Nature has a way of making things look easy. As an example, there’s the annual leaf-drop of deciduous trees here in the Northern Hemisphere. Daylight hours dwindle, temperatures start to sag, and in not much more than a month the once densely clad branches are bare. Suddenly, all those thousands of bright-colored leaves are on the ground, like a party dress slipped off onto the floor after a gala event.   It can seem as if the trees simply turn a switch, but it’s more complex

Common milkweed ( Ascelpias syriacus ) Credit: Amos Oliver Doyle   Part 1: The good the bad and the ugly   By the end of summer, Common Milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca ) is not the most attractive of plants. The once lush, pink flower heads have transformed into big, bleached-out, rough-textured seed pods. Add some insect pests to the fading foliage and the vision plummets even further.   If you take a look at the photo below, you’ll see what I’m talking about. ( Fair warning: I

Random image of a flower, because not everyone loves spiders. ...

Leaf detail of a black walnut (Juglans nigra). If you look around right now, it appears that spring has finally, fully arrived. But if...

Just several weeks ago, creamy pink and white blossoms were dancing on the branches of the magnolia trees, turning the canopies into...

Last month I flew to Charlotte, NC to visit my son, daughter-in-law, and their 11-month-old baby. I knew from checking the local weather...

The past several weeks have been full of ice. With sub-freezing days and nights in the single digits, I’ve watched as the open waters of...

Back in September I was surprised by an article in my local newspaper offering tips for reducing water consumption. The surprise wasn’t...

Around midsummer, a plant sprouted up in the little garden area by our front door. It wasn’t something we had planted, and I had no idea...

It’s a stunningly beautiful September day, full of cool air, bright sunshine, birdsong, and a light breeze sweeping a gentle hand over...

A question had been pressing on me all day: “Should I plant the flowers?” It was a pretty silly question to ask, since the whole point of...

As I approached the tupelo trees (Nyssa sylvatica) at the edge of our property on a late-May morning, I noticed a faint humming sound. I...