When I made my first forays into wild plant identification as a child and teenager, a handy field guide always lurked somewhere nearby. My trusty and well-used Peterson’s Guide—actually Peterson Field Guides: Wildflowers—still sits on my office shelf. Some of the plants have been reclassified and renamed since it was published, but its arrangement, descriptions … Read more
I love the big, bumptious, fast-spreading asters in my garden. There is ‘Alma Potschke’, often written about and even more often spotted in every single one of my garden beds. I know she is officially an “it”, but calling her “she” seems more logical. ‘Alma’ self-seeds as if she thinks extinction is just around the … Read more
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is one of the best blue-flowered plants around and at this time of the year it is ubiquitous–by roadsides, nudging hedgerows and even making appearances in vacant city lots. The woody stems, rather nondescript leaves and modest buds are nothing to write home about. The flowers, though, distill the color of the … Read more
