Chickweed: Anywhere Will Do
I never cease to be amazed at the incredible habitats that plants can exploit. A McDonald’s drive-through wouldn’t seem to be the place to find beauty. But the hardy plants we usually call weeds aren’t particular about how scenic the location is. All they need is a few square inches of space, a few grains of soil, and few stray sunbeams. Even air pollution from the constant stream of cars chugging by doesn’t bother them. Next to the curb at the drive-through is a tiny flower–I mean tiny. You could fit three of these on top of a dime. I’m not a hundred per...
Read MoreRed, White, and Blue
The amazing diversity of flowers. Each bright color attracts a pollinator. Red beckons hummingbirds; yellow calls out to honey bees. Bumblebees prefer purple. Each blossom has instructions for the bees, flies, and beetles: lines and arrows and streaks to guide them to the heart of the flower where the nectar is hidden. Diversity is strength.
Read MoreRainbow of Flowers: Same-Sex Marriage
It’s a great day for human rights. Same-sex marriage legal in the USA.
Read MoreDandelion: Sparkling Wine
Dandelion wine. “The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered.” Ray Bradbury, the great science fiction writer, was a man who knew how to appreciate summer. And he really knew how to appreciate dandelions:”A pride of lions on the lawn.” To make dandelion wine, you need the full-blown blossoms. What’s more, you have to harvest the flowers when they’re open. Since dandelion flowers close up tight on cloudy or rainy days, you have no choice but to wait for sunshine. All recipes for dandelion wine agree that you have to pick...
Read MoreDandelions: Death on the Lawn
It’s the very definition of springtime: the cheerful sight of a robin pulling a worm out of the new green grass. But the robin who goes worm-hunting on a well-tended lawn may be bringing more than a tasty meal home to his youngsters. If the lawn has been treated with a pesticide, the robin and his family may become statistics. It’s been estimated by the Audubon Society that more than seven million wild birds are killed by the aesthetic use of lawn pesticides in the United States, every year. Aesthetic use: that doesn’t mean agricultural pesticides to grow food crops. That...
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