ABS 360 Southwest Home Gardening
Creative Assignment 1 – Your Favorite Local Landscape Tree or Shrub
Objective: Develop a blog entry about your favorite local landscape tree or shrub on
MyASU Blackboard. This creative assignment is worth 25 points.
Develop your own personalized blog entry on the MyASU Blackboard course website.
Your blog entry should include an insert of a digital image of you standing next to your
favorite landscape tree or shrub and the information about this plant that is listed
below. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT FOR TEXT AND IMAGE OF YOU WITH
YOUR PLANT IN A NATURAL SETTING SUCH AS IN THE DESERT, FOREST,
MEADOW, BEACH ETC.
Along with your inserted image include the following information as text:
1. A personal greeting from you to the class.
2. The identity of the landscape tree or shrub with its common name and scientific
name (Genus and species). Refer to the reading “Scientific and Common Plant
Names” in the “Landscape Trees and Shrubs” folder.
• For example: Butia capitata (scientific name), the common name is
Pindo palm. Arecaceae is the family name for the majority of palms
and is not the correct nomenclature for a single species of palm.
3. Tell us why it is your favorite.
4. Give some pertinent and important information on whether this plant is adapted
to our climate in Phoenix. If it is not adapted to Phoenix and the desert, then tell
us where in the western USA it can be grown. Refer to the reading “ Sunset
Climate Zones-Arizona”.
5. Finally, add a short paragraph on the cultural requirements to grow this plant
such as watering, sunlight and possible stress or pest problem, and any other
information about this plant that may be of interest, i.e. “Is the plant or its parts
edible? Does it have cool looking flowers or fruit? What color are they, and what
time of year are they produced by the plant?” Check out the External Links for
Trees and Shrubs to obtain this information. Especially Dr. Chris Martin’s
Virtual Library of Phoenix Landscape Plants
To develop your blog entry do the following……
1. Click the “Blogs” icon on the course main menu.
2. Read the instructions on “How to insert your image into your blog post entry”.
3. Click on the ‘Our Creative Assignment Blogs”.
4. Click on the “CA 1 Favorite Landscape Tree or Shrub”.
5. Read my blog post as an example of what your blog post may look like when
you’re done.
6. Click on the ‘Create blog entry’ that is directly above my blog post. You can now
use the text editor box to type in your blog entry and insert your photo. (Please
read “How to insert your image into your blog post entry” in the Blog instructions.)
7. Click on ‘Submit’ once you are finished with your blog post.
8. The blog posts of others in the class will be listed in a column to the right of
your blog post. .
ABS 360 Southwest Home Gardening
All about your digital image:
To create a digital image you can use a digital camera or a smartphone. Make sure that
your image is of you with your favorite local Phoenix landscape tree or shrub. Sorry a
vacation image of you standing next to a pine tree in Grand Canyon National
Park will not count! No credit for Internet images.
How to insert your image into your blog post:
1. Click on the small ‘Attach image’ icon on the text editor tool bar. It’s the second
icon from the left on the lowest row of icons above the text editor box space.
2. A second insert image box will appear on your screen. In that box click on the
‘Browse My Computer’ icon and upload your image from your computer. DO
NOT drag and drop your image into the text editor box.
3. Click on “Appearance”. In the first box type in 400 then hit tab. This sizes
your image to proper dimensions.
4. Once your image is uploaded, make SURE to click on the ‘NO’ button so that you
do not load your image into a separate window. Instead your image will be
directly loaded into your blog at the point where you cursor was when you started
the process of uploading your image.
5. Click ‘Submit’. Then click ‘submit’ again.
6. Your image will now be placed your blog post approximately 4” in width and
height.
7. After you are done with writing your text in your blog entry click on “Post Entry”.
8. You’re done!
*Please review and edit your text before submitting. Check for spelling errors, grammar
and punctuation. This is not a text message or Instagram post. Present the information
in a well-composed college-level format.
After you have developed and posted your own blog entry you may view the blog entries
of other students in the course. They will be listed in order of posting time on the right
part of the screen. Feel free to post comments on other student’s blog entries. Any
comment you post should be about landscape plants. Do you like or dislike the plant?
Why?
Remember, ALWAYS refrain from making negative or derogatory comments about
your fellow students in the course or other people when you post comments. Following
this netiquette is not only common sense, it is University policy.
Creative assignment 1 grading rubric
Pts Item
15 - Well-written information posted to the blog spot which addresses
completely and accurately all five points above
5 - image of your favorite local landscape tree or shrub inserted into
your blog entry
5
-
the inclusion of yourself in the image
ABS 360 Southwest Home Gardening
Some common point deductions
-5 image with a broken link and not visible to instructor (download from computer, no drag
and drop)
-2 per photo for improperly oriented images (i.e., sideways, upside down) Edit your
photos on computer before inserting.
-5 for yourself not in the image
-5 for every day the blog is posted late past the module deadline
-4 for completely wrong plant identification
-2 for misspelling or posting the wrong scientific plant name (genus and species)
ABS 360 Southwest Home Gardening
Hello Classmates! My name is Yvonne Palma Moreno, I have to say I am so excited to be in this
class and learn about gardening since it is something I hope to pick up as a hobby after graduating.
This is my last semester at ASU I’ll be getting my BA in Business (Tourism) and after I’ll be taking a
break from school for a year or two before jumping into a Master’s Program.
This is one of my favorite landscape plant, this picture doesn’t do much justice because for some
reason it does not have as many flowers as the other ones in the nearby area has. This was the
only possible picture I could take because the other are in the medians of the road or were in
parking lots and I didn’t want to capture the cars. I really like this landscape plant because of its
vibrant color flowers. This tree is known as the ‘Crepe Myrtle’ and/or the ‘lilac of the South’ but its
scientific name is Lagerstroemia indica. Although this plant thrives in the South it can be fairly adapt
to Phoenix specifically in the Sunset Western Garden Climate Zone 10 but during the summer it can
cause the leaves and flowers to scorch. I must add that I currently live in New Orleans, Louisiana
so I am unable to take a picture with a local Phoenix landscape tree or shrub.
This tree can grow as big as 15-25 feet in height and as wide as 6-15 feet during maturity which is
from late Spring into fall. The Crepe Myrtle requires sunlight of at least 6 hours and when it comes
to soil it prefers it moist but it can also tolerate drought. The flowers it produces can be from
different shades of white to pink to a reddish color. Some of its pest are white flies but aside from
that this beautiful tree can also attracts bees and makes an awesome habitat for birds. The Crepe
Myrtle can be either a shrub or tree depending on its upbringing.
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