Category: Story Garden
Lola’s Garden and Cherry Tomatoes
My earliest memories of plants all took place in my Lola’s garden. In 2006, we had just relocated from Montana to Lola’s house in Los Angeles. Back then, I hadn’t realized how poor my family was to be forced to live in someone else’s house. […]
Bok Choy
Chinese cuisine has many kinds of vegetables, but the one I’m most familiar with is bok choy. Like other Chinese families, bok choy is the most common green eaten during meals in my home, and not a day went by without bok choy. Although we […]
Garden Club Connection
I’m a member of my seaside small town Garden Club. During this stressful time, we have established a cell phone number chain. Each day we post a flower whether its in our own garden or neighbor’s. In the fall we planted hundreds of daffodils throughout […]
“Stay-at-Home” Plant Stories
Most of us are living strange, upended lives these days–isolated and indoors, struggling to maintain precious connections to family and friends. In many cases, our access to the out-of-doors and to the soothing power of the natural world is severely limited. Writing a “stay-at-home” story […]
Selvatica la carota // Wild is the carrot
The original text, written in Italian, follows the English translation. Both were provided by the author of the post, Giulia Lepori. Wild carrot is wild carrot. Wild carrot is a plant. Wild carrot is an opportunity to access the interweaving of life and death. Wild […]
My Apartment’s First Guest
In the corner of my apartment bedroom sits a guest that rises 5 feet from the ground, with strong, dark brown arms. He maintains a well-kept look with his forest green leaves that run all the way down to the white, blocky pot keeping him […]
Paradise No More
Bird of Paradise – Strelitzia reginae In today’s society, there is an underlying pressure to impress others and put your best foot forward. I have felt this all throughout my childhood. One instance where I had a hard time with my appearance and how I […]
Beauties of Flora
Bird of Paradise – Strelitzia reginae Edward Donovan, a collector of natural history specimens, wrote about the Bird of Paradise in his short-lived series, The Botanical Review, or the Beauties of Flora (1789-90). His account of the rare plant from South Africa was one of […]
Lewis and Clark Feast on Serviceberries
Native serviceberry trees (Amelanchier) abound throughout North America. During their trek across the continent in the early 1800s, Meriweather Lewis, William Clark and other members of their expedition feasted on serviceberry and other native berries, often as guests of indigenous peoples, and recorded these encounters […]
A Tree That Stands Before Me
Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) I was ten years old and moving into the seventh home I would have lived in. A house on the corner for my family of five to fill; a house that would signify the end of our constant departures as my dad […]
