stronger together

these vines learned quickly that they were stronger together than going it alone. nature has so much to teach us, why did we ever top listening?

vines on a winter sapling

you’ve got flair

this is a memento from a lunch date with my husband this summer. steve is an oyster lover. i enjoy them too, not quite like he does, but i do like the way oysters can instantly transport you to sun-soaked afternoons at the sea in one swift gulp. i pocketed this shell, after enjoying it’s briny bivavle deliciousness, for two reasons: the awesome purple fringe, and the perfectly placed barnacle that looks more like a beauty mark than an imperfection. in a word, this oyster shell has flair. it’s now a paper-weight on my desk, and lives in perfect harmony with all the other bits of nature that collect there. i call it my desk, but really, it is half specimens table, half iMac workspace. the ancient and the modern living side-by-side. a metaphor for our times.

oyster shell

at last!

i have seen these winter stems for years, and have yet been able to identify them. i thought maybe they were vervain for a while. and at long last, i finally figured it out–evening primrose! i only know it because i saw these very evening primroses in bloom only two months ago. it still surprises me how few resources there still are for identifying wildflowers in their winter state. after i took this photo, i put these stems in a grocery bag and shook the heck out it, so i could gather the seeds. i got a nice handful of seeds that i will sprinkle along the lakeshore next spring.

p.s. welcome to december. what? how did that happen so fast?

common evening-primrose in winter

suggestablity

i’ve got christmas on the brain, because for the first time ever i jumped online during cyber-monday to snag a few items on sale for gift giving. typically, i avoid black-friday, and cyber-monday intentionally. i dislike the hyper-consumerism of the holidays so i try to avoid it. i like to give gifts, but i prefer to give very few, thoughtful, often locally made items. i like to support my artist and maker friends this time of year, so i will often buy scarves and socks from martha, ceramic vases from cym, bees wax candles from anna, and wreathes of minnesota botanicals from christine. and of course, quarts of honey from our backyard bees. but this year, my kids wanted a few things that i could only get online. so, i scanned the sales on cyber-monday just like everyone else. it wasn’t personal. it wasn’t memorable nor particularly pleasant. but i did get a few deals. so, there you have it–the conundrum of our contemporary world in a a nutshell. one of these years, i am hoping we will all agree to hand-made items only during the holidays. but my kids are still young enough to hope mom and dad will come through on at least a few of their “wants”. soon. very soon, i think they will be ready for a change.

austrian pine needles and star anise

so many milkweeds

the local governing bodies and public works around where i live, have been slowly restoring many of our beach fronts and hiking trails with native plants. it is so uplifting to see this happening. i never knew there were so many different varieties of milkweed. my best resource for minnesota native plants tells me we have 14 native milkweeds in minnesota. wowsa. until only a few years ago, i knew only one milkweed, the common milkweed, which is the one that monarchs need to thrive, and which we luckily have in abundance. but since those prairie restoration efforts, i have learned at least four new-to-me species. what a thrill!  in addition to my own pleasure, i think our bees are noticing too. this year our two hives produced 20 gallons of honey!! we’ve had bees for 10 years, and this year was by far the most honey they have ever produced. i asked the UofM Bee Lab why that might have been, and they had no idea. i think it is happy bees enjoying their new biodiverse prairies. until someone tells me otherwise, that’s what i think.

swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)