Category: Uncategorized
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Mountain Sweet Momma
Interwoven into the Eastatoe Valley of the South Carolina is one of my favorite land marks and plant sights. After parking your car near the wall of Sourwood trees, walking past the remains of a former burnt out house, there awaits an epic granite outcrop. There are many interesting, unique specimens amongst the island of…
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Roadside Georgia Fever
Back during my days at the South Carolina Botanical Garden while building the Natural Heritage Trail (native plants from mountains to sea of the Carolinas), the holy trinity of rare southeastern trees was Elliottia racemosa (Georgia Plume), Franklinia alatamaha (Franklin Tree), and Pinckneya pubens (Georgia Fever Tree). Fast forward to a co-worker recently showing me…
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Painting the Landscape with Fire
The history of land management co-evolved with the ecology of fire. Tens of thousands of years ago, Native Americans burned tracts of land. Amongst the reasons were clearance for sight lines, setting up villages, protection from enemies, and the cultivation of land through agriculture. These fires, especially in the southeastern United States, regenerated the land…
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Sycamore Park, Pennsylvania
Everyone has a favorite garden, park, or natural lands getaway. This is mine. Sycamore Park in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania on the borderline to Philadelphia is a small community park showcasing one very large, very old Sycamore tree, surrounded by turfgrass and within a perimeter of brick row houses. I grew up near this 300-350 year old…
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Coastal Trillium
Trillium! Marvel of the woodlands. Jeffersonia, Trout Lily, Thalictrum, the mighty Bloodroot. These are the spring ephemerals. These are my plants during days when nothing else really happens. Their emergence signals that the cyclical circle of seasons has not been disrupted. Everything is in order and all has been restored. Trillium. Three leaves, three sepals,…
Green Is The Color 