. Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time.



A-What fact about bees did you find AWESOME?

E-Do you think it would be EXCITING to see colors like a bee?

I-What did you find the most INTERESTING about pollination?

O- Did how fast bees wings flap make you think OOOH?

U-Did you UNDERSTAND the difference between Flora and Fauna?


Jokes

What flowers grow on faces?

Tulips (Two lips)

What did the bee say to the flower?

Hello Honey

What did the big flower say to the small flower?

What’s up Bud

Why is the letter A like a flower?
A bee comes after it!

Why couldn’t the flower ride its bike?
It lost its petals.

Why do bees buzz?
Because they can’t whistle.

What is a bee’s favorite hairstyle?
The buzz-cut.

What is Pollination? 

When a pollen grain moves from the anther (male part) of a flower to the stigma (female part), pollination happens. This is the first step in a process that produces seeds, fruits, and the next generation of plants. This can happen through self-pollination, wind and water pollination, or through the work of vectors that move pollen within the flower and from bloom to bloom.


 

Who are the pollinators?

Birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, small mammals, and most importantly, bees are pollinators. They visit flowers to drink nectar or feed off of pollen and transport pollen grains as they move from spot to spot.

Bing Videos
Bees pollinating flowers

 


Did you know?

  • Bees communicate through dancing. For example, honey bees perform a Waggle Dance to share the location of good nectar and pollen sources
  • Bees have five eyes: two large compound eyes on the sides of their head and three smaller "simple" eyes on top. The compound eyes are made up of thousands of tiny lenses that allow bees to see a wide range of colors and detect polarized light.
  • The buzz you hear as a bee bumbles past is caused by its wings vibrating. Bees have two pairs of wings. When they fly, they hook their back wings to their front wings for added flight power. Their wings flap between 180 and 250 times per second – that’s up to FIFTEEN THOUSAND flaps per minute! This incredible speed creates tiny hurricanes, which help lift the bee’s heavy body.
  • Bees can see ultraviolet light, so colors look different to bees. Maybe this is why purple flowers are their favorite!
  • Bees can’t see the color red

GET TO KNOW NATURE

Carolina Beach is a haven for eco-adventurers. At Carolina Beach State Park, discover a towering 50-foot sand dune and the fascinating Bog Garden, which is home to the rare Venus flytrap. Join a guided hike along the state park’s easygoing Flytrap Trail, led by a park ranger who will teach kids about native carnivorous plants and diverse habitats. Appreciate sea breezes and scenic views of the coastline along the Carolina Beach Pier. Learn about area’s sea turtles and their nesting habitats with Turtle Talks from the Pleasure Island Sea Turtle Project.

 

Why do bees like flowers?

Bees like flowers because they feed on their nectar and pollen. The nectar is used by bees as food and an energy source to get to and from their home. The pollen they also pick up from flowers are used to feed larva (baby bees) in the hive. Bees need flowers and flowers need bees. Because of this, flowers have developed a special way to get a bee’s attention—and we can’t see it. Bees and humans have different types of eyes. In short, we see the world very differently because of how we process light (and the colors that are in light).


How to be Bee friendly

The bees would also appreciate a bee-bath for a safe place to land for a drink of fresh water. You can make a bee-bath by filling a shallow dish with water and placing lots of flat pebbles in it for the bees to land on.

 

This mural is not painted on the building, but wrapped and then sealed with a poly that will maintain the integrity of the work and can be easily cleaned of any graffiti. 

https://canvasrebel.com/meet-rachel-rowse/

About the Artist
Rachel Rowse- Rachel has been creating, showing, and exhibiting art around the Southeast for the last 5 years. She graduated with her BFA from Appalachian State University in 2018. She helped with two large scale murals: one two-story tall mural at Novant Health’s neurological wing in Wilmington, NC, and one full frontal house mural at Walker World artist retreat in Leland, N.C.   

In her design, Rachel focuses on shining light on these plants to show the importance of the role they play in the landscape by focusing on perspective, allowing all the plants to feel larger than life. The plants travel into a protective dune of sea oats headed towards an ocean scene in the background. Flying around the plants, the artist has chosen to add several bees. Bees are a symbol of wisdom, rebirth, and protection. We have the bees to thank for these plants and many others as these plants would not be decorating our shores without their pollination efforts.
Rachel's design wraps whimsically around all four sides of the building, focusing on painting movement into each plant to show the magic of the wind. As the sky wraps around the building, she transitions from day to night to represent the fact that these plants bring beauty to the beach day and night.

The use of light is important as Rachel is a visually impaired artist with an eye condition called Nystagmus. This means her eyes dance back and forth, making it hard to see details unless she takes the time to observe them up close. The Artist takes any chance she gets to shine light on something small to help others find the beauty in them as well.