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# Anita Sanchez

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://anitasanchez.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Monet's Masterpiece](https://anitasanchez.com/2025/12/22/monets-masterpiece/) - At the age of 81, it looked like Claude Monet was all washed up. His eyesight was dimming, failing—the worst possible calamity for a painter. But he was working on a project—and he had to finish it.
- [Chicory: The Road-Watcher](https://anitasanchez.com/2025/09/18/chicory-the-road-watcher/) - As you stroll along a country road, the chicory almost seems to stand and watch you go by.
- [Merry Groundhog Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/02/01/merry-groundhog-day-2/) - My favorite holiday--Groundhog Day-- celebrates the natural world. A holiday that takes its meaning from nature, not a war, a religion, or anyone’s birthday.
- [Yellow Rattle: The Meadow-Maker](https://anitasanchez.com/2025/08/09/yellow-rattle-the-meadow-maker/) - Yellow rattle is an odd-looking little wildflower that improves habitat for native plants. It’s fighting a quiet battle to create diversity in the meadow.
- [O. Henry At Pete's Tavern: The Gift of the Magi](https://anitasanchez.com/2024/12/22/o-henry-at-petes-tavern-the-gift-of-the-magi/) - O. Henry liked to write in his neighborhood tavern--Pete's, in New York City. You can sit at the very table where he invented his most famous tale: The Gift of the Magi.
- [A Close Encounter of the Wasp Kind](https://anitasanchez.com/2024/08/07/a-close-encounter-of-the-wasp-kind/) - We’re never going to be best friends, the wasp and I, but we don’t have to be enemies, either. We’re just neighbors.
- [Love Nature? Take a Hike to the Ballot Box.](https://anitasanchez.com/2024/08/06/love-nature-take-a-hike-to-the-ballot-box/) - We have to get out the vote for legislators who will make laws to protect wild things. It’s as simple as that.
- [Come to the Table--and Get Out the Vote](https://anitasanchez.com/2024/06/16/come-to-the-table-and-get-out-the-vote/) - Pride month is a prime opportunity to register Democrats, especially young people who may not have realized what’s at stake in this election. Everything.
- [A Shallow Dive into Vernal Pools](https://anitasanchez.com/2024/05/04/a-shallow-dive-into-vernal-pools/) - ven the tiniest vernal pool is a perfect nursery for amphibian babies. The pools provide the essential moisture that amphibian eggs need to develop.
- [Poisoning the Bird Feeders: Dandelions and Pesticides](https://anitasanchez.com/2024/05/01/poisoning-the-bird-feeders-dandelions-and-pesticides/) - Reframing dandelions as bird feeders gives us one more reason to endure them--even welcome them!-- instead of exterminating them. One more reason to avoid poisoning the lawn.
- [Harvesting Beauty: Tulip-Watching](https://anitasanchez.com/2024/04/29/harvesting-beauty-tulip-watching/) - Every spring, the quiet Dutch landscape goes crazy, flat-out van Gogh insane with color. Stripes of gold, magenta, lemon, crimson, lined up to the horizon.
- [Hitting the Bridge](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/12/23/hitting-the-bridge/) - Some drivers apparently see the warning signs, and attempt to creep cautiously under the span. Other drivers hit the bridge going full bore, hoping perhaps to blast their way through their destiny. Whatever the technique, they all come up against the incontrovertible fact that neither optimism or denial, prayer nor positivity can alter. The bridge is 10 feet 11 inches high.
- [Contacting Your Representative…Does it Really Matter?](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/08/07/contacting-your-representativedoes-it-really-matter/) - Does contacting your elected representative really do any good? Does my phone call, e-mail, or letter really make a difference? YES
- [Nature's Garden: Planting Seeds in the Fall](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/07/29/natures-garden-planting-seeds-in-the-fall/) - Spring planting is a human custom. Nature does her seed planting at the opposite pole of the year—the fall.
- [Dandelions: Death on the Lawn](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/05/12/dandelions-death-on-the-lawn/) - The Audubon Society estimates that more than seven million wild birds are killed by the aesthetic use of lawn pesticides in the United States, every year.
- [Poison on the Lawn](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/04/09/poison-on-the-lawn/) - Pesticides are poisons. They kill living things, that’s their purpose. They'll kill dandelions and crabgrass, for sure. The question is, what else do they harm?
- [Air Quality: How Can We Fix It?](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/06/08/air-quality-how-can-we-fix-it/) - Air.We always took it for granted; we barely gave it a thought. We knew it would always be there. Until suddenly it wasn’t. There's one thing we can do to help fix it.
- [It's a Superbloom--of Dandelions](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/05/15/its-a-superbloom-of-dandelions/) - Easterners are enjoying a superbloom of dandelions. What is there about this one particular species of plant that makes it bloom so lavishly on our lawns?
- [A Crucial Election](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/05/03/a-crucial-election/) - There’s a big election coming up. A crucial election. And ninety percent of Americans won’t show up for it. It’s the “little” one, the local school board election.
- [Ethical Foraging: From Pest to Pesto](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/04/27/ethical-foraging-from-pest-to-pesto/) - Foraging for survival or looking for a snack? Best place to look is a lawn. But only if it's pesticide-free. The thing about spring greens is that you have to catch them early.
- [Searching for Superbloom](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/04/23/searching-for-superbloom/) - The California Superbloom isn't a single event, it's a season, a whole paintbox of springtime color, stretching from February in the southern desert to June in the northern hills.
- [Things Are Looking Up](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/04/10/things-are-looking-up/) - Next time you stroll around, remember to look up every now and then. Take a look at the wide, bright world overhead that you’ve been missing.
- [The Golden Forest](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/04/04/the-golden-forest/) - A forest of seaweed called crayweed in Sydney harbor in Australia sheltered immense populations of wildlife from microscopic krill to octopus, dolphins, and sharks.
- [Why I Hate April Fool's Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/04/03/why-i-hate-april-fools-day/) - April Fool's Day isn't harmless fun on social media. In this age of lies and disinformation, I’ve come to value truth.
- [Swimming in the Forest](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/03/31/swimming-in-the-forest/) - I was like a bird flying over the treetops, gazing down at the moving branches below—a forest of seaweed dancing to the rhythm of the ocean.
- [The Dandelion Strategy: Why Dandelions Are Such Successful Plants](https://anitasanchez.com/2022/05/12/the-dandelion-strategy-why-dandelions-are-such-successful-plants/) - Flowers are publicity, and dandelions excel at the marketing game. That bright yellow beckons pollinators, and each flower head has hundreds of individual blossoms.
- [The Floating Forest of Sargassum](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/03/27/the-floating-forest-of-sargassum/) - Sargassum seaweed looks like flat, floating mats of weed. But below the surface, Sargassum creates a whole forest—upside down.
- [The Giant Blob of Seaweed](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/03/19/the-giant-blob-of-seaweed/) - What's up with the giant mat of seaweed floating towards us? Where did it come from and why is it here?
- [The Monkey Trial: John Scopes and the Battle Over Teaching Evolution](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/03/14/the-monkey-trial-john-scopes-and-the-battle-over-teaching-evolution/) - When I began to research the Scopes trial (which has gone down in history as the Monkey Trial) I soon discovered that there was no lack of information.
- [The Forest in the Sea](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/02/21/the-forest-in-the-sea-2/) - Happy book birthday to The Forest in the Sea! I really enjoyed researching this book as I've always loved seaweed.
- [Seaweed: The Edible Forest](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/01/25/seaweed-the-edible-forest/) - In the depths of the potato famine the Irish found on the seashore a crop of nutritious food that their ancestors had eaten, a life-giving food the fungus couldn’t kill: seaweed.
- [The Forest in the Sea](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/01/17/the-forest-in-the-sea/) - The ocean is home to some of the most amazing forests in the world. The answers to many of our planet’s problems may lie under the water, too, hidden in these underwater forests of seaweed.
- [Why Do Swallows Love Puddles?](https://anitasanchez.com/2022/05/24/why-do-swallows-love-puddles/) - Barn swallows scoop up beakfuls of mud to build a strong nest that endures like pottery. It might take a thousand separate trips to the mud source before the nest is complete.
- [Poison Ivy: Jumping to Conclusions](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/20/poison-ivy-jumping-to-conclusions/) - Quick! Is this plant poison ivy? Now I'm afraid I get testy when I hear people pointing out perfectly harmless plants as poison ivy–I’ve heard people swear that a maple tree (with reddish leaves) or a raspberry bush or a geranium was a deadly plant to avoid. I’m convinced that one of the many reasons kids are so reluctant
- [Queen Anne's Lace: Why the Purple?](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/10/01/queen-annes-lace-why-the-purple/) - What is the purpose of the purple flower in the center of Queen Anne's lace? The answer is: no one knows. Maybe it's a target for pollinators.
- [Why Do Squirrels Love Puddles?](https://anitasanchez.com/2022/06/08/why-do-squirrels-love-puddles/) - A long hike to a waterhole is a dangerous affair for a squirrel. Especially for urban squirrels, streams may be far away. Even a tiny puddle can be a life-giving, crucial water source.
- [Why Do Butterflies Love Puddles?](https://anitasanchez.com/2022/05/04/why-do-butterflies-love-puddles/) - Butterflies seek out puddles, drawn to their muddy margins as though to a garden of flowers. It’s not nectar they’re after. They absorb salts. minerals, and nutrients they need to survive.
- [Bird Bathtub](https://anitasanchez.com/2022/04/26/bird-bathtub/) - Birds dive into a puddle like kids playing in the pool. But all that splashing isn’t just for fun. Birds need to bathe their feathers often to keep them in peak flying condition.
- [Why Do Kids Love Puddles?](https://anitasanchez.com/2022/04/20/why-do-kids-love-puddles/) - Why is it that as soon as kids can toddle, they head for the nearest puddle? A puddle is just the right size for the smallest explorers.
- [Hello, Puddle!](https://anitasanchez.com/2022/02/13/hello-puddle/) - Every animal mentioned in the text—toad, skunk, butterfly, mud-dauber wasp, snail, deer—I watched as they used the rich habitat of my driveway to find food, water, or shelter.
- [In Praise of Mud Puddles](https://anitasanchez.com/2022/01/28/in-praise-of-mud-puddles/) - What good is a mud puddle? It's both watering hole and Home Depot for a whole host of tiny wildlife.
- [Winter Puddles: A Nice Cold Drink](https://anitasanchez.com/2022/01/08/winter-puddles-a-nice-cold-drink/) - A winter puddle is a gift, a source of desperately-needed water, for squirrels, deer, wild turkeys, songbirds, and so many other animals, trying like us to make it through till spring comes.A winter puddle is a gift, a source of desperately-needed water, for squirrels, deer, wild turkeys, songbirds, and so many other animals, trying like us to make it through till spring comes.
- [The Imagination of Sam](https://anitasanchez.com/2021/12/19/the-imagination-of-sam/) - A poem about dreaming big.
- [Litlinks: Ways to Use Nonfiction in the Classroom](https://anitasanchez.com/2021/12/09/litlinks-ways-to-use-nonfiction-in-the-classroom/) - Check out Litlinks, a wonderful blog by Patricia Newman. It's a wealth of ideas for ways teachers can use nonfiction in the classroom. Lots of great STEM tie-ins. I have a guest post about my nonfiction picture book, Hello, Puddle!
- [Mysterious Mushrooms](https://anitasanchez.com/2021/10/29/mysterious-mushrooms/) - Mushrooms are just one type of the strange organisms called fungi. It looks like a plant, but it eats like an animal. Just as animals do, fungus has to feed on other things—living or dead.
- [The Nature of Halloween](https://anitasanchez.com/2021/10/20/the-nature-of-halloween/) - Halloween is an ancient festival--perhaps the most ancient of them all, the season of shortening days and shadows.
- [Earth Day 2021](https://anitasanchez.com/2021/04/22/earth-day-2021/)
- [Spring Beauty](https://anitasanchez.com/2021/04/11/spring-beauty/)
- [Indoor Garden](https://anitasanchez.com/2021/02/16/indoor-garden/) - Anita Narcissus indoors.
- [Winter Solstice: Coming Soon to a Horizon Near You](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/12/20/winter-solstice-coming-soon-to-a-horizon-near-you/) - What is a solstice? It’s a time to celebrate warmth, and light, and life. A holiday for everyone, all welcome. It's a celebration of the planet we all live on.
- [Embrace the Dark](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/10/30/embrace-the-dark/) - Darkness is supposed to come, to give us a rest from the light. Dark is nature’s way of telling us it’s time to slow down. Time to rest, time to heal.
- [The Old Oak Hotel](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/11/01/the-old-oak-hotel/) - An oak can potentially be food for hundreds of species of insects, thereby making it an arboreal restaurant for bugs. And for bug-eating birds.
- [Poison Ivy in the Laundry](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/10/29/poison-ivy-in-the-laundry/) - Here's the thing about poison ivy--it's really helpful when you do the laundry. Urushiol. the chemical that causes the allergic reaction, is water-resistant.
- [Pokeweed: Patience is a Virtue](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/10/25/pokeweed-patience-is-a-virtue/) - Pokeweed berries are high-quality nutrition for cardinals, mockingbirds, catbirds, phoebes. A big pokeweed like this could really make a difference for birds.
- [Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/10/22/5219/) - I'm honored to be included in this groundbreaking look at the process of creating nonfiction.
- [Dandelion: Swine's Snout and Witches' Milk](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/04/10/dandelion-swines-snout-and-witches-milk/) - The witch who used swine's snout in a magical brew could have been a skilled herbal healer: swine's-snout is one of the many aliases of dandelions, from the snub-nosed shape of the closed seedhead.
- [Why I Love Halloween](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/10/08/why-i-love-halloween/) - Halloween. fading of summer, the rising cold, the early darkness--plainly it's time to start thinking about how to avoid evil and bad luck.
- [Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Bronte: The Garden of Death](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/10/07/charlotte-anne-and-emily-bronte-the-garden-of-death/) - The Bronte sisters grew up surrounded by the bleak and beautiful moors of Yorkshire, England. They lived in a cozy parsonage, surrounded by a huge cemetery.
- [Royal Beauty: Marie Antoinette…and Poison Ivy?](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/09/23/royal-beauty-marie-antoinetteand-poison-ivy/) - Poison ivy was once an admired and sought-after garden plant, grown in gardens like Versailles and Buckingham Palace, as a beautiful New World specimen.
- [Science Outdoors: Close Encounters](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/09/20/science-outdoors-close-encounters/) - My books on science and nature are set close to home, to give students the opportunity to explore the natural world in their own backyards.
- [Slugs and Fireflies](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/09/17/slugs-and-fireflies/) - Firefly larvae are carnivorous. Slugs are a favorite item on their menu. If you want a summer night filled with fireflies, you have to welcome slugs. 
- [A Goldenrod Safari](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/09/14/a-goldenrod-safari/) - Goldenrod is a rich habitat for insect and bird life. Predators and prey. Life and death. All are woven together in the goldenrod jungle.
- [Let's Not Argue About Climate Change](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/08/14/lets-not-argue-about-climate-change/) - Even if you don’t believe in climate change, even if you deny the science behind it, there’s no doubt that air pollution exists. Air pollution kills people.
- [Why Bug Zappers Are a Terrible Idea](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/08/11/why-bug-zappers-are-a-terrible-idea/) - Bug zappers zap the wrong bugs. They don't work on mosquitoes. They kill important pollinators, and they actually attract more mosquitoes to bite you.
- [Buttercups, Daisies, Dandelions, Clover: A Meadow of Magic  ](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/08/07/buttercups-daisies-dandelions-clover-a-meadow-of-magic/) - Superstitions about buttercups, clover, and daisies come from an ancient worldview of plants as magical, giving blessings, wisdom, and good luck.
- [Unmowed Authors](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/08/21/unmowed-authors/) - Can plants create great literature? Of course they can, plants can do anything.
- [What To Do If You've Touched Poison Ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/08/05/what-to-do-if-youve-touched-poison-ivy/) - What if you’ve just waded through a cluster of poison ivy? To avoid a rash, wash off the oil as soon as you can. Cold water, lots of it. Then keep it dry.
- [Let’s Not Re-Open Schools; Let’s Re-think Them](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/08/04/lets-not-re-open-schools-lets-re-think-them/) - Let’s keep children sane and healthy--outdoors. Let’s use every park, every nature center, every green space, every urban community garden and vacant lot.
- [Summer Solstice: Coming To A Sky Near You](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/06/21/summer-solstice-coming-to-a-sky-near-you/) - What is a solstice? A holiday for everyone, all welcome, no religion necessary. It’s just about the planet we all live on, and its long journey around the sun.
- [Looking For Fern Seed](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/05/16/looking-for-fern-seed/) - Fern seed doesn't exist. Ferns evolved millions of years before seed-bearing plants like grasses and wildflowers, and ferns reproduce by means of spores.
- [Dandelion Recipes: Vitamin-Rich Food From the Lawn](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/06/17/dandelion-recipes-vitamin-rich-food-from-the-lawn/) - Dandelions are one of the most nutritious plants in your garden. A vitamin powerhouse, with calcium, aron and all sorts of good stuff. Try a dandelion recipe!
- [Rachel Carson In Maine: The Salty Garden](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/06/14/rachel-carson-in-maine-the-salty-garden/) - At the end of her life, Rachel Carson was struggling to raise an adopted child, write a world-changing book, and battle terminal cancer, simultaneously. She didn’t have any spare time for gardening. Her backyard was the North Atlantic, and her garden was a salty one.
- [Daisy Fleabane: Does It Get Rid of Fleas?](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/07/11/daisy-fleabane-does-it-get-rid-of-fleas/) - It's a classic case of false advertising. Daisy fleabane (Erigeron annuus), is neither a daisy nor the bane of fleas.
- [Lichens: What Are They, Anyway?](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/06/13/lichens-what-are-they-anyway/) - What is a lichen, anyway? It’s actually two things, two distinct and unrelated organisms—a species of fungi and a species of algae—living harmoniously together.
- [Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Real Little House](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/06/28/laura-ingalls-wilder-the-real-little-house/) - It’s a long drive to Independence, Kansas, across the flat prairie. But what’s a few hours in an air-conditioned car? It took Laura Ingalls Wilder a lot longer to make the journey in a covered wagon.
- [Dame's Rocket: The Wandering Lady](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/05/03/dames-rocket-the-wandering-lady/) - Dame's Rocket, flowers gorgeously attired in shades of white, rose-pink, lavender and purple, wanders into gardens, meadows, landfills. She hitchhikes along roadways. She lines the pond, and the forest, and the parking lot at the mall.
- [There's Nothing More Beautiful Than a Dandelion](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/05/27/theres-nothing-more-beautiful-than-a-dandelion/) - "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." Thoreau
- [Do Dogs Get Poison Ivy?](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/05/26/do-dogs-get-poison-ivy-2/) - Is it only us? Are we humans the only ones to get poison ivy's dreaded skin rash? Or do dogs and other species of animals get poison ivy?
- [What Do Plants Do at Night?](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/10/25/what-do-plants-do-at-night/) - At night, plants are awake: sucking in air, growing, feasting in the darkness. Listen. Can you hear them breathe?
- [Three Rocks A Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/05/17/three-rocks-a-day-2/) - Building a stone wall is something you just can't rush. I decided I could handle three rocks a day. Some days I stack three big bruisers. Other days, I add three pebbles. Even the little rocks help to stabilize the big ones.
- [The Beauty of Dandelions](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/05/15/the-beauty-of-dandelions/) - Long ago, it must have seemed to the Pilgrims and pioneers as if they were on a little island of civilization in a threatening sea of wildness, and dandelions were part of their fence to keep the wilderness at bay. Nowadays, it seems as though the wild places are the fragile islands, surrounded by a rising tide of pavement.
- [Ears Like A Frog](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/05/14/ears-like-a-frog/) - Frogs spend the winter hibernating. Peepers sleep away the cold under logs or leaves, but in early spring they migrate to water. There, in a pond or swamp, on the first nights, the males begin to call. But why does the frog chorus tune up at night?
- [Cold Spring](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/05/11/cold-spring/) - This spring there's a chill in the air that isn't only due to the weather. Spring of 2020, a season that will long be remembered. This spring will be in the history books, and not just for a mid-May snowstorm.
- [Buds: Springs Yet To Come](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/03/22/buds-springs-yet-to-come/) - Everyone’s delighted to see buds open and the new green leaves bursting forth on the branches. But when did the buds start incubating those baby leaves?
- [Dame's Rocket: Wandering Lady](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/06/16/dames-rocket-wandering-lady/) - She’s all over the place right now. Gorgeously attired in shades of white, rose-pink, lavender and purple. She wanders into gardens, meadows, landfills. She hitchhikes along roadways. She lines the pond, and the forest, and the parking lot at the mall. Dame’s Rocket is the name of this ubiquitous June beauty. The explanation for this
- [Poison Ivy Is Shiny: True or False?](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/04/28/poison-ivy-is-shiny-true-or-false/) - You can always spot poison ivy because it's shiny. True or false? Standardized tests aside, answers in real life are rarely absolutely true or completely false. Poison ivy shiny? True, sometimes, especially in spring. False, most of the time.
- [White Pine: Wake Up and Breathe](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/01/white-pine-wake-up-and-breathe/) - Native Americans and European settlers used White Pine as one of their most common remedies, for coughs, head colds, throat infections and consumption—all sorts of breathing types of ailments. Pine resin has strong antibacterial and antifungal properties.
- [Best Trees of the Decade](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/04/26/best-trees-of-the-decade/) - Do they watch us go by–or sense us somehow? Scientists are finding out that plants are more complex, and have more ability to communicate, than we had ever dreamed. Do they notice us, miss us, mourn us?
- [Burdock: Wicked Hooks](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/04/25/burdock-wicked-hooks/) - Velcro was invented by a scientist whose dog blundered into the tall prickly plant called burdock. And nothing adheres to fuzzy surfaces more effectively than the wickedly curved hooks of burdock.
- [Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Hard Winter](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/12/30/laura-ingalls-wilder-the-hard-winter/) - Think this winter is tough? Welcome to the prairie.
- [Spring Snow](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/04/23/spring-snow/) - A walk on mountain trail on a rainy, gloomy spring day. The wind is icy, and there are snowflakes in the air, but you know that winter's only joking--one last tease before she gives up for the year.
- [Ferns: Can You Eat Fiddleheads?](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/05/24/ferns-can-you-eat-fiddleheads/) - A fiddlehead isn't a type of fern--fiddlehead simply means a young fern. There are fiddleheads you can eat, and then there are ones you shouldn't fiddle with.
- [How To Get Poison Ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/04/15/how-to-get-poison-ivy-2/) - Just how does this little green leaf work its devastation on the human race? Many people swear that they’ve gotten poison ivy simply by walking past it. Not so.
- [Dandelion: Sparkling Wine](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/06/08/dandelion-sparkling-wine/) - To make dandelion wine, you need a lazy afternoon and a sun-filled meadow. A light sparkling taste of spring.
- [Mud Season](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/04/06/mud-season/) - Turns out mud puddles have all sorts of uses. They’re swimming pool, bathtub, drinking fountain and construction site for dozens of species of wildlife.
- [J.R.R. Tolkien: The Living Tree](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/03/21/j-r-r-tolkien-the-living-tree/) - JRR Tolkien saw trees as living, breathing beings. He sensed the rich life that flowed through them; he saw faces in their corrugated bark; he heard their voices. And of all the beloved characters he wrote about--hobbits, dwarves, elves--the most bewitching of all his creations are the Ents.
- [Springs Yet To Come](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/02/27/springs-yet-to-come/) - Buds are those little bumps on the ends of twigs that no one ever notices--until they burst open and reveal the leaves and blossoms of spring. As miraculous as a chick hatching out of its shell.
- [Spring Equinox](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/03/07/spring-equinox/) - Coming soon to a horizon near you. The vernal equinox. Don’t miss it.
- [Why I Waste Time on Social Media](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/03/11/why-i-waste-time-on-social-media/) - It’s tempting to say, ah, it’s all a load of nonsense and skip social media altogether. But in today’s world people of good will all need to speak up. Speak up, and stand up for truth and reason, in any way we can.
- [Branching Out](https://anitasanchez.com/2020/01/18/branching-out-2/) - The branching pattern of this tree—of any tree—is beautiful, complex, and anything but accidental. There’s a reason for every twist and turn in every smallest twig. It’s all driven by the search for sunlight.
- [Glacier Mouse](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/11/18/glacier-mouse/) - These adorably fuzzy balls of green moss are as close as anything in the plant world comes to being a mammal.
- [Rudyard Kipling: Merlin's Isle](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/12/24/rudyard-kipling-merlins-isle/) - Rudyard Kipling originated the genre of books where realistic children stumble into magic adventure. Suddenly magic intersects with everyday life—turns out there’s a snowstorm going on in the back of a wardrobe, or an owl brings you a letter inviting you to Hogwarts! He was followed by E. Nesbit, C.S. Lewis’s tales of Narnia and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. But Kipling did it first.
- [Why Hummingbird Feeders Are a Terrible Idea](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/08/03/why-hummingbird-feeders-are-a-terrible-idea/) - If you’re going to feed hummingbirds, think carefully about what nourishment you're offering to these tiny, fragile bodies.
- [Herman Melville: Arrowhead](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/08/24/herman-melville-arrowhead/) - It was here, far from the sea, that Melville wrote the craziest, wordiest, most magnificent novel ever to baffle generations of high school students and send shivers down the spine: Moby Dick.
- [Edgar Allan Poe: A Cottage in the Woods](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/03/12/edgar-allan-poe-a-cottage-in-the-woods/) - It wasn’t exactly a romantic Kingdom by the Sea, but it was in this quiet cottage that Edgar Allan Poe wrote one of his greatest poems.
- [How To Identify Evergreens](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/12/02/how-to-identify-evergreens/) - One of the remarkable things about December, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, is that almost everywhere you go, there are evergreens draped all over things. The more urban the setting, the more greenery. Shopping malls suddenly resemble forests.
- [Living Fences](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/11/29/living-fences/) - Plain old bushes. They show their true value in snowy winters. Their thick network of branches hold back the snow like protecting hands. Where the road is lined with a thick swath of trees, bushes, and weeds, the road is safer.
- [November Puddles](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/11/28/november-puddles/) - Robert Frost's poem, "Novemeber Guest" says it all.
- [The Leaves of Sherwood](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/11/24/the-leaves-of-sherwood/) - I always thought Sherwood Forest was a mythical place, like Neverland or Narnia. But it really exists.
- [Acting Like a Squirrel](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/10/22/acting-like-a-squirrel/) - I'm taking on the role of squirrel. Every time I take a walk, I put a few walnuts, or acorns, or wild sour apples in my pocket, and I toss them into the hedgerows and trailsides. Will future generations of bluejays, wild turkeys, and chipmunks feast on the apples and acorns I plant today?
- [Chicory: Beautiful Blue Coffee Substitute](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/10/20/chicory-beautiful-blue-coffee-substitute/) - When you take a moment to look at chicory up close, this common roadside weed is a symphony in blue.
- [The Shelves of Time](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/10/18/the-shelves-of-time/) - Whether the book is fact, mystery, or poetry, it goes in its appropriate place on the time line. Fiction and nonfiction rubbing shoulders through the long shelves of time.
- [Witch Hazel: Halloween Flower](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/10/31/witch-hazel-halloween-flower/) - Witch hazel is a plant of many uses, especially handy if you need to work magic or perform a spell.
- [Best Wishes of the Season](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/10/15/best-wishes-of-the-season/) - It's almost time for my favorite holiday! I can’t wait till October 31 for the spooky season to begin. I’m starting now. If we have to have a holiday that lasts for weeks and weeks, why can’t it be Halloween? Halloween carols, Halloween cards…but please god no shopping for Halloween presents.
- [Robert Louis Stevenson: Vailima](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/10/12/robert-louis-stevenson-vailima/) - obert Louis Stevenson took one look at the sun-drenched South Pacific island of Samoa, and knew he had come home. The famous author lived there at his home, called Vailima, for the rest of his short life.
- [Catch a Falling Leaf](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/09/30/catch-a-falling-leaf/) - Important information. Spread the word. Can you grasp twelve falling leaves?
- [In Defense of Fuzzy Caterpillars](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/09/16/in-defense-of-fuzzy-caterpillars/) - No need to worry too much about these little guys. Hickory tussock moth caterpillars are not evil.
- [Is A Tomato A Fruit or a Vegetable?](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/03/23/is-a-tomato-a-fruit-or-a-vegetable-2/) - A hotly debated question: what, in fact, is a tomato? A sweet fruit or a savory vegetable? The answer depends on whether you're a botanist or a chef.
- [Red Orange Yellow Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/01/21/red-orange-yellow-day-3/) - We're just another species of mammal, trying to get through the winter. We tunnel through the snow and darkness as best we can. like the gray squirrels and the deer.
- [What To Do With An Old Christmas Tree](https://anitasanchez.com/2019/01/05/what-to-do-with-an-old-christmas-tree/) - Balsam fir tea soothes the sinuses, opens the nasal passages, and evokes the depths of the wild forest in your stressed-out soul.
- [Another Reason To Say No To Plastic](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/12/30/another-reason-to-say-no-to-plastic/) - Birds use all sorts of materials for nest building—twigs, grass, mud, moss, pine needles. And sometimes, sadly, plastic.
- [What Is A Solstice, Anyway?](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/12/21/what-is-a-solstice-anyway/) - What is a solstice? It’s the darkest part of winter. Yet paradoxically, it’s a time to celebrate warmth, and light, and life.
- [Deck The Halls: A Field Guide](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/12/16/deck-the-halls-a-field-guide/) - Evergreen isn’t a type of plant, it’s a lifestyle. Holiday greenery decks the halls and malls.
- [Mint: Is It Your Cup of Tea?](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/11/23/mint-is-it-your-cup-of-tea/) - Making mint tea is simple. Drinking it is not so simple.
- [World War I Journal: A Soldier's Burial](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/11/11/world-war-i-journal-a-soldiers-burial/) - The body is stripped, then wrapped in a blanket and gently lowered into a hole. The cold earth is then thrown upon the corpse until it is hidden from view.
- [World War I Journal: A Soldier's Burial](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/11/11/world-war-i-journal-a-soldiers-burial/) - The body is stripped, then wrapped in a blanket and gently lowered into a hole. The cold earth is then thrown upon the corpse until it is hidden from view.
- [Samoa: Fish-Watching](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/10/29/samoa-fish-watching/) - Coral reef fish are the craziest, gaudiest, most unlikely colors, like a kid run wild with a paintbox. Splashes of lemon, stripes of neon blue, turquoise, and the hottest of hot pink. Each fish is a work of art that’s looking you right in the eye.
- [The Mystery of the Singing Pumpkins](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/09/the-mystery-of-the-singing-pumpkins/) - Okay, maybe I’ve been reading too many Sherlock Holmes stories. Or watching too many episodes of Sherlock. But I swear this really happened. Last spring, I planted a total of six pumpkin seeds, in the little patch of garden just by the kitchen door. And something about this year’s odd weather-- the early heat, the
- [The Witch House](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/28/the-witch-house/) - Salem, Massachusetts. What better place to visit in the month of October.
- [Chicory: Blue Beauty](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/08/05/chicory-blue-beauty/) - The color of chicory flowers is the pure clear blue of a June sky or a bluebird feather.
- [Is A Tomato A Fruit Or A Vegetable?](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/08/04/is-a-tomato-a-fruit-or-a-vegetable/) - Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? The answer to this question is easy. It just happens to change every time someone asks it.
- [Do Dogs Get Poison Ivy?](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/03/24/do-dogs-get-poison-ivy/) - Do dogs and other species of animals get poison ivy? As far as I've discovered, humans are the only species to have such an extreme dermatitis reaction.
- [Summer Solstice: Coming to a Horizon Near You](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/06/20/summer-solstice-coming-to-a-horizon-near-you/) - his year, the summer solstice falls on Thursday, 21, at 6:07 a.m. Set your alarm.
- [June 30--Protest Family Separation](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/06/20/june-30-protest-family-separation/) - That picture of a crying child couldn’t be taken in America. We don’t do that.
- [Some Like It Cold](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/06/16/some-like-it-cold/) - As we say a merry farewell and good riddance to winter, let’s take a moment to be thankful for the gift of cold.
- [Can You Eat Poison Ivy?](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/04/04/can-you-eat-poison-ivy/) - In my poison ivy research I keep running into the old belief that eating a leaf of poison ivy every day in the spring will make you immune to the itch.
- [Why ITCH?](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/05/28/why-itch/) - When people ask what my new book is about, I sort of wish that I could say whales. Or dolphins or puppies. Something cool, something cute. Something that doesn’t have piercing, sucking mouthparts and a whole lot of legs.
- [A Little Night Music](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/05/07/a-little-night-music/) - Usually the frog chorus starts up in April, but this cold spring it was May before they really got tuned up. Now the frogs are busily making up for lost time.
- [What Does Poison Ivy Look Like in Spring?](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/04/29/what-does-poison-ivy-look-like-in-spring/) - What does poison ivy look like in spring? A little like a traffic light—red and shiny. Poison ivy’s first leaflets are garnet red, which slowly fades to green.
- [What Does Poison Ivy Look Like, Anyway?](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/06/01/what-does-poison-ivy-look-like-anyway/) - Poison ivy is like a chameleon, not only changing color but shifting shape. Tough to identify, it varies dramatically with each season and in each habitat.
- [Mosher Marsh](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/03/30/mosher-marsh/) - The tracks in the snow tell the story. Mosher Marsh, a Mohawk/Hudson Land Conservancy preserve in Amsterdam NY, is a rich habitat for many species of wildlife.
- [Giant Tortoise: Poetry in Motion](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/03/15/giant-tortoise-poetry-in-motion/) - Ran into this lovely lady in the Philadelphia Zoo. She’s the oldest animal in zoo, but you’d never guess it—she’s very well preserved. Almost a hundred years young. She lived on an island in the Galapagos until 1928. When she was born—or, rather, hatched—is not known.
- [About Time](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/03/10/about-time/) - We’re tied, all of us, much more strongly than we think, to nature’s cycles of light and dark.
- [Merry Groundhog Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/02/01/merry-groundhog-day/) - Groundhog Day celebrates the natural world. Think about it—a holiday that takes its meaning solely from nature.
- [Outrage Fatigue](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/01/29/outrage-fatigue/) - Seems like things have been bleak for an eternity, but it’s only been a year. How long did it take women to get the vote? How long did slavery last? This is going to be a long haul.
- [Iceland: On the Ring Road](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/01/18/iceland-on-the-ring-road/) - In Iceland, there is only one Road. The only highway in the nation circumnavigates the island in a two-lane, 800-mile circle of adventure called the Ring Road.
- [WWI Journal: January 1, 1918](https://anitasanchez.com/2018/01/01/wwi-journal-january-1-1918/) - My grandfather was a soldier in WW1. Starting on New Year’s Day, 1918, he kept a journal for almost every day of the following year. This is his first entry.
- [Decking the Halls: A Field Guide](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/12/08/decking-the-halls-a-field-guide/) - Actually, "evergreen" isn’t a type of plant, it’s a lifestyle.
- [Faces in the Forest](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/11/26/faces-in-the-forest/) - The forest is crowded with a remarkable cast of characters.
- [Gorilla: A Day at the Zoo](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/11/22/gorilla-a-day-at-the-zoo/) - Why I love a good zoo.
- [Seeing Brown](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/11/14/seeing-brown/) - Short of exchanging my drab brown backyard for a sapphire Caribbean lagoon, how can I learn to appreciate the month of brown?
- [Urban Garden](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/10/17/urban-garden/) - An urban garden, with more than a dozen species of wildflowers.
- [Total Eclipse of the Sunflower](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/09/28/total-eclipse-of-the-sunflower/) - In the Year of the Eclipse, I'm looking at sunflowers. No protective eyewear needed.
- [Edna St. Vincent Millay: Steepletop](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/09/26/edna-st-vincent-millay-steepletop/) - Steepletop, a wooded mountain in upstate New York, Edna St. Vincent Millay's home for twenty-five years. Poetry and gardens.
- [Katydids: The Nightly Debate](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/09/13/katydids-the-nightly-debate/) - Katydids are calling in endless argument: katy-did, katy-didn’t. Many voices raised in eternal disagreement. Sort of like Congress.
- [Ulysses S. Grant: A Cottage in the Woods](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/09/11/ulysses-s-grant-a-cottage-in-the-woods/) - In his last days, Grant took refuge in an Adirondack Cottage. In this most peaceful of places he wrote the tale of America’s bloodiest war.
- [On Calling Congress](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/09/05/on-calling-congress/) - Calling my elected officials, ugh. I have to take the time, make the time, be stern with myself. Honestly, it’s worse than dieting.
- [Crabgrass: Green Spider](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/08/29/crabgrass-green-spider/) - It's the closest thing in the plant world to a spider: many-legged, sprawling, sneaky, ubiquitous. Hated.
- [Cross Creek: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/08/23/cross-creek-marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/) - Perhaps more than any other writer, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings showed her love of the land in her writing. Trees and flowers flowed all through her pages.
- [Linnaeus's Garden](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/12/04/linnaeuss-garden/) - I’ve just been visiting Carolus Linnaeus’s garden in Uppsala, Sweden, and I felt right at home. He loved American plants like goldenrod and New England aster.
- [On the Banks of Plum Creek](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/09/03/on-the-banks-of-plum-creek/) - A dense tangle of plum thickets and willows on the banks of a wide brown creek. And all around the creek, both sides, is prairie grass and sunflowers.
- [Naulakha: Rudyard Kipling in Vermont](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/03/04/naulakha-rudyard-kipling-in-vermont/) - Rudyard Kipling designed his house, Naulakha, to ride the Vermont hills like a ship on a wave. Here he wrote the Jungle Books and the beloved Just So Stories.
- [Birdsfoot Trefoil: Unmowed](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/08/18/birdsfoot-treefoil-unmowed/) - Here's what can happen when the mower goes AWOL.
- [A Hover of Hummingbirds](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/07/29/a-hover-of-hummingbirds/) - Want to see hummingbirds? Think red. Think bee balm.
- [How Not To Get Poison Ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/07/22/how-not-to-get-poison-ivy/) - How can we wander ankle-deep in the beauties of nature and not come home with an itchy rash?
- [How To Get Poison Ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/07/06/how-to-get-poison-ivy/) - Just how does this little green leaf work its devastation on the human race?
- [Dance of the Slug](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/06/23/dance-of-the-slug/) - From the shapeless body poke long-stalked eyes, as the slug checks you out. A slug’s personality can really blossom in front of an audience.
- [Bartram's Garden: The Botanick Fire](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/06/12/bartrams-garden-the-botanick-fire/) - In 1728, John Bartram created a garden. It’s now the oldest surviving botanic garden in America.
- [Inspecting a Lemon: Yellow Wood Sorrel](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/06/06/inspecting-a-lemon-yellow-wood-sorrel/) - When I was a kid, I would taste anything—it’s a wonder I’m still alive, really. I sampled grass, mushrooms, dandelions. But here's a real treat: wood sorrel.
- [Happy World Environment Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/06/05/happy-world-environment-day/) - I didn't know there was a World Environment Day, but, hey, we certainly need one! Enjoy it!
- [In Praise of Puddles](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/05/02/in-praise-of-puddles/) - I used to think of mud puddles as a necessary penance, the price we pay for warmer weather. What could a mud puddle possibly be good for?
- [Leaves: Coming Soon To A Tree Near You](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/04/19/leaves-coming-soon-to-a-tree-near-you/) - Like most good things, we take them utterly for granted, until, suddenly, they're gone.
- [Old Leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/02/26/old-leaves/) - Leaves flutter through the air and come to rest on a muddy riverbank. But these leaves fell a long time ago--about 68 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous.
- [Marching on Washington](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/02/08/marching-on-washington/) - So I'm getting ready to travel down to Washington, DC for the Women's March, and my mother is shaking her head. “Why are you going to all this trouble?” she inquired. “What good will it do? Trump’s not going to run in terror when he sees you girls coming, you know.” I rolled my eyes,
- [Solstice: Tracking the Sun](https://anitasanchez.com/2017/01/03/solstice-tracking-the-sun/) - Photographer Bill Bailey explains: "It is a pinhole photo I made by putting a piece of photographic enlarging paper in a soft drink can with a pinhole."
- [Winter Solstice](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/12/19/winter-solstice-2/) - In 2016, the winter solstice falls on December 21, at 5:44 a.m. Set your alarm.
- [A Wake of Vultures](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/11/21/a-wake-of-vultures/) - Vultures fly high over our heads, but they’re always scanning the world. They see our bald spots, our backyards, our secrets. They see us. And they smell us.
- [Darkness](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/11/15/darkness/) - The shortening days seem a metaphor for the sadness of the world. But the solstice is coming. Soon the days will lengthen, as light re-enters the world.
- [November 9, 2016](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/11/09/november-9-2016/) - In the words of the immortal Jim Croce: "Tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day."
- [Love Trumps Hate](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/11/07/love-trumps-hate/) - Walking along Philadelphia's old cobbled streets, I feel like I should be asking voters to elect Thomas Jefferson or John Adams instead of Hillary Clinton. 
- [Invasion of the Box Elder Bugs](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/10/30/invasion-of-the-box-elder-bugs/) - Box elder bugs: unwelcome trick-or-treaters. They might creep you out, but they don’t suck blood, bite children, cause disease, or make the dog itch.
- [Sadness at Standing Rock](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/10/28/sadness-at-standing-rock/)
- [Sumac: Not Poison](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/10/23/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.
- [Purple Coneflower: Pollinator Favorite](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/10/17/purple-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.
- [Is Poison Ivy Shiny?](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/06/23/is-poison-ivy-shiny/) - True or false? You can always spot poison ivy because it's shiny. True, sometimes, especially in spring. False, most of the time.
- [Poison Ivy: A Good Thing](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/02/16/poison-ivy-a-good-thing-2/) - Poison ivy climbing up trees can be a good thing. PI rarely impacts the host tree severely. But the best thing about poison ivy is this: birds love it.
- [Jewelweed: Poison Ivy Cure?](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/23/jewelweed-poison-ivy-cure/) - Can jewelweed cure poison ivy? It's been used for centuries as a poison ivy remedy, but results differ depending on who's using it.
- [Poison Ivy: Hairy Vine, A Danger Sign](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/12/26/poison-ivy-hairy-vine-a-danger-sign/) - How can you tell if it's poison ivy twined around your backyard tree or chunk of firewood, when the leaflets three are long gone? Look for the hairy vine.
- [Yellowstone Hot Springs: Extremophiles](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/10/01/yellowstone-hot-springs-extremophiles/) - Yellowstone National Park is dotted with bizarre holes in the ground. Geysers and hot springs and a host of pools and puddles. And they seem to be alive.
- [Asters in the Badlands](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/09/28/asters-in-the-badlands/) - In the arid landscape of Badlands National Park in South Dakota, seems as though nothing could grow. How can flowers thrive in this ash-colored bone-dry soil?
- [Pokeweed: Summer Giant](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/08/06/pokeweed-summer-giant/) - This gangly, strange-looking giant is pokeweed. I bought it at a native plant sale a few years ago, and it never sent up more than a few floppy leaves, but this year, look out!
- [Poison Ivy: Even in Central Park](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/07/17/poison-ivy-even-in-central-park/) - Poison ivy. An amazingly versatile plant, it does indeed grow just about everywhere. Beaches. Forests. Bayous. Even in Manhattan's Central Park.
- [Honey Locust: Defanged](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/07/15/honey-locust-defanged/) - Honey locust, in Manhattan’s Central Park, has thorns. Big thorns. Not just little prickers, great huge whomping thorns, six inches long and iron hard.
- [Happy Fourth of July!](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/07/04/happy-fourth-of-july/) - As John Adams put it, "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival."
- [Pigeons: Two in the Bird Bath](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/06/30/pigeons-two-in-the-bird-bath/) - Putting up a bird bath, and keeping it clean and full is one of the nicest things you can do for birds in summer. Pigeons take the plunge!
- [Down By the River](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/06/26/down-by-the-river/) - I wouldn’t trade my swimming hole (Schoharie Creek) for a thousand pools with turquoise water. I’ll take the smell of river mud over chlorine any day.
- [Birdsfoot Trefoil: What's in a Name?](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/06/20/birdsfoot-trefoil-whats-in-a-name/) - Birdsfoot trefoil. You probably see it on every summer’s day. It’s the froth of little yellow blossoms that line roadways and pop out of sidewalk cracks.
- [Spring Greens](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/05/12/spring-greens/) - The thing about spring greens is that you have to catch them early. Once the plant flowers, the leaves change from a tasty mouthful to a bitter pill to swallow.
- [In Praise of Poison Ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/03/31/in-praise-of-poison-ivy/) - In Praise of Poison Ivy is a nonfiction book which explores the vices and virtues of a plant with a dramatic history--and a rosy future.
- [Birch Forest: The Lungs of the Earth](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/02/26/birch-forest-the-lungs-of-the-earth/) - The sub-alpine birch forest. in Abisko National Park in the northernmost part of Sweden, above the Arctic Circle.
- [Common Plantain: Wayfarers All](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/09/24/common-plantain-wayfarers-all/) - Common Plantain, one of the nine sacred medicinal herbs of the Anglo-Saxons, has been used to treat everything from sword cuts to mosquito bites.
- [Lichens: Fresh-Air Fiends](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/23/lichens-fresh-air-fiends/) - Another graveyard, if you don't mind. After all, 'tis the season--the Halloween season. This one is the Old Burying Ground in Rockport, Massachusetts. I feel like I’m on a first-name basis with some of the folk resting here, because I made them into characters in my novel The Invasion of Sandy Bay. The burying ground
- [London Plane Tree: East Meets West](https://anitasanchez.com/2016/01/16/london-plane-tree-east-meets-west/) - London plane trees decorate streets all over the world. Hardy hybrids of American sycamore and oriental plane trees, they defy smog and traffic.
- [Seeing Brown: November Leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/11/29/seeing-brown-november-leaves/) - In November, the red and yellow leaves are gone, but there’s still a wealth of color. In nature, there are way more than fifty shades of brown.
- [Winged Victory](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/11/15/winged-victory/)
- [Red Oaks: On Fire](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/11/08/red-oaks-on-fire/) - Acorns are eaten by an astonishing number of animal species-blue jays, wild turkeys, bears, wood ducks, opossums, woodpeckers, foxes, rabbits, deer, and more.
- [Prickly Pear: Handle With Care](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/10/27/prickly-pear-handle-with-care/) - Prickly pear spines are barbed like arrows. At the lightest touch they leap free of the cactus as if shot from a bow, and embed themselves in your skin.
- [Poison Ivy: Hairy Vine](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/05/04/poison-ivy-hairy-vine/) - Poison ivy gets to the top of trees by growing thread-like rootlets all along the length of its stems, that look like tufts of fuzzy auburn hair.
- [Bee Balm: Hummingbird Heaven](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/08/09/bee-balm-hummingbird-heaven/) - Hummingbirds love red. To a hummingbird, waving a red flag is like ringing the dinner bell--doesn't make them mad, it makes them hungry. And bee balm is red.
- [Catnip: Cats Behaving Badly](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/07/30/catnip-cats-behaving-badly/) - Catnip. Cataria nepeta. That's some strong stuff, man. You don't want to let your cat drive or operate power tools for several hours after a hit of this stuff.
- [Nature's Crayons](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/07/20/natures-crayons/) - Experiment with nature's colors—dandelions, red tulips, day lilies, marigolds. There’s a whole palette of color out there on the trails and in the gardens.
- [Chickweed: Anywhere Will Do](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/07/12/chickweed-anywhere-will-do/) - The hardy plants we usually call weeds aren't particular about how scenic the location is. All they need is a few grains of soil, and a lot of sun.
- [Red, White, and Blue](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/07/04/red-white-and-blue/) - The amazing diversity of flowers. Each bright color attracts a pollinator. Red beckons hummingbirds; yellow calls to honey bees. Bumblebees prefer purple.
- [Rainbow of Flowers: Same-Sex Marriage](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/06/26/rainbow-of-flowers-same-sex-marriage/) - It's a great day for human rights. Same-sex marriage legal in the USA.
- [Good Lawn](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/03/29/good-lawn/) - Children have long been identified as being especially vulnerable to pesticides used on lawns. Their developing bodies are at greater risk from toxins.
- [Lily Pad Lifestyle](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/09/03/lily-pad-lifestyle/) - Floating along without a care in the world. Such effortless beauty. No wonder Monet couldn’t stop painting them. At the New York Botanical Garden, my favorite place is the the water lily pool. Its giant surface is covered with lily pads and fringed by tall lotus blossoms with leaves the size of bicycle tires. Reflections of the sky and the white
- [A Book About Poison Ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/03/13/a-book-about-poison-ivy/) - Really. An entire book about poison ivy. Leaflets Three, Let It Be! with illustrations by Robin Brickman, published by Boyds Mills Press.
- [Goldenrod: Bird Seed](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/03/11/goldenrod-bird-seed/) - There's not much left in terms of food for hungry birds. Good thing there's goldenrod in the back yard, with a few seeds left on the winter stalks.
- [Sumac: Rabbit Food](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/03/08/sumac-rabbit-food/) - Fragile branches of staghorn sumac bent and cracked under the weight of wet snow. But this turned out to be extremely good news for the rabbits.
- [Leaf Miner: An Artist's Journey](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/09/05/leaf-miner-an-artists-journey/) - This botanical doodling is the work of an insect called a leaf miner, tunneling through its leafy food/home.
- [Poison Ivy: Early Color](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/08/24/poison-ivy-early-color/) - Why does poison ivy turn color in late summer? It's advertising, meant to attract berry-eating customers: birds to disperse the seeds.
- [Living Snowfence](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/02/28/living-snowfence/) - Living snow fences are plantings of trees or shrubs for wind reduction. But no one planted the shrubs that border this little back road I’m cruising along.
- [Winter Gold: Witch Hazel](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/02/17/winter-gold-witch-hazel/) - Central Park is full of trees, but there's nary a leaf anywhere to be seen. But the witch hazel works its magic even in the dead of winter.
- [Ever Green](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/01/13/ever-green/) - Evergreen trees are making food—actively photosynthesizing, going through the processes of life, even in the “dead” of winter.
- [Ban Fracking](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/12/17/ban-fracking/) - Look at the whole picture—not only the critical need for jobs and economic stimulus, but fracking’s long-term impact on drinking water, human health, wildlife, wilderness, climate.
- [Evergreens: Deck the Halls](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/12/05/evergreens-deck-the-halls/) - Shopping malls suddenly resemble forests. Pines, spruces, cedars, balsam firs decorate the halls and malls.
- [Giving Thanks](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/11/27/giving-thanks/)
- [Willow: Graceful Gold](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/11/18/willow-graceful-gold/) - Willow leaves are slender, graceful, willowy. In fall they turn a pure yellow color, freckled here and there with brown, with a saw-toothed edge so perfect it seems to have come from a machine shop.
- [Wild Grape: Clinging Vine](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/11/08/wild-grape-clinging-vine/) - Vines like grapes, bittersweet and poison ivy are extremely successful plants, able to thrive in places where more upright, self-supporting types can’t.
- [Dogwood: Lipstick Pink](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/11/04/dogwood-lipstick-pink/) - Dogwood is a nondescript bush most of the year, short, stubby, with floppy leaves--till fall, when the stems flash a garish shade of hot pink.
- [Samhain](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/10/31/samhain/) - Season's Greetings
- [Goldenrod Safari](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/10/08/goldenrod-safari/) - A single goldenrod plant is a complex habitat, the leaves, stems, and flowers providing food and shelter for a bewildering variety of strange, hidden creatures.
- [Heal-All: First Aid Kit](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/08/18/heal-all-first-aid-kit/) - Heal all has been used medicinally for centuries. It's a little green first aid kit--handy for minor ailments like sore throats and cuts.
- [Bee Balm, Year Two](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/07/30/bee-balm-year-two/) - Bee balm is my opening wedge into the world of native plant gardening. It’s a native American plant, and hummingbirds are nuts for its long trumpet-shaped red blossoms.
- [Fern Seed](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/07/24/fern-seed/) - Fern seed is invisible, but its magical powers will help you find lost things, detect buried treasure, and protect you against spells.
- [Fourth of July](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/07/04/fourth-of-july/) - Some floral fireworks for Independence Day. The slow explosion of day lilies opening, unfurling petals and fading away, each flower having a 12-hour lifespan. Day lily. Hemerocallis, which comes from ancient Greek words meaning beautiful day. Day lilies are suddenly all over the place in early July. They start to line the roadsides as though waiting
- [Happy National Pollinator Week!](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/06/19/happy-national-pollinator-week/) - Take your hat off to pollinators--not just the bees, who get all the good press, but the bats and the carrion beetles and all the nondescript little bugs.
- [Dandelion Seeds: Prickly Fluffballs](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/06/06/dandelion-seeds-prickly-fluffballs/) - Dandelions, far from harming a lawn, actually enrich the soil for other plants: they fertilize the grass.
- [Daffodils: Who Doesn't Love Them?](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/05/04/daffodils-who-doesnt-love-them/) - Daffodils are my kind of flower. Easy to plant. Stick a bulb in the ground in fall, thirty seconds and you're done.
- [Good Lawn](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/05/15/3314/) - Turn a prickly, pesticided lawn into a soft bed of clover, ideal for toddlers to sit on. Or for cats to loll, dogs to sunbathe, robins to forage. Good lawn.
- [Blue Moon](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/05/10/blue-moon/) - The moon looks so unfamiliar swimming in a turquoise sky--like a fish out of water. Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for the pictures!
- [Spring Wildflowers: Fighting Back](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/04/26/spring-wildflowers-fighting-back/) - The first spring wildflowers unfurl into a world of hungry mouths waiting to eat them. So how do they survive? With poison and smelliness.
- [Big Night for Amphibians](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/04/06/big-night-for-amphibians/) - Soon will come a night of warm spring rain. And if you’re driving after dark, you know what that means—hordes of pesky little frogs hopping across the road.
- [Socializing at the Beach](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/03/30/socializing-at-the-beach/) - I go to the water's edge for solitude, for meditation, for peace. But my dog goes for the social life. The beach on a wintry Sunday morning. All the humans are bundled in hats and scarves and parkas. We pass each other with a wordless nod, or no acknowledgement at all. But the dogs don't give
- [Ice Storm](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/03/23/ice-storm/) - It gave me a sense of what it was like for the birds when their whole world of round wooden surfaces suddenly turns to slippery glass.
- [Crow Moon](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/03/17/crow-moon/) - Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for this beautiful cold Crow Moon. Giving a name to each full moon is an ancient Algonquin tradition. This month's moon was known as the Worm Moon further south, because the worms begin to emerge from the earth around this time of year. It was also called the Crust Moon
- [Coneflower: What's in a Name](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/03/15/coneflower-whats-in-a-name/) - Linnaeus, the great Swedish naturalist of the eighteenth century, was the first to come up with the idea of using two Latin names to describe living things.
- [Moss as Metaphor](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/25/moss-as-metaphor/) - Moss--soft, green, fuzzy. It's a plant everyone can identify, and yet no one can identify it.
- [Peace on Earth](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/23/peace-on-earth/)
- [Great Ideas: The High Line](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/13/great-ideas-the-high-line/) - In New York City in the 1930s an elevated railroad track was built to connect the docks, factories and warehouses that used to line the west side of Manhattan.
- [Daylight Savings Time: No, Thanks!](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/03/07/daylight-savings-time-no-thanks/) - Daylight Savings Time affects us in a lot of subtle ways. That’s because we’re tied, much more strongly than we think, to nature’s cycles of light and dark.
- [It's About Time](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/04/its-about-time/) - Daylight savings time affects us in many subtle ways--humans don't realize how closely tied we are to nature's cycles.
- [London Plane Tree: Sidewalk Art](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/09/london-plane-tree-sidewalk-art/) - When you go to New York City, you expect to see great art. There are world-famous museums on every streetcorner, it seems, with paintings from all over the world. Modern art can be a challenge, I admit it. Stuff by artists like Miro or Pollack or Kandinsky. Sometimes it just looks like, well, blobs.
- [Thistle: Waiting for the Train](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/06/thistle-waiting-for-the-train/) - Thistles may look ugly and prickly but they have amazing adaptations to help them survive even in the most inhospitable habitats.
- [Crows: Love in the City](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/02/22/crows-love-in-the-city/) - Think you’ve got it bad this winter? At least you don’t have to sleep in a tree, huddling your feathers against wind. Crows roost in cities by the thousands.
- [Moss: True North](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/04/moss-true-north/) - I took a picture of this tree at high noon. Twelve o'clock. Why? To test an old piece of wilderness lore: the belief that moss grows on the north side of trees. Does it? Or not? If you're lost in the woods, should you look for moss on a tree trunk and set your path accordingly?
- [December: The Greenest Month](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/30/december-the-greenest-month/) - Welcome to December. It's a month of irony, I find--the month dedicated to the celebration of light, in which we have the least amount of light. Days so short they seem to end before lunch. Cloudy skies, elusive sun. It's the month in which winter starts, and ironically the one which is devoted to greenery. I mean, when
- [Great Idea: Law on Horseback](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/02/11/great-idea-law-on-horseback/) - Here’s an urban Great Idea. Police on horseback. Not exactly new, I know, but it just seems like such a positive and effective idea.
- [Crows in the City: Should We Run?](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/01/27/crows-in-the-city-should-we-run/) - Cities across the US are being discovered by crows as the perfect place for a slumber party. Crow roosts can number in the hundreds of thousands.
- [Red Orange Yellow Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/01/25/red-orange-yellow-day-2/) - Red, orange, yellow; bright colors are effective in elevating mood and battling winter seasonal depression in a cold dark winter
- [Poison Ivy: Spring Flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/01/19/poison-ivy-spring-flowers/) - Poison ivy flowers are rich in nectar and very attractive to bees. Fortunately for honey-lovers, there’s no urushiol in poison ivy nectar or pollen.
- [Branching Out](https://anitasanchez.com/2014/01/05/branching-out/) - The branching pattern of a tree is beautiful, complex, and anything but accidental. Every twist and turn in every twig is driven by the search for sunlight.
- [Welcome the Light!](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/12/24/welcome-the-light/) - A very merry, happy, light-filled solstice to all!
- [The grass is always greener...](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/12/20/the-grass-is-always-greener/) - Geraniums are from South Africa, so they like it warm. They were imported to England in the 1600s by John Tradescant, who was gardener to the rich and famous.
- [Goldenrod: Fill Up the Feeders](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/12/15/goldenrod-fill-up-the-feeders-2/) - Goldenrod's woody stems withstand the winter gales, holding a banquet of seeds high above the snow. Juncoes, sparrows, titmice, chickadees, goldfinches feast.
- [Remembering Newtown](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/12/14/remembering-newtown/)
- [Lawn Sushi](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/02/lawn-sushi/) - A lawn is a crop-field, tended like a field of wheat or soybeans, and as quick to disappear without constant human intervention--not part of nature at all.
- [Groundsel: A Little Poison](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/12/10/groundsel-a-little-poison/) - Groundsel is a common herbal remedy, but it contains significant amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids which cause irreversible liver damage over time.
- [Doorways in the Grass: Funnel Web Spiders](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/18/doorways-in-the-grass-funnel-web-spiders/) - Circles of dew suspended above the ground in circular patterns. Look closely to see the web and the tiny round door. The home of the funnel web spider.
- [Cattails: Winter Warmth](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/12/07/cattails-winter-warmth/) - A frozen swamp may look cold, but the fluffy seeds of the native plant called cattail provide warm nest linings for many species of wildlife.
- [Thankful for Milkweed](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/11/27/thankful-for-milkweed/) - Monarch butterflies have reached historic--disastrous!--low population levels. Milkweed is their only hope--and native milkweed species are dwindling.
- [Dandelion: Up Against the Wall](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/11/21/dandelion-up-against-the-wall/) - Dandelions grow anywhere, it seems. That's almost literally true. Dandelions can sprout in places that seem little short of miraculous, barren habitats where almost any other plant would throw in the towel. They seem to thrive in parking lots, sinking roots into rock-hard soil that's driven over by cars, parked on by eighteen-wheeler trucks, and
- [Forest Faces](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/11/19/forest-faces/) - Silver Bay. A quiet bay on the rippling shores of Lake George in the Adirondacks. It's dead quiet on a misty November afternoon, all but deserted. A perfect place for a writer's retreat. Perhaps because I'm spending so much time thinking about developing memorable characters--characters with emotional depth, humor, spunk and what-have-you, I've taken to seeing
- [A Lesson in Leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/11/14/a-lesson-in-leaves/) - Hurrying along the sidewalk outside Colonie Center mall on a blustery day. I wasn't expecting to find a lesson in tree identification spread out on the pavement at my feet. It's amazing how many ways nature can invent to say "leaf." All these specimens were blown at random into a corner by the icy wind. There must be
- [Three Rocks a Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/22/three-rocks-a-day/) - I'm going to build rock wall. That's what I decided, three years ago. A long rock wall along the foundation of the house and another alongside our beat-up old garage. It will look scenic, rustic, picturesque. Classic New England, Robert Frost and all that. I love rock walls, and they're easy to build, right? After all,
- [Queen Anne's Lace: Re-opening for Business](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/11/07/queen-annes-lace/) - Queen Anne's lace really stands out in a crowd when it's in bloom. The big umbrella-shaped white flowers are hard to miss. But when fall comes, the plant closes up shop. The round flower head clenches itself up like a fist and forms a tight brown clump sometimes known as a "bird's-nest." It's not a nest
- [Ease On Down the Road](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/11/08/ease-on-down-the-road/) - First snowflakes today! Time to move on from summer's greenery and head down the dark and stormy road to winter.
- [Dark Shadows](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/15/dark-shadows/) - Hanging around with a young-at-heart old friend, in the parking lot behind the Emerald Cinema in Amsterdam, waiting for a movie to start. The lovely evening of a clear fall day, not a cloud on the sunset horizon. Our shadows loomed ahead of us as though we were a hundred feet tall--giants on stilts.
- [Ghostly Skies](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/27/ghostly-skies/) - Clouds drifting across a cold autumn sky. Seems like ghosts hovering overhead, getting ready for Halloween.
- [Virginia Creeper: Blood Red](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/13/virginia-creeper-blood-red/) - Now there’s a scary name for a plant. The Virginia Creeper. Sounds like something you’d want to stay away from around Halloween, for sure. It's a native American plant that's common in wooded areas, and it grows so prolifically that you'd think it would be easy to encourage it to grow in your backyard, but like all
- [Viper's Bugloss: Snake in the Grass](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/08/vipers-bugloss-snake-in-the-grass/) - This lovely snake is not a viper, far from it--a more harmless and gentle little creature never lived. It's a grass snake, also known as a green snake, who crossed my path on a hiking trail in New Brunswick, and obligingly posed for photographs before melting into the ferns on the side of the trail.
- [Funkins](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/10/funkins/) - Funkins. These are not only artificial pumpkins. They are artificial pumpkins that you can carve. You carve the plastic shell with a knife, and make a face in the plastic side of the plastic pumpkin, and then I suppose you light it with an electric candle. What is our nation coming to when our youth
- [Tis the Season: Halloween](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/06/tis-the-season-halloween/) - I just love Halloween. I can’t wait till October 31 for the spooky season to begin. I'm starting now. If we have to have a holiday that lasts for weeks and weeks, why can’t it be Halloween? Halloween carols, Halloween cards…but please god no shopping for Halloween presents. I’ve been trying to figure out what there
- [The Dishevelled Cardinal](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/05/the-dishevelled-cardinal/) - Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for this photo of a female cardinal having, as she put it, "a bad feather day." Look at that beak--built like a nutcracker to crush the hard shells of sunflower seeds. Cardinals love feeders as much as we love watching them. Their bright red plumage seems made for inept birdwatchers like me who
- [The Flowerpot Rocks](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/10/03/the-flowerpot-rocks/) - The Flowerpot Rocks. Such a sweet, grandmotherly name for these giant chunks of stone, each one as big as a breaching whale. They’re found at the head of the Bay of Fundy in Canada, famous for having the highest tidal range in the world. When I read about the Fundy tides, I thought that would
- [New England Asters: North of the Border](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/09/30/new-england-asters-north-of-the-border/) - Welcome to Canada. It's the foreign country that doesn't feel like a foreign country. It has gas stations, billboards, McDonalds, and all the elements of American culture. And it has New England asters. But wait a minute. This isn't New England, it's New Brunswick (not sure where old Brunswick is.) So how can they be
- [Wild Thyme: Bee Harvest](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/09/24/wild-thyme-bee-harvest/) - Funds are tight everywhere these days, and one thing that must have gotten slashed from the budget of the Florida, NY Town Hall is mowing. Of course there's not a lot of lawn to mow in front of the town hall, it’s just a tiny oval island of green in a sea of blacktop. Usually it’s
- [Good Lawn/Bad Lawn](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/09/07/good-lawnbad-lawn/) - I saw a sight this morning that froze my blood. There was a toddler, a hapless infant, sitting on a lawn. Not even a blanket underneath him, mind you—the poor child was sitting right on the grass. Made my blood run cold. Why? Because it was a bad lawn. It was nothing but blades of
- [Frost on the Sky](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/02/12/frost-on-the-sky/) - The sky in February. Can't seem to make up its mind. Clouds racing along, shoved by the sub-zero winds high above us. Is it clearing? Clouding up? Blizzard? Flurry? Even the Weather Channel doesn't know. One minute, spring coming. The next minute, lots of winter left. Some days the sky is as gray as a wall
- [A Good Sign](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/09/21/a-sign-of-the-times/) - My sentiments exactly.
- [Another Reason to Love September](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/09/19/another-reason-to-love-september/) - Happiness is September 16.
- [Milkweed: Tough Native](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/09/06/milkweed-tough-native/) - Usually when I spy a plant bursting forth from a crack in the cement like this, it's a non-native plant, an invasive "weed" of some sort. I tend to think of native plants as timid souls, needing shade and rich forest loam--dainty wildflowers, fragile ferns, like that. But milkweed, a native American plant, packs a
- [First Day of School](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/09/05/first-day-of-school/) - A beautiful day--not a cloud in the sky, sun pouring down. Seems like the universe is needlessly rubbing it in, as kids line up for the bus and head off to school. When I was in high school, I remember reading the ending lines of Romeo and Juliet and thinking that they applied perfectly to the
- [Last Day of Summer](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/31/last-day-of-summer/) - A beautiful sunset for the last day of summer. Yes, I know, technically the equinox isn’t for weeks yet, but August is summer. On September 1, the year turns to autumn. No doubt about it, on my calendar. September is cool breezes, a little too cool to go swimming. September is apples. September is asters,
- [Don't Bite Off More...](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/29/dont-bite-off-more/) - ...than you can ingest. Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for another great bird shot!
- [Good Mowing, Part 2](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/25/good-mowing-part-2/) - Last November I wrote a blog post about a meadow at the George Landis Arboretum in Esperance, NY. The meadow had just been mowed, and while you might assume from the title of my blog that I would be violently opposed to all mowing, that’s actually not the case. I can be a good sport
- [Chocolate in Bloom](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/21/chocolate-in-bloom/) - Yes! The chocolate is in bloom! Now on view at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, NY. What I can't figure out is how anyone ever discovered the insanely fabulous taste of this plant. It's a very easy plant to ignore. It blends in with the other trees in the tropical section of the
- [Red Cage Fungus: Smelly Beauty](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/19/red-cage-fungus-smelly-beauty/) - Pulling weeds. A very educational pursuit. I learn something new every time I do it. I was pulling some invasive bittersweet out of a pile of woodchips at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, when I noticed a hint of a sort of bad smell. Decomposing dead animal? Turned around to look, and the smell grew stronger.
- [Morning Glory: The Vine Lifestyle](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/16/morning-glory-the-vine-lifestyle/) - There’s something shady about vines. Look at the names we give them—creepers, stranglers, parasites. I guess, in our puritan work ethic, there’s something morally dubious about a plant that can’t stand on its own two feet, so to speak. Why can’t vines get out and support themselves and not go draping themselves all over things?
- [The Angry Cardinal](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/11/the-angry-cardinal/) - Well? I'm waiting. I really think I'm being very patient here. See this beak? This can crack more than sunflower seeds, you know. I'm not going to be patient much longer. Okay. I'm going to count to three. One. Two. Two and a half. I mean it. You'd better get a move on.
- [Goldenrod: Does Not Cause Hay Fever](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/09/goldenrod-does-not-cause-hay-fever/) - GOLDENROD DOES NOT CAUSE HAY FEVER. The first sight of goldenrod’s yellow blossoms means summer has reached its high tide. Now we’re on the downhill slope to fall. Fall, the time of gorgeous color, and goldenrod is the first bright splash of paint on autumn’s palette. And there’s some mixed metaphors for you. Goldenrod is
- [Staghorn Sumac: Painting With Trees](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/07/staghorn-sumac-painting-with-trees/) - Staghorn sumac. (Rhus typhina.) These dainty little trees are a common sight along roadsides. They seem to spring up everywhere, near dumps or malls or in weedy backyards. They’re the kind of tree no one notices. Except birds, of course, who love the sweet fuzzy berries, high in vitamin C and energy. But four hundred
- [Guest Photographer Diane Hale Smith; A Study in Scarlet](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/08/03/guest-photographer-diane-hale-smith-a-study-in-scarlet/) - Red. Blood red. Fire engine red. Crimson. That’s what hummingbirds like. These magnificent little birds are drawn to the color red like iron is drawn to a magnet, cats to catnip, humans to chocolate. Where I used to work, there was a bright red fire extinguisher bolted next to one of the doors, and
- [Down by the Riverside](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/30/down-by-the-riverside/) - The river. Hot and lazy under July sun. If I happen to feel like a swim, though, it’s a long stumble over sunbaked rocks for a hundred yards to get to the water. I stub my toes a dozen times. A persistent horsefly circles my head, buzzing evilly. When I finally reach the water, it’s
- [Sunflowers on the Menu](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/28/sunflowers-on-the-menu/) - Charlie’s Diner. Coffee, cream, no sugar. Two fried eggs over easy. Whole wheat toast with strawberry jam. Sunflowers. Every summer this great old diner has sunflowers in pots outside the restaurant, to cheer the travelers whizzing by on Route 20. And every year the sunflowers shoot up, dwarfing the pots, and produce giant suns of
- [The Road Not Taken](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/26/the-road-not-taken/) - Driving home from central New York, and I try to get on the NYS Thruway at exit 32, about halfway between Albany and Buffalo. Hm. There's a huge line of traffic getting on the Thruway. I've often spent time waiting to get off the highway, but never getting on to it. When I finally get
- [Bucket List](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/16/bucket-list/) - I think it's a great idea to have a bucket list. You know, a list of things to do before you, well, you know…kick the bucket. It’s kind of a trendy idea these days, but the concept is not a new one for me, I’ve had one since I was twelve years old. I’ve succeeded
- [Day Lily: Summer Schedule](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/11/day-lily-summer-schedule/) - Day lily. Hemerocallis, which comes from ancient Greek words meaning beautiful day. Day lilies are suddenly all over the place in early July. They start to line the roadsides as though waiting for the Fourth of July parades. The orange bursts of petals among the green are a kind of botanical fireworks. Why the name
- [Monticello: A Virginia Native](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/07/monticello-a-virginia-native/) - Recognize this house? You see it every time you spend a nickel. Thomas Jefferson knew from the time he was a little boy that he wanted to live on the top of this particular little mountain near Charlottesville, Virginia. He was still a youngster in his twenties when he got started on his goal.
- [Jamestown: Faces from the Past](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/03/jamestown-faces-from-the-past/) - Jamestown, Virginia. It’s not an actual town, it’s a historic site, of course. No one lives there but ghosts. Actually there are two Jamestowns. There’s a National Park at the actual location of the first settlement in North America, and it’s an active archeological site—very educational, but not much action. And then there’s the much
- [Mullein: Yellow Lights](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/07/01/mullein-yellow-lights/) - Cruising along Route 81 in Virginia, and I just had to pull over to take a look at these yellow stalks. I have never seen such gorgeous mullein plants. Common mullein is an odd wildflower, like a fencepost sticking straight up out of the ground. Little yellow flowers bloom up and down the stalk, each individual
- [Morning Glory: Pick Your Own](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/06/28/morning-glory-pick-your-own/) - A pick-your-own berry farm in West Virginia. The strawberries were too ripe, and the raspberries weren’t ripe enough, but the blueberries were just right. I got there early, before it got too hot—at least that was the plan, but the West Virginia sun was fierce by 9am. Woven in and out among the blueberry bushes
- [Magic Cicada](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/06/23/magic-cicada/) - Driving south on the Thruway, and I slowly become aware there’s a strange buzzing noise going on. Oh, god, no—must be something with the engine. It’s a penetrating, grating sound, clearly mechanical. I slow down—it gets louder. I roll down the window—it rises to an eerie shriek. I stop at the first rest area, and
- [Yellow Wood Sorrel: Inspecting a Lemon](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/06/20/yellow-wood-sorrel-inspecting-a-lemon/) - It’s that time of year again--time to get the old car inspected. While I was nervously awaiting the verdict of the inspectors (lots of mileage on that baby) I prowled around Jiffy-Lube’s surprisingly well-tended garden, looking for something to photograph. The landscape was mowed and manicured within an inch of its life, and at first
- [Magnificent Clouds](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/06/18/magnificent-clouds/) - Five minutes before this picture: sun and blue skies. Five minutes after this picture: hailstones banging on the roof.
- [A Sea Change](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/06/11/a-sea-change/) - I've blended my blog with my website (www.anitasanchez.com) so when you visit Unmowed.com you'll be taken to anitasanchez.com.
- [Dandelion: Easy to Grow](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/05/30/dandelion-easy-to-grow/) - All winter and spring I try and try to get plants to grow. I pamper cranky houseplants, sprinkle seeds into pots and encourage them to grow into seedlings. I cheer for each crocus that pokes up through the snow, celebrate each brave hint of green, the first blade of grass, the first violet… Then BAM.
- [Rain, Rain!](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/05/24/rain-rain/) - Long ago, I used to work with a gentleman some of you may remember–a very gentle man, named Ray Falconer. He was a meteorologist, the weather guru on public radio, and he used to give the most amazingly detailed and enthusiastic weather reports I’ve ever heard. Rain, sun, cloudy, mild, hurricane, fog, hail, whatever–the guy
- [Witch Hazel: Frozen Sweetness](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/26/witch-hazel-frozen-sweetness/) - A little cabin in the woods. Very, very Thoreau. A nice place to hide out and write. Last week I revelled in a writers’ retreat at the Highlights Foundation in Boyds Mills, PA. Anyway, outside my cabin was a gorgeous bush in full bloom. Covered with flowers. What, you don’t see it? Right here. A witch hazel bush.
- [Winter Solstice](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/20/winter-solstice/) - Welcome the light!
- [Yew: Life and Death at the Mall ](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/08/yew-life-and-death-at-the-mall/) - Sears department store is better known for tractors and washing machines than for floral arrangements. The landscaping around the Sears in Colonie Center Mall, Colonie, NY, is pretty sparse. Actually, once you get up close to these plump round balls of bushes, the foliage is quite nice--soft and green. This is Yew. Planted in almost every American shopping
- [Wild Thyme: Time On My Hands](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/09/22/wild-thyme-time-on-my-hands/) - September 13, Election Day? Well, it’s not the BIG election day coming up, only the Democratic primary for state senator, but I was at the polls, yes I was. I was there all day. Ten solid hours. No, I’m not a really slow voter, I’m a poll inspector. For a (very) small wage, I put
- [Wind Coming. Hold On.](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/29/wind-coming-hold-on/) - All prepared for the storm. It's not hard, really, when you live on top of a hill, miles from rivers and angry ocean waves. A few flashlights, batteries, candles, canned chili, lots of good books. Everything safely brought inside--the lawn chairs, the porch plants, the garden tools, the cat. No problem. We’re ready. I just wish
- [Wild Strawberry: Creeping Around the Graveyard](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/08/wild-strawberry-creeping-around-the-graveyard/) - Graveyards are so filled with life. They’re perfect places to study the natural world. They’ve got lots of trees. Lots of birds. Not a lot of traffic. And they're certainly quiet. The grass is usually well-mowed, true, but at least in a country graveyard like this, the grass is herbicide-free and filled with a pleasing diversity of plants. And
- [White Clover: Halloween Magic](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/02/white-clover-halloween-magic/) - On the way home from a trip to Washington, DC. I set the GPS, then absentmindedly follow its commands through a maze of beltways and interstates. Keep left on this, turn right on that... Before I know where I am, it’s leading me over the hills and far away—not up the Jersey Turnpike, as I’d
- [Virginia Creeper: Stop Sign](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/10/virginia-creeper-stop-sign/) - It’s the very first sign of fall. A sudden spatter of bright red leaves, red as a stop sign. A red warning, mingled with the green leaves. Pulls me up short every time. It's the Virginia creeper. A slightly ominous sounding name, like an old folktale—beware the Virginia creeper, my son. The plant does have a bad reputation,
- [Trees: Beautiful Bones](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/23/trees-beautiful-bones/) - I love November. Bare, brown, sparse, uncluttered. The gorgeous October foliage is long gone, crumpled underfoot. As one of my favorite writers, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, said, “Now let us see the bones, the beautiful bones of the trees.” The pattern of branches against the sky is a thing beloved of artists and photographers. Severe simple
- [Together in the Storm](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/18/together-in-the-storm/) - Thanks to Wells Horton for another amazing photograph. http://wells-horton.smugmug.com/ Who says trees all look alike?
- [War and Seaweed](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/24/war-and-seaweed/) - Sorry, this has absolutely nothing to do with botany. Several years ago, I wrote a book for young people on a weird and totally obscure topic: a little known historical incident that happened during the weird and totally obscure War of 1812. The thing is that this event happened in my hometown of Gloucester on
- [To Feed a Mockingbird](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/02/05/to-feed-a-mockingbird/) - Another day, another parking lot. Now this might not look like a National Park or anything. But I drove into this parking lot in Guilderland, NY the other day, parked, and sat there thinking about nothing in particular for a minute. And in sixty seconds flat I had observed three gray squirrels, a flock of
- [Tropical Color](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/03/13/tropical-color/) - Tropical fruit. It appears in grocery stores like magic. Bright sparks from the tropics to brighten an upstate New York winter. With a more homely fruit like, say, apples, I grasp the idea that someone picked them, packed them, shipped them from an orchard. But somehow tropical fruit doesn't seem like it came from an actual plant.
- [Tulips: Old Masters](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/15/tulips-old-masters/) - This is the most bustling, enticing, delicious farmer's market I've ever been to. Local spring greens, potatoes, herbs, leeks. Muffins, honey, goat cheese, maple syrup. And flowers, flowers, flowers, flowers. The famous Greenmarket in Union Square. Funny, I had to go to New York City to find flowers blooming. It was a refined form of torture for me
- [Violet: A Spark of the Divine](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/30/violet-a-spark-of-the-divine/) - The cathedral of St. John the Divine. This is the chapter house, a smaller building next to the immense cathedral, one of the largest in the world. It's a magnificent building, like a medieval fortress. But nature manages to sneak in somehow, finding a crack in the most impressive monuments. One little spark of green
- [Sumac: Deep Red](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/05/sumac-deep-red/) - Sumac. A strange little word. I assumed it must be Native American—it just sort of sounds like it. And sumac is a dirt-common American plant, lining roadsides, springing up in empty lots, under power lines--all across the country, literally from coast to coast. But when I googled the word sumac, it turns out to be
- [Thistle: A Visit From a Poet](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/18/thistle-a-visit-from-a-poet/) - For those of you who celebrate Christmas, a certain poem was probably part of your upbringing, along with Frosty and Rudolph and all that sort of thing. You know the one I mean. You heard it, I heard it, we all heard it a zillion times in school, at home, on TV. “Twas the night
- [Thin-leaved Coneflower: What's in a Name?](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/02/14/thin-leaved-coneflower-whats-in-a-name/) - A cold and dreary winter field. In summer it's a green and golden wildflower meadow. In winter it's brown stalks. Peeking out from under this abandoned piece of haying equipment (I think it's a baler?) is a not-very-well-known wildflower. In summer it looks a lot like a daisy, but with golden-yellow rays surrounding a dark "eye" center. Nope, not
- [The Future of Elephants](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/03/05/the-future-of-elephants/) - This is my favorite moment in Sri Lanka. When I went to Sri Lanka, I didn't know much about the country. But I knew that, more than anything else, I wanted to see one of my favorite animals: elephants. Wild elephants, in their jungle habitat. This picture was taken at the Elephant Transit Home, a rehabilitation center
- [The Long Brown Path: Minneriya National Park](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/03/12/the-long-brown-path-minneriya-national-park/) - Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road… Free, the world before me The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose Henceforth I ask not good fortune, I myself am good fortune Henceforth I whimper no more complain no more, need nothing… Strong and content I travel the open road.
- [The Crow Show](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/03/20/the-crow-show/) - They start moving as the sun begins to go down. The first birds are so far away they look like grains of pepper against the gray sky. The crows are heading into Amsterdam for their nightly jamboree. Amsterdam, NY, like many cities and towns, is used by crows--mobs of crows--for their nightly roosting spot. And I’ve
- [Thistle: No More Waiting](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/13/thistle-no-more-waiting/) - Last December, I was at the Beacon train station, and I noticed a really magnificent specimen of a thistle. It was growing, still green in December, thriving among the gravel so carefully placed to keep weeds down (see Thistle: Waiting for the Train). Well, today I happened to be at the Beacon train station again, waiting for
- [Starry Night: Guest Photographer Wells Horton](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/18/starry-night-guest-photographer-wells-horton/) - Thanks to Wells Horton for this amazing shot. It summarizes why I love the season of Halloween so much: the beauty of the dying year, the darkness that flows out from under the trees. Too often, Halloween is a time of chainsaw massacre movies and fake blood. I like Halloween to be a little scary, sure. But
- [Sensitive Plant: Am I Bothering You?](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/03/09/sensitive-plant-am-i-bothering-you/) - A Sri Lankan byway. Alongside the curb is a small roadside weed, very easy to miss. It has little lacy leaves and a small purple pom-pom of a flower. Pretty but not remarkable. But it's one of the most incredible plants I've ever encountered. It moves. Sensitive plant, it's called. Mimosa pudica. And it's sensitive, all
- [Sacred Tree](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/03/14/sacred-tree/) - One morning in Sri Lanka. I happened to get up early, and wandered out of the hotel to see what was going on. It was in the small city of Dambulla, and our hotel was a few hundred yards away from the main road. At the crossroads, I came across what I at first thought
- [Stone on Stone](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/03/16/stone-on-stone/) - A few cold spring days at the Highlights Foundation at Boyds Mills, PA, for a writers' workshop. A wonderful opportunity to learn and write. Recently the Highlights Foundation added a new building, using part of the foundations of an old barn. The new space is a cozy yet roomy classroom and meeting place on the inside.
- [Spring on Wheels](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/03/27/spring-on-wheels/) - Spring is on its way! Being trucked in specially at the Carrot Barn in Schoharie, NY. I went there for a welcome breath of spring in this month of endless cold. In their vast greenhouse, the air is moist and warm, and there's a promise of flowers to come. It has to warm up sooner or later!
- [Red Osier Dogwood: Winter Fire](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/06/red-osier-dogwood-winter-fire/) - This time of year, all the color seems to have drained from the world. No flowers yet, no butterflies. Even the birds are hiding till the warm weather comes. In the early spring drabness, this shrub stands out like flame against the dried brown grasses. Red Osier Dogwood--one of many species of dogwoods, with juicy
- [Spring Moon](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/25/spring-moon/) - Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for this beautiful moon collage. It was taken last month, when the moon and the clouds were playing hide and seek all night.
- [Norway Spruce: The Melancholy Trees](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/15/norway-spruce-the-melancholy-trees/) - The road to the Chuctanunda Rural Cemetery, in the town of Florida, NY. It’s a lovely country road, and is—I’m sorry but it’s true—a dead end. There’s something about old graveyards that I love, especially around Halloween. The tilted tombstones, the autumn light, the quiet rustle of the leaves behind you…it’s all pleasantly spooky without
- [Pine Hollow: A Dinosaur at the Arboretum](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/10/pine-hollow-a-dinosaur-at-the-arboretum/) - Okay, maybe you can't tell from the picture, but this was a cold day. I mean a middle-of-January can't-feel- your-toes kind of cold. Wind chill probably in the 20s. And this hardy class from the Bethlehem Children's School in Delmar NY braved the weather to explore the Pine Hollow Arboretum. Pine Hollow is the ultimate unmowed backyard. It's
- [Red Orange Yellow Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/31/red-orange-yellow-day/) - It's the last day of January. The dead of winter. Long ago, I had a terrific boss who insisted that every year the staff celebrate Red Orange Yellow Day. I'm not sure if he made it up, or if there really is such a thing. The celebration was always held in January, a month famous
- [Queen Anne's Lace: Carrots and Butterflies](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/02/07/queen-annes-lace-carrots-and-butterflies/) - No, the train isn't barrelling down the track here. The weeds growing up through the railroad tracks and under the wheels show how many months or even years it's been since this train went anywhere. Railroad tracks are interesting little habitats. They cut, straight as an arrow, through cities, meadows, forests, mountains. Back in the days
- [Red Oak: You Can Go Home Again](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/02/11/red-oak-you-can-go-home-again/) - This is...home. Top floor apartment, left-hand side. If you suddenly came up behind me and shouted "Where do you live?!"--I swear the first image that would pop into my head would be this one. 6A Old Hickory Drive, Albany, New York. We moved in here when I was in grade school and moved out when I went
- [On the Road](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/02/15/on-the-road/) - Thanks once again to Wells Horton for another lovely photograph. http://wells-horton.smugmug.com/ "The Road," as Bilbo Baggins often remarked, "goes on and on, down from the door where it began." In the words of J.R. R. Tolkien: "He used often to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its springs were at
- [North of Boston](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/17/north-of-boston/)
- [Ramps: Spring Vegetable](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/28/ramps-spring-vegetable/) - Ramps. A strange name for a plant. It's a pretty spring wildflower, with flat green leaves. I've seen them sprouting in earliest spring, popping out of the dried leaves on the forest floor along with trout lilies, anemones, and hepatica. Wild leeks is another name for them. Odd to think of the pretty spring flower as a vegetable. There
- [Poison Ivy: The Furry Plant](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/05/09/poison-ivy-the-furry-plant/) - There’s an old saying: “Hairy vine, a danger sign.” And this is a really hairy vine. The fuzzy pelt on this vine is the sure indicator of poison ivy.
- [New England Aster: Energy Drink](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/16/153/) - Running on empty! Pull into Stewart’s Quik-Stop—gotta refuel. Gas up, and go inside for a fast coffee and doughnut or candy bar—anything sweet. Energy for the long trip. Got a lot of miles to go. At least I don’t have to make it all the way to Mexico. We’ve all heard the story of the
- [New York City: A Study in Green](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/30/new-york-city-a-study-in-green/) - New York City. Where the buildings scrape the sky. Solid Cement. All brick and blacktop. Nothing green in the Big Apple, that’s for sure. Except, of course, there is. There’s a wealth of plants in all sorts of unexpected places. (Not to even mention Central Park, one of the
- [Mouse-Eared Chickweed: Furry Ears](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/20/mouse-eared-chickweed-furry-ears/) - An unlikely habitat for plants, this metal guardrail stuck into concrete embedded in blacktop. But where there’s a crack, there’s a leaf. Hm. Small, dainty leaves, arranged opposite each other in pairs. Looks like Chickweed. But which one? There are dozens of types of Chickweed. Further research reveals it to be
- [My Friend Bud](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/02/09/my-friend-bud/) - Under the snow, the leaves of spring are waiting. Thanks to Wells Horton for capturing this photo. http://wells-horton.smugmug.com/ One of my naturalist friends, Glenn Humphrey, likes to teach kids about "my friend Bud." Buds, in strict botanic terminology, are those little brown bumps on the ends of twigs that no one ever notices. Until one fine day, when
- [Life and Death in the Parking Lot](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/09/15/life-and-death-in-the-parking-lot/) - Look! There. Lurking in the corner of the restaurant parking lot. Half-hidden among the foliage. A tall, gangly, strange-looking character. About six feet tall. Skinny. Big floppy leaves. And long clusters of deep-colored berries, like dangling chains of rubies. I’ve seen this odd-looking plant before, not many times, though. Although it’s a native plant, it’s
- [Lady's-Thumb: Gloucester Marine Railway](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/09/26/ladys-thumb-gloucester-marine-railway/) - You never can tell what you'll find in a parking lot. I think I'll just park my boat here for a minute while I run into the store... Gloucester, Massachusetts. My beloved home town. It's a scenic spot on the rocky coast of Cape Ann, just north of Boston--lighthouses, fishing boats, etc. But I've always loved that
- [Mat Grass: Lay Out the Welcome Mat](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/09/26/mat-grass-lay-out-the-welcome-mat/) - It’s amazing how homey and comforting a cheap motel in New Jersey can be. Five hours on the Jersey turnpike, packed with traffic. The sun goes down, the traffic thickens. Eyelids heavy. Finally, I give in. Taking exit number two million and three, I follow a series of tiny signs directing me to “Lodging.” Finally
- [Guest Photographer Zach Baldwin](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/20/guest-photographer-zach-baldwin-2/) - Many thanks to Zach Baldwin for this lovely photograph. The warm reds and browns of an autumn day. The sharp narrow beak on this bird probably isn't good for eating these big berries--I suppose the bird (a warbler?) was taking shelter here. (And I have no idea what the shrub is!!)
- [Happy Thanksgiving!](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/21/happy-thanksgiving/) - Thanks to Tim Steele for this photo.
- [Hay: Everything Old is New Again](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/15/hay-everything-old-is-new-again/) - An old hay bale. Left over from last winter—we bought hay to feed the sheep, but the early spring weather brought early grass and that meant the sheep didn’t need all the hay. So this one stray bale just sat there, ignored. It got left out in the rain and weather all summer and fall. Now
- [Moss: City Green](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/08/moss-city-green/) - I’ve lived within spitting distance of Albany NY for most of my life—and yet it’s a place I never go. Oh, I might go to the outskirts, the mall or the movie theater, but I rarely venture into the city itself. So the other day I decided to be a tourist and explore a bit.
- [Hey hey, ho ho, Hydrofracking has to go!](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/09/hey-hey-ho-ho-hydrofracking-has-to-go/) - Today I went to an anti-fracking rally at the Empire State Plaza in Albany NY. I almost didn’t go—it’s not like I don’t have a hundred and seventeen other things to do, and besides I knew I would never find a parking space. But at the last minute I decided to show up. Me and two
- [Honey Locust: Something Missing](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/15/honey-locust-something-missing/) - Ever see these weird wiggly worm-like seed pods lying around in a parking lot? They come from a tree, Honey Locust, Gleditsia triacanthos. The seed pods are a little sweet to taste, that's where the honey part of the name comes from. They're occasionally nibbled by deer and squirrels, and were even used as a sugar
- [Guest Photographer Wells Horton](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/28/guest-photographer-wells-horton/) - "These dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be. I love the bare, the withered tree, I walk the sodden pasture lane." --Robert Frost Thanks to Well Horton for another amazing photograph. http://wells-horton.smugmug.com/
- [Explore the unmowed, untended corners of the world.](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/09/12/hello-world/) - The parking lots. The roadsides. The unmowed corners of a graveyard or a schoolyard. Look for the unexpected greenery between the sidewalk cracks.
- [Dandelions: A Number of Reasons to Love Them](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/12/dandelions-a-number-of-reasons-to-love-them/) - Parking lots are fertile fields for the weed-loving botanist. You wouldn’t think that anything could grow without soil, without water, in a big pile of rocks--in fact, the reason the rocks were put there was so that weeds wouldn’t move in. But once again, the wily dandelions have outsmarted the humans. Reason #23896 that I
- [Dinnertime: Guest Photographer Zach Baldwin](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/21/guest-photographer-zach-baldwin/) - Thanks to Zach Baldwin for this photograph! My resident birder tells me it’s most likely a ruby crowned kinglet, and I can tell from the bright pink stems and the clusters of berries that the bird is sitting on a pokeweed stem. Ruby crowned kinglets are acrobatic feeders, climbing around plants, hanging upside down and
- [Good Mowing](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/27/good-mowing/) - Here’s a meadow at the Landis Arboretum in Esperance NY. Mowed flat. The brush-hog has done its work thoroughly. Everything cut down, all those gorgeous wildflowers. Nothing left but stubble. Yes! I’m not kidding. Mowing is sometimes a great thing. A field of wildflowers is a lovely sight, but a meadow doesn’t stay a meadow
- [Grass: Winter Green](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/05/grass-winter-green/) - It’s November. Not a doubt of it. I can tell, because of all the usual clues. I can see my breath. There's a skim of ice on the pond. I need mittens in the morning, because the steering wheel is like ice. The trees have bare branches. And the grass is emerald green. It’s the
- [Dandelions: On the Road](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/12/dandelions-on-the-road/) - The road goes ever on and on. Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone And I must follow, if I can… Or maybe I’ll just germinate right here
- [Goldenrod: Fill Up the Feeders](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/15/goldenrod-fill-up-the-feeders/) - So where's the seed already? The birds are waiting... (Thanks to Wells Horton for this lovely photo of an impatient customer.) http://wells-horton.smugmug.com/) Personally, I don't do bird feeders. My resident birder does, but not me. I'm just too darn lazy to get out there on a cold morning and lug pounds of sunflower seed and
- [Fun at the Mall](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/12/30/fun-at-the-mall/) - This holiday season, I tried to keep out of the big box stores. Shop small, shop local was my mantra. And I mostly succeeded. But once in a while I would find myself, for one reason or another (usually involving the dire needs of high-school students for electronic devices) in the mega-parking lot of a
- [Flocks: Guest Photographer Diane Hale Smith](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/01/flocks-guest-photographer-diane-hale-smith/) - Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for these beautiful photographs! It’s spring. Really it is, in spite of the weather. The birds know. They can tell because there’s more light in the world. The days are longer, the nights are shrinking, and they know it’s time to move. Huge groups of starlings, red-winged blackbirds, and grackles
- [Crocus or Croak](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/03/crocus-or-croak/) - An early April snowstorm, to make fools of us all. But see that little yellow dot in the snowbank? That's a crocus. Last spring, I had one lonely crocus in my long-neglected garden. Just one. And on the first warm spring day, the tiny yellow flower all but disappeared under a mob of hungry bees.
- [Fabric Flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/12/fabric-flowers/) - Okay, this is sort of cheating for a blog that's supposed to be about nature, but I'm an absolute sucker for quilts. Real old-time, traditional quilts like these ones, I mean, made from honest-to-god scraps. I once met an elderly quilter, who wanted to bang her head against the wall at the very idea of buying brand
- [Dandelion: Grow Anywhere](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/20/dandelion-grow-anywhere/) - A walk down 125th Street in Harlem, New York City, on a cold spring afternoon. Cement, blacktop, cars. Bare branches. Not much green. Nothing in bloom. But a closer look revealed a spark of color. This was my first sighting for the year of my favorite botanical sight: the yellow petals of a dandelion. One of
- [Earth Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/22/earth-day/) - Stand up for the Earth! "Green" isn't very much in the news these days, and other--very worthy--causes grab more headlines. But stay green. Even if you're the lonely voice in the crowd, keep on telling people--we need to care for our planet. Thanks to Wells Horton for this wonderful photo. http://wells-horton.smugmug.com/
- [Garlic Mustard: The Time is Ripe](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/05/06/garlic-mustard-the-time-is-ripe/) - Time to get rid of it. Garlic mustard. Out it goes! The name sounds tasty, doesn’t it? It’s a pretty little wildflower with lovely white blossoms. The leaves have an attractively scalloped edge, and a savory garlic taste, a fantastic addition to salads, quiche, and stir-fry. A lovely and useful plant, you'd think. But I’ve
- [Art in the Weeds](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/24/art-in-the-weeds/) - The parking lot of Dunkin Donuts, and fifteen minutes to kill. This is bad. Try to resist going inside. Try to resist eating three glazed doughnuts with a large coffee. Take a brisk stroll around the parking lot instead. In my usual quest for odd and unloved plants, I poke around the edges of the
- [Basal Rosettes: Life in the Flat Lane](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/25/basal-rosettes-life-in-the-flat-lane/) - Amsterdam High School. I spend quite a lot of time in this parking lot, waiting waiting waiting for soccer practice to be over. So today I looked around to see who else is hanging around the blacktop. This little opportunist is a species of thistle, I believe—not sure which one. The leaves are spread
- [Common Milkweed: Early Snow](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/10/26/220/) - A bright and windy October day. Leaves flying, flags flapping. And a sudden drift of snowflakes across the busy highway. Snowflakes? No, no, it’s 65 degrees, the sun is shining… The “snow” appears to be coming from this abandoned (but spectacularly colorful) gas station. I look closer to investigate the white puffs flying through the
- [Asters: The Options Are Narrowing](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/13/asters-the-options-are-narrowing/) - Any flowers left around here? I like to have a few flowers in a jar, sitting on my desk or on the kitchen table. Zinnias, clovers, roses, thistles, doesn’t matter what. On afternoon strolls I pick a few blossoms to stick into water when I get home. But now, in mid-November, the options are narrowing.
- [Common Mullein: The Vertical Garden](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/18/common-mullein-the-vertical-garden/) - The Schoharie Creek, at the bridge in Burtonsville, NY. So mild-mannered now, a calm little rural river minding its own business. But every now and then this quiet stream goes berserk and floods like crazy, toppling trees and destroying houses. They built this new bridge high for a reason. Anyway, here's the old bridge, or at least
- [American Beech: Don't Know When to Quit](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/25/american-beech-dont-know-when-to-quit/) - Honesdale, PA. A day of bright sun at the Highlights Foundation at Boyds Mills, a wonderful writers' retreat. Sunny and clear, but cold. Almost winter now. The leaves are all off the trees. The winter is coming, the branches are stark and bare. Or not. The leaves of these elegant gray trees just don't know when it's
- [Change of Seasons](https://anitasanchez.com/2012/11/30/change-of-seasons/) - Fall is officially over.
- [A New Year](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/04/a-new-year/) - So for my New Year’s resolution, I have vowed to learn more about my favorite subject, and read a botany textbook. Cover to cover. Yes, indeed. I’m going to bone up on mosses and liverworts and the reproductive habits of ferns (which are amazingly kinky and involve swimming) and all the other wonders of botany.
- [Art in Unexpected Places](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/06/art-in-unexpected-places/) - I was driving along Livingston Avenue in downtown Albany the other day, just minding my own business, and suddenly I had the uneasy feeling that someone was watching me... And I was right... In a deserted, snowy empty lot, this painting just stares out over the neighborhood. I have no idea who this person is,
- [Avian Weeds](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/12/avian-weeds/) - No, it’s not the Parthenon. Or something built by spendthrift emperors in Ancient Rome. This is the State Education Department building in Albany, NY. It's really a magnificent building. Based on the greatest traditions of Western architecture, only on a huge scale. You could comfortably fit about eight Parthenons inside it. I marvel at the beauty of
- [Celandine: A Cozy Microhabitat](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/01/30/celandine-a-cozy-microhabitat/) - This little green plant is thriving, as so many weeds do, in the crack between brick and blacktop. Somehow a seed got in there, and found enough soil and moisture to sustain life. The dainty scalloped leaves are a non-native wildflower called celandine, a member of the poppy family. In summer it has a pretty yellow, buttercup-like flower.
- [Cold Winter Day](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/02/04/cold-winter-day/) - A cold day today. Snow, and then sunshine that seems colder than the snow. A hard day for chickadees and goldfinches and redpolls and nuthatches and such to keep warm. Good thing my backyard has a lot of birdfeeders in it. Lots of food for feathered friends. What, you don't see the birdfeeders? I mean all
- [Big Leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/02/23/big-leaves/) - Sri Lanka is a tear-drop-shaped island at the tip of India. Not far from the equator. The noon sun is incredibly powerful, as I discovered after failing to completely cover my winter-white skin with sunblock. There's green everywhere--every inch that isn't covered by pavement has tropical foliage bursting out of it. All those leaves soaking
- [Burdock: Hooked Like Velcro](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/03/23/burdock-hooked-like-velcro/) - One day in 1941, a Swiss scientist was walking his dog, and noticed with annoyance, like so many other dog-walkers before and since, that his pet had blundered into the tall prickly plant called burdock. And as he was picking the infernal little hooked seeds out of the dog's fur, he had a bright idea. What
- [A Little Street Art](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/05/a-little-street-art/) - A while ago I was driving down a street in Albany, NY and happened to see this flash of red in the distance. I'm always a sucker for street art, so I had to do a U-turn and take a closer look. Mind you, I'm not sure what it is, but it certainly brightens up
- [Cinnamon Fern: Summer Plumes](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/04/23/cinnamon-fern-summer-plumes/) - Cinnamon Fern. Osmundastrum cinnamomeum. (At least that's the Latin name as of the moment, they seem to keep on changing names and reclassifying plants more often than I change my socks.) Many thanks to Frank Knight for this lovely photo--what a nice birthday present! Delicious as it looks, the brown stuff isn't really cinnamon, of course. In fern-speak,
- [All Roads Lead to Dandelions](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/05/02/all-roads-lead-to-dandelions/) - No matter where you go, it seems there's a dandelion at your feet--or under your feet. This is a cobbled pathway in Central Park, New York City. The dandelions don't content themselves with growing on the lawn, they invade the sidewalk, too. The flower and leaves manage to survive in the spaces between the stones. Just
- [Bee Balm: A Good Bet](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/05/11/bee-balm-a-good-bet/) - I admit it. It’s an addiction. The first step is admitting it, right? Much as I love nature and wild things, I just can’t pass up a greenhouse. There’s something about all those plants, spread out in a wild crazy quilt of color. The sheer gorgeousness of the exotic blooms. This is Gade Farm on Route
- [Celandine: Sweet Young Thing](https://anitasanchez.com/2013/05/17/celandine-sweet-young-thing/) - One of the best things about writing a blog is that it gives you a reason to look at everything with new eyes.
- [Ethical Foraging: From Pest to Pesto](https://anitasanchez.com/2023/04/27/ethical-foraging-from-pest-to-pesto/) - Foraging for survival or looking for a snack? Best place to look is a lawn. But only if it's pesticide-free. The thing about spring greens is that you have to catch them early.
- [Goldenrod: Bird Seed](https://anitasanchez.com/2015/03/11/goldenrod-bird-seed/) - There's not much left in terms of food for hungry birds. Good thing there's goldenrod in the back yard, with a few seeds left on the winter stalks.

## Pages

- [Contact Anita Sanchez](https://anitasanchez.com/contact-anita-sanchez/) - Contact author Anita Sanchez via telephone or email.
- [Bio](https://anitasanchez.com/about-anita-sanchez/) - Author Anita Sanchez explores the unmowed corners of the world.
- [A Sky That Sings Teacher’s Guide](https://anitasanchez.com/a-sky-that-sings-teachers-guide/) - Consider reaching out to Anita Sanchez for a school visit at anitasanchez.com Listen with Mia! Close your eyes to focus on all the sounds of nature. BACKGROUND Refer to the backmatter in A Sky That Sings to learn more about the birds and their calls featured in this book. From the Backmatter: Spring is a
- [For Educators](https://anitasanchez.com/programs-for-school-museums-and-libraries/) - Anita Sanchez is a published author and professional educator with more than twenty years of experience in providing classes and hands-on, participatory programs to a wide range of audiences.
- [A Sky That Sings](https://anitasanchez.com/a-sky-that-sings/) - From Lee and Low Publishers Mia, a blind girl who enjoys identifying birds by their distinct calls and songs, leads her aunt through the park on a bird-listening adventure! Mia and her tía are spending a sunny afternoon at the park bird-listening! Some people enjoy bird-watching but as a blind person, Mia uses her other
- [Scat: The Incredible Science of Wildlife Poop](https://anitasanchez.com/scat-the-incredible-science-of-wildlife-poop/) - A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection buy now From the Book: Chapter 1: The Science of Poop? You’ve Got To Be Kidding! Poop? Ugh! What could be more revolting, useless, and downright disgusting? But in nature’s endless and complex cycles, there’s no such thing as waste. The poop of wild animals isn’t just a
- [Books by Anita Sanchez](https://anitasanchez.com/books-by-anita-sanchez/) - Author Anita Sanchez combines her love of history with a passion for nature.
- [Author](https://anitasanchez.com/author-anita-sanchez/) - Anita Sanchez is an author who combines her love of history with a passion for nature. Her first book was The Teeth of the Lion: The Story of the Beloved and Despised Dandelion, published by McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company. This unconventional nonfiction book is packed with information about--of all things!-- dandelions. It describes their
- [Save the Endangered Species](https://anitasanchez.com/save-the-endangered-species/) - A multi-part series on some of the most fascinating and rare wildlife on our planet. For kids 6 and up. Each book includes many ideas for ways even the youngest readers can become wildlife activists and help to save their favorite animals. More here Save the Whale Sharks Shark! The passengers on the boat stare
- [The Monkey Trial](https://anitasanchez.com/the-monkey-trial/) - A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Arrested? For teaching? John Scopes’s crime riveted the world, and crowds flocked to the trial of the man who dared to tell students about a forbidden topic—evolution. The year was 1925, and discussing Darwin’s theory of evolution was illegal in Tennessee classrooms. Lawyers wanted to challenge the law,
- [Where to Buy Books](https://anitasanchez.com/how-to-buy-books-by-anita-sanchez/) - Where to Buy Books by Author Anita Sanchez
- [The Forest in the Sea](https://anitasanchez.com/the-forest-in-the-sea/) - Meet an unlikely climate change hero: the wet, slimy stuff known as seaweed. Imagine forests where you can float weightlessly among schools of fish. Huge green pastures where sea turtles graze. Forests that capture carbon from seawater and breathe out oxygen. The answers to many of our planet’s problems may lie underwater, in these forests
- [The Unmowed Blog](https://anitasanchez.com/the-unmowed-blog/) - The unmowed corners. That’s where life shoves through, grows to the sun, and flourishes. Unmowed Blog by Anita Sanchez.
- [Hello, Puddle!](https://anitasanchez.com/hello-puddle/) - A nonfiction picture book exploring a deceptively simple but unexpectedly crucial resource for wildlife: puddles! This lyrical, gorgeously illustrated nonfiction picture book is perfect for young science learners and nature lovers. Educators' Guide with Student Activities Hello, puddle! Who's here? A normal everyday puddle may not seem very special. But for a mother turtle, it
- [Hello, Puddle!  Educator's Guide](https://anitasanchez.com/hello-puddle/hello-puddle-educators-guide/) - Welcome to the world of puddles! There’s nothing shallow about a puddle. It’s an often-ignored but crucial habitat for countless wildlife, including frogs, birds, and butterflies. Hello, Puddle! helps children understand the intricate, unnoticed links between animals and their habitat. As an educator, you can use the book--and real puddles just outside your door--to teach
- [Karl, Get Out of the Garden!](https://anitasanchez.com/books-by-anita-sanchez/karl-get-out-of-the-garden/) - Karl, Get Out of the Garden!: Carolus Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything Charlesbridge Publishing Honors for Karl, Get Out of the Garden! School Library Journal starred review John Burroughs Society Riverby Award Bank Street College of Education Cook Prize Honor Book SONWA Award Notable Book American Horticultural Society “Growing Good Kids”
- [ITCH!: Everything You Didn't Want To Know About What Makes You Scratch](https://anitasanchez.com/books-by-anita-sanchez/itch-everything-you-didnt-want-to-know-about-what-makes-you-scratch/) - Itch! You know the feeling—that tickly, tingly, crawly sensation that you just have to scratch. And it’s always in a place just...out…of…reach. But why do we get itchy? Lots of reasons: mosquitoes, poison ivy, blackflies, bristly caterpillars, cactus, lice. Why do these things affect us so drastically, and how can we stop the itch? And
- [Rotten! Vultures, Beetles and Slime: Nature's Decomposers](https://anitasanchez.com/books-by-anita-sanchez/rotten-vultures-beetles-and-slime-natures-decomposers/) - What’s that terrible smell? Plug your nose! Run! Something smells…rotten! But rotten isn’t always bad. If nothing ever rotted, nothing could live. Decomposition seems like the last stop on the food chain, but it’s just the beginning. When dead things rot, they give life to a host of other creatures. So
- [Wait Till It Gets Dark!](https://anitasanchez.com/books-by-anita-sanchez/wait-till-it-gets-dark/) - It’s night. It’s dark. It’s time to go indoors—or is it? The outdoors at night can be a scary place, but this book will help young readers investigate the mysterious nature of night. To explore the night, it would be great to have eyes like an owl, the sensitive nose of a deer, and feet
- [About](https://anitasanchez.com/about/) - The unmowed corners. That's where life shoves through, grows to the sun, flourishes. I stop every time I'm in a parking lot, a schoolyard, a graveyard--anywhere--and see what plants are growing. There's unintended beauty in the untended places. I look to see what's pushing through the cracks in the pavement. What the mowers have
- [In Praise of Poison Ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/in-praise-of-poison-ivy/) - Deadly. Powerful. Beautiful. The much-hated plant called poison ivy is all of these—and more. Poison ivy has long irritated humans, but the astounding paradox is that poison ivy is a plant of immense ecological value. In Praise of Poison Ivy explores the vices and virtues of a plant with a dramatic history--and a rosy future.
- [Leaflets Three, Let It Be! The Story of Poison Ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/books-by-anita-sanchez/leaflets-three-let-it-be-the-story-of-poison-ivy/) - Leaflets Three, Let It Be!: The Story of Poison Ivy Boyds Mills Press, 2015
- [Educator's Guide: Leaflets Three, Let It Be!](https://anitasanchez.com/educators-guide-leaflets-three-let-it-be/) - Leaflets Three, Let It Be! Author Anita Sanchez and illustrator Robin Brickman use descriptive text and detailed pictures to tell the story of poison ivy.
- [The Invasion Of Sandy Bay](https://anitasanchez.com/the-invasion-of-sandy-bay/) - The Invasion of Sandy Bay recounts what happened on the night the British put too much gunpowder in one of their cannons during the War of 1812.
- [Mr. Lincoln's Chair: The Shakers and their Quest for Peace](https://anitasanchez.com/mr-lincolns-chair-the-shakers-and-their-quest-for-peace/) - Read Anita Sanchez's Mr. Lincoln’s Chair to discover what happens when the nation’s most peaceful people are drafted into the nation’s bloodiest war.
- [Teacher’s Guide to Invasion of Sandy Bay](https://anitasanchez.com/teachers-guide-to-invasion-of-sandy-bay/) - Teachers and Educators Guide for The Invasion of Sandy Bay by Anita Sanchez
- [The Teeth of the Lion: The Story of the Beloved and Despised Dandelion](https://anitasanchez.com/the-teeth-of-the-lion-the-story-of-the-beloved-and-despised-dandelion/) - The common dandelion is now a despised weed, but it was once a valued commodity, purposely transported by humans across oceans and continents.
- [Sitemap](https://anitasanchez.com/sitemap/) - Sitemap for the website anitasanchez.com
- [Books by Anita Sanchez](https://anitasanchez.com/books-by-anita-sanchez/) - Author Anita Sanchez combines her love of history with a passion for nature.
- [Leaflets Three, Let It Be! The Story of Poison Ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/books-by-anita-sanchez/leaflets-three-let-it-be-the-story-of-poison-ivy/) - Leaflets Three, Let It Be!: The Story of Poison Ivy Boyds Mills Press, 2015

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://anitasanchez.com/category/uncategorized/)
- [adaptations](https://anitasanchez.com/category/adaptations/)
- [birds](https://anitasanchez.com/category/birds/)
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- [fall](https://anitasanchez.com/category/fall/)
- [flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/category/flowers/)
- [great ideas](https://anitasanchez.com/category/great-ideas/)
- [holiday](https://anitasanchez.com/category/holiday/)
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- [leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/category/leaves/)
- [native American](https://anitasanchez.com/category/native-american/)
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- [photos](https://anitasanchez.com/category/photos/)
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- [sri lanka](https://anitasanchez.com/category/sri-lanka/)
- [summer](https://anitasanchez.com/category/summer/)
- [Unmowed Blog](https://anitasanchez.com/category/unmowed-blog/)
- [wildlife](https://anitasanchez.com/category/wildlife/)
- [winter](https://anitasanchez.com/category/winter/)
- [poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/category/poison-ivy/)
- [Sweden](https://anitasanchez.com/category/sweden/)
- [pollinators](https://anitasanchez.com/category/pollinators/)
- [Unmowed Authors](https://anitasanchez.com/category/unmowed-authors/)
- [night](https://anitasanchez.com/category/night/)
- [world war one journal](https://anitasanchez.com/category/world-war-one-journal/)

## Tags

- [aerial roots](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/aerial-roots/)
- [amsterdam](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/amsterdam/)
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- [spring growth](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/spring-growth/)
- [spruce](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/spruce/)
- [sri lanka elephants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sri-lanka-elephants/)
- [Sri Lanka national parks](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sri-lanka-national-parks/)
- [st. john the divine](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/st-john-the-divine/)
- [stolon](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/stolon/)
- [stonework](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/stonework/)
- [street art](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/street-art/)
- [thin-leaved coneflower](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/thin-leaved-coneflower/)
- [thistles](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/thistles/)
- [thorns](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/thorns/)
- [trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/trees/)
- [tropical fruit](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tropical-fruit/)
- [tulip history](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tulip-history/)
- [tulips](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tulips/)
- [velcro](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/velcro/)
- [violet](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/violet/)
- [War of 1812 history](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/war-of-1812-history/)
- [wells horton](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wells-horton/)
- [wild carrot](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-carrot/)
- [wild grape](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-grape/)
- [wild leeks](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-leeks/)
- [wild strawberry](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-strawberry/)
- [winter meadow](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winter-meadow/)
- [winter sky](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winter-sky/)
- [winter weeds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winter-weeds/)
- [witch hazel](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/witch-hazel/)
- [yew](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/yew/)
- [poppy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poppy/)
- [invasive](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/invasive/)
- [plant](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plant/)
- [non-native](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/non-native/)
- [sea change](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sea-change/)
- [blog](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/blog/)
- [unmowed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/unmowed/)
- [magnificent clouds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/magnificent-clouds/)
- [rain](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/rain/)
- [wood sorrel](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wood-sorrel/)
- [lemon grass](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/lemon-grass/)
- [cicada](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cicada/)
- [periodical cicada](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/periodical-cicada/)
- [uses for plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/uses-for-plants/)
- [jamestown](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/jamestown/)
- [living history](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/living-history/)
- [Monticello](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/monticello/)
- [Jefferson gardener](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/jefferson-gardener/)
- [Monticello native plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/monticello-native-plants/)
- [day lily](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/day-lily/)
- [rattlesnake](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/rattlesnake/)
- [Appalachian Trail](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/appalachian-trail/)
- [bucket list](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/bucket-list/)
- [jewelweed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/jewelweed/)
- [poison ivy remedy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-remedy/)
- [poison ivy identification](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-identification/)
- [plants confused with poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plants-confused-with-poison-ivy/)
- [country roads](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/country-roads/)
- [sunflower seeds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sunflower-seeds/)
- [schoharie creek](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/schoharie-creek/)
- [hummingbirds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hummingbirds/)
- [hummingbird feeders](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hummingbird-feeders/)
- [red dye in hummingbird feeders](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/red-dye-in-hummingbird-feeders/)
- [staghorn sumac](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/staghorn-sumac/)
- [sumac history](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sumac-history/)
- [ragweed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ragweed/)
- [hay fever](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hay-fever/)
- [cardinal](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cardinal/)
- [bird feeders](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/bird-feeders/)
- [red cage fungus](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/red-cage-fungus/)
- [stinkhorn](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/stinkhorn/)
- [chocolate flower](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/chocolate-flower/)
- [cacao pods](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cacao-pods/)
- [chocolate history](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/chocolate-history/)
- [new york botanical garden](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/new-york-botanical-garden/)
- [honey bee flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/honey-bee-flowers/)
- [mowing for wildlife](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mowing-for-wildlife/)
- [wildflower meadow](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wildflower-meadow/)
- [blue jay eat peanuts](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/blue-jay-eat-peanuts/)
- [milkweed monarch butterflies](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/milkweed-monarch-butterflies/)
- [native milkweed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/native-milkweed/)
- [common milkweed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/common-milkweed/)
- [lawn herbicides](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/lawn-herbicides/)
- [harmful lawn pesticides](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/harmful-lawn-pesticides/)
- [dog on beach](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dog-on-beach/)
- [road work](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/road-work/)
- [new england aster](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/new-england-aster/)
- [nectar flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/nectar-flowers/)
- [canadian wildlflowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/canadian-wildlflowers/)
- [Flowerpot rocks](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/flowerpot-rocks/)
- [Hopewell Rocks](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hopewell-rocks/)
- [Bay of Fundy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/bay-of-fundy/)
- [female cardinal](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/female-cardinal/)
- [october fog](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/october-fog/)
- [virginia creeper vines](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/virginia-creeper-vines/)
- [viper's bugloss](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/vipers-bugloss/)
- [green snake](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/green-snake/)
- [grass snake](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/grass-snake/)
- [cure snakebite](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cure-snakebite/)
- [long shadows](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/long-shadows/)
- [weird shadows](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/weird-shadows/)
- [funnel web spiders](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/funnel-web-spiders/)
- [rock wall](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/rock-wall/)
- [stone wall](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/stone-wall/)
- [Salem](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/salem/)
- [witch history](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/witch-history/)
- [ghostly clouds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ghostly-clouds/)
- [queen anne's lace seeds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/queen-annes-lace-seeds/)
- [tree faces](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tree-faces/)
- [milkweed seeds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/milkweed-seeds/)
- [monarch decline](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/monarch-decline/)
- [cattail seeds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cattail-seeds/)
- [cattail fluff](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cattail-fluff/)
- [birds nest linings](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/birds-nest-linings/)
- [common groundsel](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/common-groundsel/)
- [lawn](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/lawn/)
- [turf](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/turf/)
- [winter food for birds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winter-food-for-birds/)
- [geranium](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/geranium/)
- [geraniums imported from South Africa](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/geraniums-imported-from-south-africa/)
- [Tradescant](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tradescant/)
- [cape ann massachusetts](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cape-ann-massachusetts/)
- [poison ivy vine](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-vine/)
- [hairy vine](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hairy-vine/)
- [aerial rootlets](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/aerial-rootlets/)
- [winter trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winter-trees/)
- [branching patterns](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/branching-patterns/)
- [poison ivy flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-flowers/)
- [poison ivy honey](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-honey/)
- [poison ivy pollen](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-pollen/)
- [winter doldrums](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winter-doldrums/)
- [urban crows](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/urban-crows/)
- [groundhog day history](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/groundhog-day-history/)
- [woodchuck hibernate](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/woodchuck-hibernate/)
- [winter bird plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winter-bird-plants/)
- [London plane tree](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/london-plane-tree/)
- [urban trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/urban-trees/)
- [how daylight savings time affects us](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/how-daylight-savings-time-affects-us/)
- [crow moon](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/crow-moon/)
- [ice storm](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ice-storm/)
- [beach](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/beach/)
- [amphibians](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/amphibians/)
- [spring wildflowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/spring-wildflowers/)
- [plant chemical defenses](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plant-chemical-defenses/)
- [invasive plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/invasive-plants/)
- [moon in daytime](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/moon-in-daytime/)
- [organic lawns](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/organic-lawns/)
- [shiny leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/shiny-leaves/)
- [plants repel insects](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plants-repel-insects/)
- [daisy fleabane](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/daisy-fleabane/)
- [tomato fruit](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tomato-fruit/)
- [tomato vegetable](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tomato-vegetable/)
- [fall leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fall-leaves/)
- [medicinal plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/medicinal-plants/)
- [heal-all](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/heal-all/)
- [bumblebees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/bumblebees/)
- [leaf miner](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/leaf-miner/)
- [ball gall](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ball-gall/)
- [insects use goldenrod](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/insects-use-goldenrod/)
- [grape vine](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/grape-vine/)
- [vines in trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/vines-in-trees/)
- [willow trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/willow-trees/)
- [evergreens](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/evergreens/)
- [holiday plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/holiday-plants/)
- [pete seeger](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/pete-seeger/)
- [evergreen trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/evergreen-trees/)
- [trees in winter](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/trees-in-winter/)
- [book about poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/book-about-poison-ivy/)
- [magic plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/magic-plants/)
- [trees in Central Park](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/trees-in-central-park/)
- [living snow fence](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/living-snow-fence/)
- [snowdrifts on roads](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/snowdrifts-on-roads/)
- [buds in winter](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/buds-in-winter/)
- [living snowfence](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/living-snowfence/)
- [rabbit winter food](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/rabbit-winter-food/)
- [animals get poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/animals-get-poison-ivy/)
- [dogs get poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dogs-get-poison-ivy/)
- [eat poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/eat-poison-ivy/)
- [poison ivy immunity](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-immunity/)
- [organic lawn](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/organic-lawn/)
- [lawn pesticides](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/lawn-pesticides/)
- [dandelion wine](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dandelion-wine/)
- [rainbow of flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/rainbow-of-flowers/)
- [same-sex marriage](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/same-sex-marriage/)
- [flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/flowers/)
- [pollinators](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/pollinators/)
- [nature crafts](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/nature-crafts/)
- [catnip](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/catnip/)
- [cats](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cats/)
- [mint family](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mint-family/)
- [nectar plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/nectar-plants/)
- [wild plums](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-plums/)
- [on the banks of plum creek](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/on-the-banks-of-plum-creek/)
- [Laura Ingalls Wilder](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/laura-ingalls-wilder/)
- [adaptations](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/adaptations/)
- [birds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/birds/)
- [environment](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/environment/)
- [insects](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/insects/)
- [leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/leaves/)
- [seeds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/seeds/)
- [sri lanka](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sri-lanka/)
- [poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy/)
- [prickly pear](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/prickly-pear/)
- [wildlife eat oak](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wildlife-eat-oak/)
- [darkness](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/darkness/)
- [Daylight Savings end](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/daylight-savings-end/)
- [garden](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/garden/)
- [Sweden](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sweden/)
- [winged victory](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winged-victory/)
- [leaf color](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/leaf-color/)
- [november leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/november-leaves/)
- [American sycamore](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/american-sycamore/)
- [lichen](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/lichen/)
- [abisko national park](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/abisko-national-park/)
- [sub-alpine birch forest](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sub-alpine-birch-forest/)
- [plantain](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plantain/)
- [Anglo-Saxon medical plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/anglo-saxon-medical-plants/)
- [waybread](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/waybread/)
- [Rudyard Kipling](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/rudyard-kipling/)
- [Naulakha](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/naulakha/)
- [in praise of poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/in-praise-of-poison-ivy/)
- [spring poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/spring-poison-ivy/)
- [red leaflets](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/red-leaflets/)
- [spring greens](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/spring-greens/)
- [edible wild plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/edible-wild-plants/)
- [wild greens](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-greens/)
- [edible ferns](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/edible-ferns/)
- [fiddleheads](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fiddleheads/)
- [wild edibles](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-edibles/)
- [identify poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/identify-poison-ivy/)
- [birdsfoot trefoil](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/birdsfoot-trefoil/)
- [swimming Schoharie Creek](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/swimming-schoharie-creek/)
- [bird bath](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/bird-bath/)
- [John Adams](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/john-adams/)
- [Fourth of July](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fourth-of-july/)
- [honey locust thorns](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/honey-locust-thorns/)
- [pokeweed berries](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/pokeweed-berries/)
- [Badlands wildflowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/badlands-wildflowers/)
- [Badlands National Park](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/badlands-national-park/)
- [Yellowstone national Park](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/yellowstone-national-park/)
- [hot springs](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hot-springs/)
- [extremophiles](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/extremophiles/)
- [echinacea](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/echinacea/)
- [poison sumac](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-sumac/)
- [standing rock buffalo](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/standing-rock-buffalo/)
- [box elder bugs](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/box-elder-bugs/)
- [love trumps hate](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/love-trumps-hate/)
- [vultures](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/vultures/)
- [scavengers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/scavengers/)
- [decomposers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/decomposers/)
- [winter solstice](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winter-solstice/)
- [pinhole camera](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/pinhole-camera/)
- [women's march on washington](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/womens-march-on-washington/)
- [leaf fossils](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/leaf-fossils/)
- [vernal equinox](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/vernal-equinox/)
- [spring equinox](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/spring-equinox/)
- [puddles for wildlife](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/puddles-for-wildlife/)
- [mud puddles](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mud-puddles/)
- [world environment day](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/world-environment-day/)
- [montana horses](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/montana-horses/)
- [yellow wood sorrel](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/yellow-wood-sorrel/)
- [edible plant](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/edible-plant/)
- [slugs](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/slugs/)
- [urushiol](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/urushiol/)
- [hummingbird feeders harmful](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hummingbird-feeders-harmful/)
- [hummingbird candidiasis](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hummingbird-candidiasis/)
- [hummingbird feeders mold](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hummingbird-feeders-mold/)
- [authors' homes and gardens](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/authors-homes-and-gardens/)
- [mowing](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mowing/)
- [unmowed authors](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/unmowed-authors/)
- [cross creek](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cross-creek/)
- [marjorie kinnan rawlings](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/)
- [moby dick](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/moby-dick/)
- [herman melville](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/herman-melville/)
- [arrowhead](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/arrowhead/)
- [crabgrass](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/crabgrass/)
- [steepletop](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/steepletop/)
- [edna st. vincent millay](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/edna-st-vincent-millay/)
- [calling congress](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/calling-congress/)
- [Grant's cottage](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/grants-cottage/)
- [Ulysses S. Grant](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ulysses-s-grant/)
- [Grant's Memoirs](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/grants-memoirs/)
- [katydid](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/katydid/)
- [insect camouflage](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/insect-camouflage/)
- [hickory tussock moth](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hickory-tussock-moth/)
- [good luck to catch a falling leaf](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/good-luck-to-catch-a-falling-leaf/)
- [sunflowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sunflowers/)
- [disk flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/disk-flowers/)
- [urban wildflowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/urban-wildflowers/)
- [plants at night](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plants-at-night/)
- [rachel carson](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/rachel-carson/)
- [silent spring](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/silent-spring/)
- [rockweed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/rockweed/)
- [glacier mice](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/glacier-mice/)
- [Iceland glacier](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/iceland-glacier/)
- [gorilla](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/gorilla/)
- [bronx zoo](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/bronx-zoo/)
- [forest faces](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/forest-faces/)
- [world war one journal](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/world-war-one-journal/)
- [Long Winter](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/long-winter/)
- [Iceland. Ring Road](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/iceland-ring-road/)
- [Grabrok Crater](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/grabrok-crater/)
- [outrage fatigue](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/outrage-fatigue/)
- [giant tortoise](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/giant-tortoise/)
- [Philadelphia Zoo](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/philadelphia-zoo/)
- [winter wildlife](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/winter-wildlife/)
- [wild turkey](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-turkey/)
- [mosher marsh](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mosher-marsh/)
- [frog calls](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/frog-calls/)
- [adirondack hike](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/adirondack-hike/)
- [adirondack wildflowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/adirondack-wildflowers/)
- [painted trillium](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/painted-trillium/)
- [hobblebush](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hobblebush/)
- [cold](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cold/)
- [climate change](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/climate-change/)
- [itch](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/itch/)
- [nontoxic](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/nontoxic/)
- [family separation](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/family-separation/)
- [resist](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/resist/)
- [summer solstice](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/summer-solstice/)
- [chicory](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/chicory/)
- [foraging](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/foraging/)
- [coffee substitute](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/coffee-substitute/)
- [samoa](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/samoa/)
- [coral reef](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/coral-reef/)
- [tropical fish](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tropical-fish/)
- [snorkeling](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/snorkeling/)
- [world war 1](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/world-war-1/)
- [armistice day](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/armistice-day/)
- [mint tea](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mint-tea/)
- [herbal tea](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/herbal-tea/)
- [holiday decor](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/holiday-decor/)
- [christmas trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/christmas-trees/)
- [plastic harms wildlife](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plastic-harms-wildlife/)
- [balsam fir tea](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/balsam-fir-tea/)
- [herbal remedies](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/herbal-remedies/)
- [third monday in january](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/third-monday-in-january/)
- [Edgar Allan Poe](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/edgar-allan-poe/)
- [Poe cottage](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poe-cottage/)
- [books](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/books/)
- [roadside habitat](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/roadside-habitat/)
- [Little House on the Prairie](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/little-house-on-the-prairie/)
- [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/robert-louis-stevenson/)
- [Vailima](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/vailima/)
- [bibliophile](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/bibliophile/)
- [apples](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/apples/)
- [plant tree](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plant-tree/)
- [ancient trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ancient-trees/)
- [oaks](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/oaks/)
- [Sherwood Forest](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sherwood-forest/)
- [november robert frost](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/november-robert-frost/)
- [living fence](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/living-fence/)
- [hedgerows](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hedgerows/)
- [Bateman's](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/batemans/)
- [Puck of Pook's Hill](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/puck-of-pooks-hill/)
- [branches](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/branches/)
- [activism](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/activism/)
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- [tolkien](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tolkien/)
- [hobbit](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/hobbit/)
- [ents](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ents/)
- [witchcraft](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/witchcraft/)
- [st. johnswort](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/st-johnswort/)
- [rash](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/rash/)
- [inventions](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/inventions/)
- [big trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/big-trees/)
- [beautiful trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/beautiful-trees/)
- [white pine](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/white-pine/)
- [cough remedy folk medicine](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cough-remedy-folk-medicine/)
- [poison ivy poison ivy shiny](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-poison-ivy-shiny/)
- [spring peeper](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/spring-peeper/)
- [frog songs](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/frog-songs/)
- [frog ears](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/frog-ears/)
- [dames rocket](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dames-rocket/)
- [wild mustard](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-mustard/)
- [spring 2020](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/spring-2020/)
- [may snow](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/may-snow/)
- [ferns](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ferns/)
- [fern seed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fern-seed/)
- [fern reproduction](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fern-reproduction/)
- [pets and poison ivy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/pets-and-poison-ivy/)
- [dog itchy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dog-itchy/)
- [dandelion close-up](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dandelion-close-up/)
- [lichens](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/lichens/)
- [air pollution](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/air-pollution/)
- [dandelion recipes](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dandelion-recipes/)
- [dandelion nutrition](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dandelion-nutrition/)
- [dandelion vitamin C](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dandelion-vitamin-c/)
- [holiday](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/holiday/)
- [poison ivy rash](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-rash/)
- [poison ivy treatment](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-treatment/)
- [open schools](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/open-schools/)
- [education](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/education/)
- [pandemic](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/pandemic/)
- [schools 2020](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/schools-2020/)
- [clean air](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/clean-air/)
- [climate skeptics](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/climate-skeptics/)
- [bug zapper](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/bug-zapper/)
- [mosquito control](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mosquito-control/)
- [science books](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/science-books/)
- [outdoor education](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/outdoor-education/)
- [STEM books](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/stem-books/)
- [Science for kids](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/science-for-kids/)
- [science outdoors](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/science-outdoors/)
- [bronte sisters](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/bronte-sisters/)
- [charlotte bronte](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/charlotte-bronte/)
- [emily bronte](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/emily-bronte/)
- [parsonage](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/parsonage/)
- [yorkshire](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/yorkshire/)
- [haworth](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/haworth/)
- [flower folklore](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/flower-folklore/)
- [purple flower in center](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/purple-flower-in-center/)
- [plant uses](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plant-uses/)
- [poison ivy history](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poison-ivy-history/)
- [plant lore](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plant-lore/)
- [gardening history](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/gardening-history/)
- [New World plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/new-world-plants/)
- [Versailles](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/versailles/)
- [ambush bug](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ambush-bug/)
- [goldenrod galls](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/goldenrod-galls/)
- [goldenrod insects](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/goldenrod-insects/)
- [goldenrod hay fever](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/goldenrod-hay-fever/)
- [dandelion lore](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/dandelion-lore/)
- [lucky clover](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/lucky-clover/)
- [daisy love](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/daisy-love/)
- [buttercup](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/buttercup/)
- [plant superstitions](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/plant-superstitions/)
- [oak trees](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/oak-trees/)
- [oak leaves](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/oak-leaves/)
- [insects on oak](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/insects-on-oak/)
- [food chains](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/food-chains/)
- [oak acorns](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/oak-acorns/)
- [fireflies](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fireflies/)
- [firefly food chain](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/firefly-food-chain/)
- [fireflies eat slugs](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fireflies-eat-slugs/)
- [nonfiction](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/nonfiction/)
- [authors](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/authors/)
- [pollination](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/pollination/)
- [mushrooms](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mushrooms/)
- [fungi](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fungi/)
- [decomposition](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/decomposition/)
- [mushroom folklore](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mushroom-folklore/)
- [poetry](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/poetry/)
- [mud puddle](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mud-puddle/)
- [mud](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/mud/)
- [wildlife habitat](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wildlife-habitat/)
- [picture books](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/picture-books/)
- [nature](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/nature/)
- [STEM](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/stem/)
- [literacy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/literacy/)
- [puddles](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/puddles/)
- [tadpoles](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tadpoles/)
- [butterflies](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/butterflies/)
- [puddling](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/puddling/)
- [barn swallows](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/barn-swallows/)
- [nest building](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/nest-building/)
- [squirrels](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/squirrels/)
- [seaweed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/seaweed/)
- [edible plants](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/edible-plants/)
- [potato famine](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/potato-famine/)
- [snorkelling](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/snorkelling/)
- [ocean](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/ocean/)
- [crayweed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/crayweed/)
- [reforestation](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/reforestation/)
- [sydney harbor](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sydney-harbor/)
- [scopes trial](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/scopes-trial/)
- [monkey trial](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/monkey-trial/)
- [teach evolution](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/teach-evolution/)
- [book banning](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/book-banning/)
- [sargassum](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sargassum/)
- [floating mat of seaweed](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/floating-mat-of-seaweed/)
- [sargasso sea](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/sargasso-sea/)
- [April Fool](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/april-fool/)
- [disinformation](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/disinformation/)
- [misinformation](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/misinformation/)
- [observing nature](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/observing-nature/)
- [california superbloom](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/california-superbloom/)
- [california wildflowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/california-wildflowers/)
- [desert flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/desert-flowers/)
- [cactus flowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/cactus-flowers/)
- [california poppy](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/california-poppy/)
- [fern fiddleheads](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fern-fiddleheads/)
- [school election](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/school-election/)
- [lawns](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/lawns/)
- [superbloom](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/superbloom/)
- [air quality](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/air-quality/)
- [voting](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/voting/)
- [air alert](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/air-alert/)
- [seed dispersal](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/seed-dispersal/)
- [wild grapes](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wild-grapes/)
- [fall seeds](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/fall-seeds/)
- [contact representative](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/contact-representative/)
- [Netherlands](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/netherlands/)
- [tulip fields](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tulip-fields/)
- [tulip farm](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/tulip-farm/)
- [pesticides](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/pesticides/)
- [vernal pools](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/vernal-pools/)
- [amphibian habitat](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/amphibian-habitat/)
- [spring forest](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/spring-forest/)
- [pride activism](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/pride-activism/)
- [register voters](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/register-voters/)
- [get out the vote](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/get-out-the-vote/)
- [vote blue](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/vote-blue/)
- [get out the vote environment](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/get-out-the-vote-environment/)
- [wasps](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wasps/)
- [o. henry](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/o-henry/)
- [pete's tavern](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/petes-tavern/)
- [gift of the magi](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/gift-of-the-magi/)
- [new york city](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/new-york-city/)
- [wildflowers](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/wildflowers/)
- [diversity](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/diversity/)
- [meadow](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/meadow/)
- [monet](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/monet/)
- [waterlilies](https://anitasanchez.com/tag/waterlilies/)