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Polyonomous Promise

On the fringe of Spring. Walking along the sidewalk in Washington DC on a beautiful spring afternoon, this frilly, fragrant blossom caught my attention. Meet “Grancy Graybeard”, also known as grandfather graybeard, granddaddy’s beard, old-man’s beard, snow flower tree, or flowering ash, and technically, chionanthus virginicus. Trees sometimes have multiple names because of commingled colloquial and common names and standardized, scientific Latin names . C ommon names often

1 day ago1 min read

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TRAIN OF THOUGHT

Polyonomous Promise

On the fringe of Spring. Walking along the sidewalk in Washington DC on a beautiful spring afternoon, this frilly, fragrant blossom caught my attention. Meet “Grancy Graybeard”, also known as grandfather graybeard, granddaddy’s beard, old-man’s beard, snow flower tree, or flowering ash, and technically, chionanthus virginicus. Trees sometimes have multiple names because of commingled colloquial and common names and standardized, scientific Latin names . C ommon names often

1 day ago1 min read

Tawny Triplet

Pretty river birch awaits Spring. I found a new trail today, oh boy! Inconspicuously tucked behind a big sprawling senior residence, the trail branched into a network of hard-packed earthen paths and offered a number of walking routes that snaked around 2 hidden lakes and dozens of ponds and wetlands interconnected by creeks and streams. What a happy find! It’s still too early to declare spring, but the snow is gone and the woodland is just beginning to come alive. "Dear, h

7 days ago1 min read

Spruce Blobs

Woodworkers’ treasure. Hints of spring are everywhere—an unusually warm afternoon that doesn’t require a parka, daylight that lasts past dinner time, an occasional whiff of earthy aroma along the trail. But Up North along the big lake there’s still plenty of ice and snow. A few days in a rustic cabin watching Lake Superior crash upon the rocks provided one last, dramatic dose of winter. Bundled up and walking along the trail I came across this knobby, blobby spruce tree.

Mar 301 min read

Flora and Faeries

Nature cooperates. Coming around a corner of the lake on a path that’s been inaccessible all winter I encountered this hillside community of little grassy huts. Looks a bit like a wee Shire. Technically, these humpity hillocks are called Tussocks, and likely composed of carex stricta , or tussock sedge. It belongs to a huge genus of common sedge with over 150 different species in Minnesota. Tussock sedge, with its dense, clumping root system is considered a ‘superplant’ for r

Mar 111 min read

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

Feb 241 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