With the newscast full of mourning, vigils and a funeral after the death of Queen Elizabeth II of England, I can’t help but think of my mum. She may not have been legitimate royalty, but she was truly the matriarch of the family and a queen to all of us who loved her. When her husband Prince… Read more

When a bird is called “crow-sized,” it can imply a certain runtiness. The broad-winged hawk is small compared to a red-tailed or a red-shouldered hawk. The green heron is about as small as herons get. But a crow-sized woodpecker? That sounds like a big woodpecker. Read more

A student plopped a leaf on my desk, pointed to several green lumps on its underside, and asked, “What are those green growths?” It was a stump-the-professor moment, and in this case, I was indeed stumped. The growths certainly seemed to be galls of some sort. But which ones? Read more

Many gardeners go to the plant nurseries in June and buy things in bloom for their gardens – and rarely go back until the next year. But that means that now, as summer winds down, they have few flowers in bloom. Not me. I buy perennials in all seasons. Fall flowers are important not only for… Read more

It’s your deal. Read more