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Science and Nature

These are the posts that are on the scientific side of nature.

Image of a frog for my book review on CROAK. Photo © Exisle Publishing

CROAK: A book of fun for frog lovers | Book Review

The book is hardcover, 160 pages long, with a single photo per page spread, with the quote on one side and frog on the other. It encourages the reader to marvel, think, and rejoice with each turn of the page. Frog lovers of all ages will love it.

How Ginseng Stewardship Also Benefits the Landowner

Someone asked me yesterday about how ginseng stewardship benefits the landowner. It stumped me at first, because I’d never considered it from that angle. What is Stewardship? To steward something is to manage or take care of something. The short answer to this post’s question is yes. Stewardship benefits the landowner, especially if they want …

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Black Cohosh or Doll’s Eyes? Companion Look A-Likes

Black Cohosh or Doll’s Eyes? Trying to differentiate between black cohosh and doll’s eyes before they come into bloom, has been frustrating. It’s very easy to tell once they begin the blooming process as the flower stems originate in different places and the flowers themselves are very different. Both of these woodland herbs grow in …

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Ginseng Habitat Demonstration Garden

Beginning in May 2017 there will be a place to go for anyone interested in seeing ginseng growing in its natural environment, and for learning about the habitat.

How to Identify Plants in the Wild, How to Search and Find Clues

Earlier this year I surveyed my newsletter members for their top questions. Here’s one about how to identify plants found in the outdoors. Top Questions It’s more of a comment than a question, but I’m creating this post in response to it. Although I’ve paraphrased some, I believe the underlying question would be “how to identify …

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Inspired by nature. Madison Woods is an artist and paintmaker from Kingston, Arkansas.

Inspired by Nature

Nature has inspired some pretty cool inventions. And lots of art. My guess is that Mother Nature is the muse to a lot of artists of all types. How often do you see something in the natural world and marvel at the design of it? The way a hummingbird can hover and maneuver is pretty …

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Nature Workshop with Madison Woods

What happens at a nature workshop? My nature workshop is designed to help you reconnect to nature and express your experience through art, writing, and photography. It can be tailored for whatever environment is available (even cities have nature), but generally we’ll take a nature walk, look at plants and wildlife, listen to the sounds …

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Wild Ozark Nature Journal on Kindle

What is a sketch / nature journal? Sometimes nature writers like to doodle while they’re interpreting nature. My nature journal is a combination of art and written journal entry. It is both nature sketching and nature journal. Here are some sample pages from my first collection. All of my work can be seen at WildOzark.com/naturejournal/as I do …

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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 about the foliage (or some other distinguishing characteristic, like scent, bark pattern, or root appearance) …

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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 foraging the hillsides of our area. It’s too far from the house for me to …

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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 of the plants, when they first walk into the booth. It seems to be a …

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Large Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

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 Habitat Bellwort often grows in the ginseng habitat, which makes it one of 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 afraid they might not come back after that. And I wasn’t sure exactly which spot it was where …

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A goldenseal plant with red berry.

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. And the chickweed is making my garden look like it already needs to be weeded. …

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