Mother’s Day: The time when we focus on honoring the matriarchs of our lives — our mothers, grandmothers or those who we consider motherly to us (I include my Aunt Ruthie in the list). Whether or not the maternal influences in your life are still living, a common and traditional way of honoring them is with flowers. Flowers have been a part of the celebration … Continue reading Mother’s Day Garden Reflections
All the hype around the Kentucky Derby this past week got me thinking about mint. Why mint? Well, the mint julep, a sweet combination of mint and bourbon, is the official drink of the derby. While the drink may be traditional at the Kentucky Derby, it got its start as a medical concoction in the Virginias. Its first recorded debut as a drink at a … Continue reading Managing Minty Mayhem in the Lawn and Garden
Perhaps no other vegetable reflects the difference of cultures and regions in the Americas quite like the bean. Passed down from generation to generation, it is interesting to think that something as simple as a bean can be a symbol of cultural heritage and history. The fact that we say that something “doesn’t amount to a hill of beans” shows that sometimes we take this … Continue reading More than just a hill of beans: A bean for every gardener
Many gardeners with small garden spaces, or no garden spaces at all, endeavor to grow food in small plots or containers. These gardeners usually stick with tried and true vegetables they can easily grow in one season. But what if we look beyond the vegetable garden and find tasty fruits that can be grown either in containers or small spaces in the garden? Or better … Continue reading Small Space, Big Fruit Flavor
Social media have made it easy to share information the world around. It has made it easy for people to connect and interact more than humans ever have before. Gardening is a common theme on Facebook, Twitter and, especially, Pinterest. Ideas are easily shared through these sites. It’s great to see such interest in gardening. Sometimes, however, these ideas should be taken with a grain … Continue reading Gardening in the Age of Pinterest: Dubious Online Garden Tips
In the garden, there are good guys and there are bad guys. Most often we think of bad guys as weeds, diseases and insects. These are truly bad guys. But there are other bad guys. Bad guys that find their way into your heart, acting as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They are hiding right in plain sight — on garden center shelves and in … Continue reading Pretty, problematic invasive plants can be lurking at the garden center
On a trip this past week to Seattle, I was able to get out and explore some of the area’s natural plant life. Because it is wedged between the ocean and a mountain range, the climate is mild and fairly wet. In my adventures, I noticed a phenomenon we have here in our area taken, in some cases, to extremes. It is a mostly harmless … Continue reading Taking a lichen to each other
Originally posted on The Liber Ero Blog: Reports from the front lines of conservation biology:
A native bumble bee (photo Sheila Colla). By Sheila Colla I’ve been researching pollinator declines over the past decade. It has been encouraging and inspiring to see my chosen subject matter go from completely off the general public’s radar to one of the most important environmental issues of our time.… Continue reading The Problem with ‘Saving the Bees’
Sometimes it takes me a while to come up with an idea for my weekly article. Sometimes inspiration strikes at the weirdest of times and the column just writes itself. This week, the latter is the case after a weekend visit to a big-box home-improvement store. While strolling through the garden section of the store, my eyes were immediately fixed upon one of the most … Continue reading Don’t fall for garden store gimmicks
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! If you are out and about looking for a four leaf clover on this auspicious day, keep in mind that the thing that makes them lucky is that they are hard to find. A true four leaflet (a clover technically only has a simple leaf with multiple leaflets) clover is a four-leaved variation of the usually 3-leaflet white clover (Trifolum repens). Why … Continue reading What makes a four-leaf clover a lucky legume?
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