Sassafras: A Unique Native
October 23, 2020
Back on Dec. 1, 2016, I offered you a story about the historical medicinal aspects of sassafras and its role... Read More →
Drug Wars In Nature: The Ephedra Gang
October 16, 2020
In the arid American West, there resides a genus of bushes, which by Midwestern standards appear hardly alive. The half-dozen... Read More →
Hummingbird Heaven, Hummingbird Hell
October 12, 2020
Longtime readers may recall that five years ago I built a 1 1/2 story trellis which runs 50 feet, the... Read More →
Coumarin – A Pleasant Plant Poison
October 1, 2020
This is a story about our love affair with coumarin, a chemical produced by many members of the plant kingdom.... Read More →
Plants are the Master Chemists
September 24, 2020
Rhododendrons in bloom on a mountaintop along the Blue Ridge Parkway, western Virginia and North Carolina. Photo from Encyclopedia Britannica.... Read More →
Milk Sickness
September 17, 2020
As the calendar rolled over from the 1700s to the 1800s, pioneers from the Eastern Seaboard states were moving westward... Read More →
Contemplative Peregrination as Nature Walk
September 12, 2020
There are many ways to take a hike, especially with camera in hand. A time-honored way of experiencing a foray... Read More →
Replacing Crown Vetch with Milkweed
September 10, 2020
Crown vetch is one of our most difficult invasive species to eradicate from a prairie, whether original or recreated. In... Read More →
“Abundance of color” : Mural at Belgum Grove shines
September 6, 2020
This summer, something colorful came to Bur Oak Land Trust’s Belgum Grove. Elena Wolff, a former AmeriCorps member at the... Read More →
Tippy Trees: Lessons From The Storm
September 3, 2020
When the storm of Aug. 10, 2020, roared through Cedar Rapids and Marion, the devastation was pretty complete. Among the... Read More →
