Category: Nature
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Talk about Delayed Gratification! (Twayblade Orchid)
I’ve been waiting a whole year to see this flower. When I first found the plant last summer there was only the two leaves. Without seeing a flower, it’s hard to positively identify a plant, unless that plant has something …
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Water Over the Bridge-Videos
When you can hear the roar of the wet-weather waterfall from the house, you know the water’s up. If you can see the waterfall from the front porch, it’s a fair bet the creek is way over the bridge. When …
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A Woodland Habitat – Dragons among the Nettles and Cohosh
There’s a particular woodland habitat at the far corner of our property that I love. The variety of plants that grow there is amazing. It’s the perfect place for American ginseng, but those plants have nearly been extirpated by diggers …
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Dragons Hatching, Clematis Blooming, and Feeding Horses in the Rain
Dragons Hatching! Last fall I collected seeds from a large Green Dragon. I put the berries directly into pots and kept them overwinter in the ginseng nursery. The other morning I noticed they were hatching – er, sprouting! The …
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Unwelcome Guest – Snake in the Hen-house
Apparently there’s a snake in the hen-house. Looks like the hens had some stealthy company yesterday. The unwelcome guest left a bit of evidence behind for me to find this morning. I searched under all of the nexts and behind …
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What’s that plant good for?
“What’s that plant good for?” A curious thing I’m noticing by selling plants at the market is that people almost always have the same question, phrased in various ways. It’s often the first thing they ask, in general about any …
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A Ginseng Sanctuary at the Compton Gardens in Bentonville
Wild Ozark is honored and excited to be embarking on a long-term project in conjunction with Compton Gardens in Bentonville, Arkansas. This American Ginseng Sanctuary project is made possible, in part, by a grant from the United Plant Savers. This …
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Sleuthing the Bellwort. Sessilifolia or Perfoliata?
Sessilifolia or Perfoliata? Three species of bellwort are found in Arkansas: Uvularia grandiflora, U. sessilifolia, and U. perfoliata. The one I see most often around here is the grandiflora, or Large-flowered bellwort as it’s commonly called. Bellwort in the Ginseng …
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An Entourage of Green Ambassadors
Show and Tell I took my little assembly of show and tell items, and a small entourage consisting of three Green Ambassadors on the road yesterday. We, or at least *I*, had been invited to speak to the Olli Group…
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Sun Splashes, Tree Silhouettes and Flowering Woodland Herbs
The day was dreary for the most part, but just before sunset the sky brightened. And so I went out with the camera and managed to get a few photos of some of the flowering woodland herbs in the ginseng …
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Solomon’s Seal Unfurling
Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) There’s a nice patch of Solomon Seal at the front of the driveway that was so choked out last summer that I don’t think any of them got a chance to bloom. I was …
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Arnold’s First Rooster Crow
Arnold is a Fall chicken. He hatched from an egg, along with his three nestlings way back in October (I think). The clutch of eggs that had hatched shortly before his fell prey to a large black rat snake. You …
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Beautiful Morning in the Ozarks
I woke before dawn and dragged myself downstairs to get back to work where I’d left off with some last minute edits on the DVD near midnight last night. As the coffee brewed and my eyelids gained motivation to remain …
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PawPaw Flower Bud
The PawPaw tree is a ginseng companion plant, or ginseng indicator plant. It often grows where ginseng grows, but is also often found in areas with more sunlight. Here at Wild Ozark it is a fairly good indicator of great …
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Sights and Sounds of Spring
The sounds of spring fills the night air now. Spring Peepers are calling! The only visible signs of spring so far as I can see are the bits of wild onion grass growing with a bit more spright than usual. …
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March Snow in the Ozarks
Traffic is always crazy when there’s snow in the Ozarks. We had to go into Fayetteville this morning. It was raining and I knew the colder weather was coming in, but we figured we should be able to get there …
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Ozark Inspired Podcasts
Prefer to listen to your stories more than read? Do you like Pinterest? I’ve created a Pinterest board just for Ozark related stories and essays. Do you write fiction or non-fiction that is inspired somehow by the Ozarks? Put …
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Raising the Bar at Wild Ozark
Today we were gifted with more snow. Yesterday when I got out of bed, the sun shown brightly with promises of warmth at least from direct sunlight. So I let the horses out to scrounge around for what little grass …
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Snow and Ice in the Ozarks
Snow and ice are a common winter-time theme of my photos out here in the wild Ozarks. I like the balance of movement and stasis and implied potential in this photo of the snow capped rocks. The creek continues to …
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Snowy Day in the Ozarks
It’s our first snowy day for the season. First it sleeted about an inch or so, then it snowed. It’s still snowing today. Not too much but enough to make everything look pretty. It’s about 20*F, so no danger of …
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Random Nature Connection: Liminal Spaces
Thimbleweed grows often at the forest edge, where it could have full sun or partial shade or deep shade. It is one of those plants that like the liminal spaces. This post is about liminal spaces. If you want to …
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Ever Heard of Herbalism for Plants?
Is herbalism exclusively for animals and people? Why not herbalism for plants? I’ve never heard of anyone else using herbs to treat plants. There’s lots of information about how to use plants to treat people (and animals), but not for …
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Plants with Strange Names
Devil’s Walking Stick. Strawberry Wahoo. Green Dragon. Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Fire-Pokers… All plants with strange names. Sometimes my friends and family think I make these names up. I remember coming home one day after running errands in town. I always drive …
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Random Nature Connection – Old Things and A Force to Be Reckoned
Is Nature a force to be reckoned with and hopefully conquered? This post is a prompt to think about our relationship with nature. Join us! I won’t have an essay today, just a few thoughts about this photo and the …
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Life in the Dead of Winter
I enjoy seeing signs of life in the dead of winter. This week hasn’t been the typical dead of winter. Today was a beautiful day, sunny and nearly 70*F, and I became tired of figuring taxes. Time to go outside …