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: Ozark Native 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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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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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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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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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 …
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A Green Dragon Drawing
I’ve been working on a Green Dragon drawing for the cover of NANPS’s summer issue of Blazing Star. There will be another of the spathe and spadix to do next. That one will be used in the article.
Here’s the …
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Ginseng Jelly – A Delicious Wild Ozark Luxury Product
Oh, my … GINSENG JELLY!
I love medicinal herbs, especially those that grow right here at home, and most especially ginseng. This year’s ginseng jelly comes in two varieties:
- Ginseng Gold (4-oz, $25)
- Ginseng/Apple (8-oz, $25) Soft-set: thicker than syrup,
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Driveway Flowers in September
It’s been bone dry lately. This morning I brought my camera with me so I could take pictures of the driveway flowers.
Ordinarily this would have been an “exercise walk” and I wouldn’t have brought the camera because that would …
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Orange Spotted Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)
In keeping with the “spotted” theme of my last post, here’s an orange spotted jewelweed flower. I’m always trying to get the perfect photo of this flower.
A dream set-up would be when the sun is shining just *so* on …
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Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) at the creek’s edge in late August. It’s one of the showiest Lobelia species that grows in the Arkansas Ozarks.…
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Don’t Pick the (Hemlock) Flowers
Take it from our grand-daughter. Don’t pick the hemlock flowers.
A couple of weeks ago, Karter’s bouquet caused painful blisters. She picked wildflowers on an outing with her mom and friends down by the river. All the grandkids always love …
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Elderberry Flowers Oil Infusion
Elderberry flowers have a light, sweet fragrance and all manners of pollinators love them.
Which Elderberry Flowers?
The variety I’m using for this is Sambucus canadensis, which is the native elderberry in our area. Black elderberry (S. nigra) is …
