Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) is having a moment in the Anza Borrego #desert in southern #California. #wildflowers #flowerphotography #nature 🌿

A great idea! I hope it includes plants animals rely on. Plants are the leading edge of biodiversity loss. You can't save pandas without saving the bamboo forest. But we are far less attuned to plants than to animals, so they don't make good mascots. Let's have mascots bring attention to plants. 🌿

I'm in the desert, thinking of the patient, enduring wisdom of ancient rocks as they both create a planet and slowly metamorphose into plants. This is in the Valley of the Gods in southern Utah, one of the great places to be with rocks as they carry Earth's history. #StunDay #landscapephotograpy 🌿

It’s many (many!) decades ago now, but I still remember being 7-ish and finding and being transfixed by my first Jack-in-the-pulpit in a remnant woods behind my suburban home. @hellabarnes.bsky.social ‘s description of “charismatic and strange” is perfect. Fascinating plants!I love them still. 🌿

This year’s coming Pollinator Week just got a little more diverse! 🌿

I firmly believe that if we take the Bible seriously, we’ll be at the front of the line demanding climate action – and many Christians are! But the fact that so many in the US base their beliefs on politics explains why identifying as an evangelical is the top predictor of climate denial in the US.

Did I hear someone say #mammalmonday? 🌿

@brushwhisperer.bsky.social once again creating exquisite botanical art. It fills me with joy when I see these quiet celebrations.

Several wisdom traditions hold that the antidote to fear is love. I agree with Barry Lopez that it’s the antidote to many, perhaps all of the forces we feel so overwhelmed by in these heart-wrenching days. It’s always worth celebrating love against the odds.

I couldn’t love this more. I also love the idea that, watching this, we are joining one of the oldest and youngest of Earth’s terrestrial creations. These tiny, vibrant beings are the ancestors of the trees they carpet. And they remain, in so many ways, the parents of the forest they inhabit. 🌿

Important point from @jasondovemark.bsky.social about climate comms: “If the media won’t do its job, then we need to become environmental storytellers…sharing tales of the climate changes we are witnessing.” And when they do their job, we can help keep their message alive. 🌿 tinyurl.com/ynms6hyv

Such an important point: “staying on stories long enough to shift understanding.” Something @katharinehayhoe.com emphasizes for climate communication. Click bait drama can’t make this kind of contribution to understanding our world. 🌿

Happy #Imbolc! And happy St. Brigid's Day. A day celebrating the first stirrings of spring and a deep, green feminine energy in the world. Everywhere in the northern hemisphere, no matter how deep the snow, buds are getting ready to unfurl. #naturephotography #nature 🌿

“Join with the Earth and each other, to bring new life to the land, to restore the waters, to refresh the air, to renew the forests, to care for the plants, to protect the creatures, to celebrate the seas, to rejoice in the sunlight, to sing the song of the stars…to renew our spirits…” ~ MLK ~

Flower fragrances are meant for their pollinators, but, as @dghaskell.bsky.social says, “ we get to be eavesdroppers.” One of the joys of life and another way we are woven into the whole.

One of the few true blue flowers on the planet, houndstongue is already blooming in the woods near me. Has been since Christmas. I saw a pink version yesterday, and there has been a patch with white flowers in recent years. But mostly it's amazingly blue. #flowers #flowerphotography #BlueSkyMonday

Tossing some beauty into the abyss. #PostMoreRoses #flowers #flowerphotography #roses 🌿

Among the best, most practical, and realistically optimistic people to listen to about climate change and what we can do are the folks at @projectdrawdown.bsky.social #climate 🌿

There are an estimated 65 million gardeners in the US and every single plant we put in the ground or in a pot can be one that helps to save bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. And we get to choose one gorgeous plant after another. #gardening #gardendesign #nativeplants 🌿

I wish everyone a flowering of blessings in this complex season that can be joyful, magical, and difficult. Over the years, white double amaryllis have become my Christmas flower. And a favorite model. They are wonderfully, lushly photogenic. #ArtAdventCalendar #flowers #flowerphotography 🌿

Christmas color as we near the end of #ArtAdventCalendar. A staghorn cholla blooming in the Arizona desert, luminous in the late light. I went to #SaguaroNationalPark to see saguaros, not realizing I'd be in a world of other cacti radiant with #flowers. So happy! #nativeplants #flowerphotography 🌿

Since childhood, when I was only reading about them, I've felt a great pull to the #prairies. Hard to explain these things. I was filled with joy when I saw my first at #CurtisPrairie, the glorious restoration in Madison, WI. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #sciart #blueskyartshow 🌿

Advocating for fossil fuels now is insane. This is an utter, even decadent lack of imagination for either consequences or possibilities. What can we do differently? What would that look like? How do we communicate that? Those are great questions to ponder, not this. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...

Sticky geranium, another beauty from a sun-drenched June day in #WatertonLakesNP. I went to one of the last of their wonderful Wildflower Festivals. Everywhere we went we were surrounded by flowers. Plus other excitement, like a bear. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography 🌿

Finding this delicate yellow Columbine and its bud in #WatertonLakesNP was a delight. Love their structure & how you can see it in the bud. It's fascinating that some flowers evolved to be so complicated, but their beauty is our gain. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography 🌿

Tall purple fleabane in one of my favorite photos, from a wonderful time in #WatertonLakesNP in Alberta. It reminds me of a line in a Robert Hass poem: "The light in summer is very young and wholly unsupervised." #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography 🌿

As @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social says in the intro, "The dark is always rising and it's the task of the greatest stories to hold it back, as this one does." A wonderfully spooky production, especially since I listen while walking in the twilight woods, looking behind occasionally. shorturl.at/RHbex

This dark season has me thinking about Gary Snyder again. #artadventcalendar

Our local fairy slipper orchids are tiny and fleeting. They bloom in often cloudy March, and are hard to find among the leaves and needles of the forest floor. One year the sun was in the perfect position to pick them out for me. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography 🌿

Checkerbloom showing how exquisite and luminous it can be and how odd common names can be. No checks! Its Latin name, Sidalcea malviflora, tells you it's in the mallow family and has mallow-like leaves. Clearer, if a little redundant. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography 🌿

Monkshood flower buds and seed pods are fascinating, especially with their vein-like markings so vividly picked out by the sun behind them. This was being radiant and a little spooky at the Wynn Nature Center in Homer, #Alaska. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography 🌿

For a few years I roamed in an RV, a life I loved. Some days after settling into an apartment with very mixed feelings, I hiked a nearby trail and found the woods full of migrating checkerspot #butterflies. I felt blessed. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #California 🌿

Buckwheat was new to me when I moved to the west coast. It was love at first sight for these 1" ball-shaped clusters of tiny flowers on delicate stems. This one is being pollinated by a gorgon copper butterfly. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #California 🌿

@scottzona.bsky.social got me thinking about fraseras this morning. This is the only one I've seen, roadside in northern California, being visited by a fritillary friend. I had to take the photos thru a chain link fence. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #California 🌿

I found lots of billowy arrowleaf buckwheat on back roads in Northern California one spring, glowing on a pale gray day. This one offered the timeless hint that one should always match one's beetle with one's outfit. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #California 🌿

I can't remember if I read "Eager" by @bengoldfarb.bsky.social because I was writing about beavers or if he inspired the essay. I do remember the book is wonderful and unexpectedly hilarious. Either way, reading & writing about beavers is fun. shorturl.at/EBf1d #nature #naturewriting #mondayblogs

This is an excellent thread, full of resources. As @danielrembrandt.bsky.social emphasizes, we depend on forests for our survival. Our thriving depends on theirs. Defending them should be at the top of our list. #nature #environment #climate #forests 🌿

These small, quiet, speckled lilies that can be hard to find in the woods are among my favorites. Checker lilies are fritillaries, which means dice box in Latin, suggesting that Linnaeus was familiar with gambling. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #Idaho 🌿

Driving back roads full of wildflowers one spring, I found this glorious stalk of Washington lilies with buds, full blooms, and fading flowers all equally radiant in the sun. That one hour drive took me all afternoon. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #California 🌿

I love it when flowers show up in unusual positions and places, like this cardinal flower (Silene laciniata) that was growing downward over the face of a rock along a favorite trail. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #California 🌿

So far, I've only seen the exquisite fawn lily (Erythronium californicum) once. So much beauty in an undistinguished, gravelly area off a dirt road. Wildflower season is full of so many places to go I haven't been back yet. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #California 🌿

So far, I've only seen the exquisite fawn lily (Erythronium californicum) once. So much beauty in an undistinguished, gravelly area off a dirt road. Wildflower season is full of so many places to go I haven't been back yet. #ArtAdventCalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #California 🌿

Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris) grows in my neck of the woods, but I first saw them in Alaska, where this was growing in a bog. These were a scant 1" in diameter, and the miniature glass bead interior was exquisite. #artadventcalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #Alaska 🌿

Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris) grows in my neck of the woods, but I first saw them in Alaska, where this was growing in a bog. These were a scant 1" in diameter, and the miniature glass bead interior was exquisite. #artadventcalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #Alaska 🌿

Despite its daisy-simple structure, tall purple fleabane (Erigeron peregrinus) is surprisingly photogenic. Its beautiful complexities show up when it's singled out. This was taken in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. #artadventcalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #Banff 🌿

Despite its daisy-simple structure, tall purple fleabane (Erigeron peregrinus) is surprisingly photogenic. Its beautiful complexities show up when it's singled out. This was taken in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. #artadventcalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #Banff 🌿

“Every choice we make is one that can support the joyful blossoming of life, that can bring us deeper into love and connection or farther from it… We must choose life, every day. Every policy…Every effort. Which doesn't mean that it's easy. Only that it's the most important thing in the world.”

Not sure who hooked whom, but love the fact that the lily (Lilium pardolinum) and the monkshood (Aconite columbianum) both just kept on going. Found on a hike in the Sierra Nevada in California on a glorious summer day. #artadventcalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #SierraNevada 🌿

Not sure who hooked whom, but love the fact that the lily (Lilium pardolinum) and the monkshood (Aconite columbianum) both just kept on going. Found on a hike in the Sierra Nevada in California on a glorious summer day. #artadventcalendar #nativeplants #flowers #flowerphotography #SierraNevada 🌿

I loved advent calendars as a child and when my son was little. This season of complex emotions my goal is to create one by posting from nature each day. Starting with this Mt. Diablo fairy lantern. Some plants grow only in one area; this is one of them. #flowers #flowerphotography #nativeplants 🌿