Sumac: Not Poison
Sumacs don’t seem to fit in a suburban backyard—they belong on a tropical island. So flamboyant a tree should have parrots and toucans perching in it instead of chickadees.
Read MorePurple Coneflower: Pollinator Favorite
Purple coneflower is a native American plant, a blast of purple petals surrounding a spiky central cone. Echinacea comes from a Greek word meaning hedgehog.
Read MoreYellowstone Hot Springs: Extremophiles
It’s the weirdest thing I ever saw. A hole in the ground, filled with water. The most beautiful crystal clear water, turquoise and lovely as a swimming pool. It looks cool and inviting—but it’s hot. Incredibly, insanely hot. This clear water is steaming and bubbling with the heat from molten rock surging up from the earth’s core. Yellowstone National Park is dotted with these bizarre holes in the ground. Geysers and hot springs and pools. Old Faithful, of course, the reliably spectacular geyser, but also a host of pools and puddles, some no bigger than a good-sized kitchen sink. And they...
Read MoreAsters in the Badlands
The Badlands. An incredibly arid, but weirdly beautiful landscape. I often marvel at how plants can shove through cracks in cement or bloom in gravel or sand. But how can any wildflowers blossom in this ash-colored, bone-dry soil? Plants need sun, of course, but here there’s nothing but sun. No trees, no shade at all. Even on a cool day, the constant sun can get to you. After a while you find yourself trying to fit into the three-inch wide shadow cast by a trail marker. Anything to hide from the glare for just a moment. But there’s nowhere for these asters to hide. And apparently, no water....
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