Category: Natural History
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Unfurling
Only spread a fern frond over a man’s head and worldly cares are cast out, and freedom and beauty and peace come in. ~John Muir Before there is a fern frond, there is a fiddlehead. The curled tip of an unfurling fern frond resembles the curled ornamentation (called a scroll) on the end of a… Read more…
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Swarming Season
The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it. ~Jacques Yves Cousteau Just at closing one day this week, a coworker at the Garden sent an email alerting everyone to a swarm of honeybees just outside the back gate. I was… Read more…
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The Spirit of Spring
April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. ~William Shakespeare Things have been so busy at work that I have failed miserably at getting outside with camera in hand to document some of the beauty around me. I made amends Saturday afternoon, and spent a few hours just wandering around the yard, observing and… Read more…
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Spring Things
Now is the time of the illuminated woods… when every leaf glows like a tiny lamp. ~John Burroughs Things happen so fast this time of year… it is the time of change. Old things moving on, new things appearing. Many of the birds of winter are heading north and are being replaced by bright and… Read more…
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Grass, Bottlebrush, Candelabra, Pine?
Here’s to the land of the longleaf pine, The summer land where the sun doth shine, Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great, Here’s to “Down Home,” the Old North State. ~North Carolina State Toast In my last post, I talked about some of the amazing, small plants that grow beneath the… Read more…
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The Most Wonderful Plant in the World
“This plant, commonly called Venus’ fly-trap, from the rapidity and force of its movements, is one of the most wonderful in the world” and “is one of the most beautifully adapted plants in the vegetable kingdom.” ~Charles Darwin One of the tree species Mike didn’t include on his recent tree bark quiz, probably because it’s… Read more…
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Green in the Winter Woods
“And Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” Genesis 3:20 With Mike back at work, I’m going to try to contribute to the blog occasionally. I came upon the perfect topic while out on a “field day” with a coworker, Megan, last week. One of the things I never fail to… Read more…
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New Beginnings
Native plants give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours. ~Lady Bird Johnson You may have noticed a slight reduction in the number of posts the last few weeks. A major reason is that I have been busy with a new chapter in my life, a new adventure. It… Read more…
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Another Winter Season
We are not the only species who lives and dreams on our planet. There is something enduring that circulates in the heart of nature that deserves our respect and attention. ~Terry Tempest Williams I ended my winter tour season last weekend, a little earlier than usual, but it finished on a spectacular note. I had… Read more…
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Roads End Naturalist 