Category: Story Garden
“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 […]
The Jaws of Death: Venus fly trap
Life was easy as a second grader. School wasn’t hard. A normal day consisted of arts and crafts projects alternating with short lessons in Mathematics and English. Friends weren’t hard to meet. Anyone could play sports if they had enough determination to organize a game. […]
Mary Treat's Venus Fly Trap Experiments
Several of us here on the Herbaria 3.0 team have had passionate interest in carnivorous plants and the people who study them. Maura Flannery’s post “What’s in a Name?” tells us about the carnivorous Darlingtonia californica. Tina Gianquitto and Dawn Sanders have both obsessed over […]
A Heart of Leopard
As I trekked on the muddy trail above Dulong River, China, along with other members of the expedition team, mist started to enshroud the lush rainforest. The goal of the day was to find the endangered Nomocharis meleagrina, commonly known in this area as “the […]
