So far, the earliest Ozark spring flowers I’ve noticed have been the endemic Ozark witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis). Wriggly tendrils of yellow and orange add little splashes of color to the otherwise barren winter landscape, usually in February …
Category: Plants
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Ginseng Unfurling 2024
This year the ginseng is unfurling a little earlier than it has in recent years. I was surprised to find it already coming up when I checked yesterday. Here’s a blog post I just made over on my nursery website:…
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What is Nature Farming? What does a Nature Farmer Grow?
I originally wrote this post back in 2018, but I need to update it to show how Nature Farming applies to what I’m doing nowadays, too.
What I mean by ‘Nature Farming’ is not the same as ‘natural farming’, ‘organic …
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Long Dirt Road: Why it Takes me an Hour to Drive 12 Miles
This is a post from a few years ago that I love, so I’m reposting it. We live down a long dirt road. This little facet of our lives is the main thing that makes or breaks most newcomers to …
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Plant Walk & Nature Journaling at Wild Ozark
There are other plant walks in Arkansas, but this one is probably a little different. The trails we’ll follow are deer trails and logging roads. The drive to get here is gorgeous. And the biodiversity here at Wild Ozark is …
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Ginseng and Art at the Alpena Studio
I’ve got the car packed up with plants and my art supplies, ready to head over to the studio/gallery in Alpena tomorrow. If you don’t know where it is yet, the address is 214 Hwy 62 W, in Alpena, Arkansas. …
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Showy Orchis (Galearis spectabilis) in Ozark pigments
Originally, I had planned to do a series of my favorite woodland plants in grayscale. But that was before I found the stone that gives me a sort of green pigment. So changed up the plans a little. Now I’m …
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Book Review | Tree Beings
Tree Beings, by Raymond Huber and Sandra Severgnini
Forward by Dr. Jane Goodall
Exisle PublishingThis book is a review copy from the publisher. I chose this book to review because of the title. Right away, I identified with the …
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Hermit Diaries | May 2, 2020 | Wild Ozark
With the nice weather we’ve had for the past few days, I’ve been working in the garden. My hermit diaries really don’t reflect a life much different than ordinary life out here at Wild Ozark, though. The only real difference …
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Color from Osage Root Bark
Today I experimented with Osage root bark to see if it will make paint. Ordinarily, I avoid using plant pigments because they tend to be fugitive, meaning they fade or discolor with time. Some plant pigments, like the green I …
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Wild Mountain Mint – Whiteleaf Mountain Mint
Wild mountain mint grows in abundance here at Wild Ozark. This particular variety is called White-leaf Mountain Mint. While this post was originally created in 2016, I still enjoying seeing and using these aromatic plants. My own use of them …
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Potted Ginseng Seedlings in Arkansas
So I have some help this year with the ginseng nursery from a pair of young organic, permaculture enthusiasts who are ready to learn about being good ginseng stewards. That means I will after all have some potted ginseng seedlings …
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Early April in the Ginseng Habitat
Every year the same flowers bloom in pretty much the same order. And although I have hundreds of images in my files, I can’t help but start heading out with the camera. The blooms start in early April in the …
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If the Creeks Don’t Rise… Springtime in the Ozarks
Wild Ozark will be at Terra Studios tomorrow.
But with the rain we might get overnight and in the morning, the odds are looking poor. If I can’t make it there on Saturday, then on Sunday I should be able …
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Plant Pigments- in search of a stable green, the latest painting and the next show
Between getting the house clean today, since it’s raining and I couldn’t be outside weed-eating, I’ve been making a mess in the kitchen. People have to not take things at face value in this house. What looks like refreshing tea… …
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The Color of a Plant Does Not Equal the Color of a Paint
I’ve been experimenting with local plants to get a nice, stable, green color for my handmade watercolor paints. Most of the things I’ve tried in my quest for green has resulted in gray or brown. Lamb’s Quarters, a common edible …
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Oh no! The Virginia Snakeroot babies are all gone!
I went out to check on the Virginia snakeroot nursery the other day and was mortified to find nothing. Not. One. Plant.
Virginia Snakeroot … What’s That?
Now, you might be wondering just what’s so important about a plant that …
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Learning the Difference: Ginseng or Buckeye?
Is it ginseng? No, it’s buckeye.
There are a few plants that grow here in the Ozarks that make it really difficult for newbies to identify ginseng. That’s because these look so much like ginseng to the inexperienced eye. These …
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Enjoy Nature: Phlox and Fiddleheads
Here’s a little inspiration to get outside on this beautiful sunny day and enjoy nature.
Phlox is blooming and casting joyful purple splashes all around the Wild Ozark hills and woods, and the fiddleheads are unfurling.…
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Lousewort, Bumblebee Food and Medicinal Herb
Lousewort (Pedicularis canadensis) is an interesting plant. It’s a medicinal herb said to be effective at muscular pain relief. The bumblebees love it!
Rosy colored variety of Pedicularis, with a bumble bee visiting. 
A pale yellow-colored lousewort. …
Some lousewort, showing -
2018 Spring Awakening Watch – First Native Flowers of the Ozarks
It’s mid-March 2018 and I’m watching for the first native flowers of the Ozarks to start blooming. I particularly love the ephemeral blooms of early spring, like the bloodroot and Dutchmen’s breeches. Scroll down to see pictures and keep up …
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Vernal Witch Hazel Flowers and Hazelnut too!
Today I went out to take cuttings from the Ozark Witch Hazel in the hopes of rooting them. I wasn’t looking for an American Hazelnut, but that’s what I found! I found the Witch Hazels, too. But I already knew …
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Virginia Creeper Seedling in my Ebony Spleenwort Fern
There’s a Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) seedling creeping up toward the light in my spleenwort fern (Asplenium platyneuron) container. I watched it for a few days with a suspicious eye as it unfurled, because I thought it might be a poison …
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Namesake of the Dragon – Another Green Dragon Drawing
Here’s the second of the Green Dragon drawings I’ve been working on. I posted the first part of it last week. This part is called the spathe (the hood) and the spadix (the long ‘tongue’) and it is the …
