I spent my elementary school vacations at my best friend’s home in Los Angeles, California. We grew up in Historic Filipinotown, an enclave home to the city’s first wave of immigrants from the Philippines. Her home had avocado and orange trees, abundant kudzu, and plenty […]

Hypatica nobilis syn. Anemone hepatica En härlig vårdag i april, solen skiner och snön har precis smällt bort. Vi tar oss ut till barndomens blåsipps-backar – dessa som brukar vara blåa av sippor – och mycket riktigt, så även denna vårdag. En yster liten vårbäck slingrar […]

Click to hear Jim’s story   Me: Hi Dad. We’re sitting here in the backyard and I am hoping that you will tell me a story about a plant. Dad: When I was younger my parents used to take my sisters and I up to […]

  My mother had A garden             She tended it in old deck shoes covered in mud             Supervising her rows in cut offs and a canary bright halter top             The family dog trotted dutifully behind her down the rows of […]

“A Genealogy, Mostly Plants” By Pamela Banting I was born and raised in a place that takes its name from its trees. The name of the village in central northwestern Manitoba is the direct translation of the Swampy Cree name for the area, Wuskwi Sipihk, […]

To live in Sweden in May is to experience a veritable explosion of blooms: with nearly 20 hours of sunlight, each day something new is blooming while something else fades away. Yesterday this bright pink plant caught my attention because it so resembled the Western […]

Poison ivy In Connecticut where I grew up, poison ivy is everywhere. The name pretty much tells you not to go near it. It’s covered with an oily resin that can cause a nasty reaction if you touch it. My mom taught us what poison […]

When I was in second grade, we moved out of our apartment in northern Kansas City, Missouri and moved into a house in southern Kansas City. I can remember having to change schools and change friends, and I felt like my world was ending. But […]

  Two planes. Dad stands on the ladder, I’m lying on my back. His hedge trimmer makes straight lines in the foliage. Meanwhile, my brain is trying to absorb infinity: “ Dad what’s at the edge of the universe?” The hedge-trimmer stops. He looks up at […]

From the day I was born to my 28th birthday, I lived in a house in a tiny French village. My family never owned the house. We absolutely loved it, as we had all of our fondest memories there. In the big, green backyard, there […]