Learning My Latin and Having a Ball – in the Garden

  • Post published:01/26/2019
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Who needs Latin in this modern, high-tech age? Gardeners do! They need to know Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriaca is not a rose which is named Rosa.  Rose of Sharon could be a hibiscus. Which rose do you want? Of course, if you want a hibiscus, the Rose of Sharon is a great perennial choice. Knowing your Latin will help you get the rose you want and not a Lenten rose, Helleborus orientalis or a rock rose, Cistus…

A Sacred Trio – The Oak, Ash and Thorn

  • Post published:01/19/2019
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Trees have been growing on our planet for about 390 million years, in what is called the Middle-Late Devonian period. Those trees did not look much like the trees in our woods today, but they did meet a definition that paleontologists use describing a tree as a plant with a single stem that can attain larger heights because they have specialized cells. Trees were small back then. Nowadays we know how big the family of trees has become,…

New Year’s Celebrations Around the World

  • Post published:01/04/2019
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New Year’s celebrations have been with us for a very long time. The ancients have been paying attention to the movement of the sun, moon and stars for at least four thousand years. They were aware of the equinoxes when the length of day and night were equal. The Babylonians celebrated the beginning of the year with a great religious festival in late March, on the day of the vernal equinox. Not all countries or regions of the…

Review of 2018 – Here and There

  • Post published:01/01/2019
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Today, January 1, 2019 is mild and cloudy, but our year of 2018 began with a snowstorm. Fortunately I  have winter interest in the garden with my winterberries and beautiful exfoliating bark on the river  birches. February was a month for reading and learning. George Washington Carver helped farmers turn to peanuts, and the world benefits today with Plumpy'nut. It was also a month of learning about trees, caterpillars and butterflies and their importance to our environment. It…