FEATURED POST

Optimistic Plumes

A Giant of a Grass . On a beautiful February afternoon that felt more like April, I came across this forest of feathery grasses reaching way above my head. Bending and dancing in the breeze they waved at everyone going by, just as happy as I was for the sunshine and the clear, blue sky. The plant finder in my phone identified it as miscanthus , but I’m not sure which variety – there are a bunch. There’s the sinenses, nicknamed ‘silver feather’ with its arching fountain-like

4 minutes ago1 min read

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TRAIN OF THOUGHT

Optimistic Plumes

A Giant of a Grass . On a beautiful February afternoon that felt more like April, I came across this forest of feathery grasses reaching way above my head. Bending and dancing in the breeze they waved at everyone going by, just as happy as I was for the sunshine and the clear, blue sky. The plant finder in my phone identified it as miscanthus , but I’m not sure which variety – there are a bunch. There’s the sinenses, nicknamed ‘silver feather’ with its arching fountain-like

4 minutes ago1 min read

Winter Wait

Crunchy Snow Dunes . Walking an unfamiliar route along the far side of the lake, I came to an area that opens up to a series of low mounds that roll down to the shore. In the summer these will be gently undulating with clumps of feathery grasses waving in the breeze. Now they are still, hard and crunchy, making me think of unkempt snow dunes. All the stalks leaning uphill, the breezes swept up from the frozen lake and bent them backwards. " I am winter’s meadow

Jan 301 min read

Joyful Weeper

Hints of Gladness from a Golden Willow . My digital tree identifiers could not agree about this exuberant tree basking in the afternoon sun. One said hazelnut, another identified it as a Peking lilac, another said eastern leatherwood, but I’m going with golden willow, salix alba ‘Vitellina' - partly because it agrees with my most reliable source and partly because I kind of remember this tree from the summer. The golden willow has more of a ‘spreading habit’ than a ‘weepin

Dec 31, 20251 min read

Decked out for Christmas

Siberian Crabapple Adds a Festive Touch. This is most certainly a crabapple but is it really the Siberian variety? With over 1,000 known varieties of crabapples, 120 of which are cold-hardy enough to thrive in Minnesota, it’s hard to know for sure. While my non-local friends consider any winter day in Minnesota to be Siberian, today’s fresh, invigorating conditions invite an outdoor stroll and reward the walker with spectacularly blue skies and trees decked for the holiday

Dec 26, 20251 min read