Today I noticed that Desmodium glabellum seed coats leave a very strong, bright orange stain. I'm going to have to play with this in the future!

Super excited to be sowing some more ferns really soon! Glad I prepped all that soil! This is my order from American Fern Society. If you haven't joined them, you should do so, and give it a shot! Once you're an AFS member, if you have any questions about ordering spores, let me know.

Here's my second merch design for NISAW (National Invasive Species Awareness Week). Yes, that is Ross from Friends, but instead of yelling PIVOT, he's yelling PRIVET! Whenever I come across more privet in the woods, I humor myself by picturing him popping out from behind it to announce its discovery

Seeds Underground Zine 7 - NISAW Seeds Underground Zine #7 is a little story about invasive species. I think you'll like it. I promise, it's not preachy (unlike the...

The most fascinating part of this experiment for me, and why I am so giddy and won't shut up about it, is you get to see first-hand what "modified leaf" means, and you get to witness it as it's happening. DOES ANYONE ELSE FEEL THIS? YOU CAN SEE IT PHYSICALLY ADAPTING TO NITROGEN LEVELS! 😱

Since on another social someone brought up the issues of nutrient toxicity in pitcher plants, I figured I should share WHY I felt confident to test that. Take a close look at the keels on the plants in these two photos. One is in a bog, the other in a wet meadow.

I absolutely love Danthonia spicata, one of the top choice east US #NativePlants for native lawns. It does well in full sun/dry, it also can handle seasonal ponding and full shade (at least mine can). Although clumping, will gladly reseed if you let them and give them space. Oh, and they're curly!

Here are some more Sarracenia purpurea (purple pitcher plants) sitting at the edge of my Equisetum hyemale pot in my frog pond (the pond only exists for frogs. I do not keep nor do I want to keep any fish).

Turns out, pitcher plants can handle a wet meadow (so far). Other plants here include tons of lobelias, halberd-leaved mallow, virginia bunchflower, red (bog) milkweed, and rose gentian, and some other things. Too many to list. This used to be compacted lawn prone to ponding from being compact.

I'm starting to add new product to the site! Final total will be in the hundreds of #NativePlants (which is why it takes me so damn long to do the site stuff... but anyhoo...). Here's the first of the new product uploads from today. I'm aiming to do at least one per week if not more.

You can also look up 30 year normals on NCEI with this link. You can select for probability of last day below 40 degrees, choose your location and pick one or more data locations. I chose Dover because it's the closest to me. Add your email, and check your inbox. You can then follow the link to DL

Quick tip: Is it too late to winter sow? Not necessarily. Freezing temps aren't part of the stratification. Stratification happens around 33-40 degrees Fahrenheit. To know how many days left, go to this link, look up your location, and check the calendar's history data for previous years.

Two-parter to fit all the photos, here is my photographic chicken-scratch-labeled process for sowing spore for ferns (and also trying clubmosses - this one is Lycopodium clavatum) Part 1/2

Here's a little experiment I'm trying: can I grow clubmosses from spore the way I grow ferns? We shall see! Worst case, nothing happens. Unfortunately, I am working with spore that's a few years old, but they've been refrigerated most of that time. So that's also a factor.

My new, favorite, simple lunch: sandwich with freshly harvested lettuce & dill with mayo on whole wheat. A little kitchen hydroponic system with a few herbs and cut & come again lettuce is an easy way to get some greens in the middle of winter.

Seeds Underground Zine 6 - Monocarps What's an annual, a biennial, and a perennial all at the same time? A monocarp! Learn more with Seeds Underground Zine...

The recent snow cover has allowed me to check on how effective my dead hedge is at reducing deer presence on my property. The property is not fully enclosed. Deer prefer path of least resistance and areas with easy egress over enclosed spaces. The dead hedge also adds value by providing habitat.

The next zine will be going up later today. That being said, if you want a quick link to the first five zines I've made thus far, they're all uploaded on my ko-fi page here. You have the ability to download the hi-res files here, and the link is provided to the blog which has PDF versions.

What if I have a ghost horse that comes through my woods? This is the only print like it, and it didnt crack through the ice. Do I have a ghost rider? I am certainly not heavier than a horse that leaves prints bigger than my hand. Neither are deer (2nd photo), and yet... Y'all, what is this?

I'll have to check back on the skunk cabbages in the vernal swamp area (last time I looked, the topmost part of the snow & ice was still covering everything, even if they melted through the bottom). However, the 8 baby skunk cabbages I have potted up are loosening their protective sheaths.

I still have a tiny handful of these in the nursery (well... once I can find them, they're buried under the snow). As with 99% of the plants in my nursery, all seed grown. I collected the nuts for these myself, too. The ones I have available were germinated in 2024.

I know it was groundhog day a week ago, but I went to check on mine for a 2nd opinion, and they didn't even bother. The entrance to their burrow is still covered in a layer of icy snow (caved in portion), with maybe some squirrel holes around it and paw prints possibly from a cat.

Did you check out this zine yet?

Seeds Underground Zine No. 5 - Pteridomania! Learn about Pteridomania, and then print and follow the zine guide to How To Sow The...

This is my fav photo I took yesterday. A fiery, tough little grass surrounded by ice/snow, standing tall in the shadows of imposing trees, bending into the light a bit as if to peek around at the sun. I added it to my merch shop yesterday to offer as a print with the title "Resilience."

Was going back through photos of 2025, and I wonder how my garden noodles are doing, if they're nice and cozy under the blanket of snow, protected from predation at least for a short while, and resting peacefully... Otherwise I usually would find them buried under leaf litter in warmer winters.

Loot that drops after defeating me: - okatsune pruners - silky pocketboy pruning saw - hori hori soil knife - poison with 15-18pts attack damage against plant creatures every 5 seconds for the duration of 1-2 weeks (stats I totally just made up) - box of holding with vials of native plant seeds

This is absolutely brilliant

I maintain, under no authority whatsoever other than being an artist and a human, even neolithic people wanted cute things just because why not. Meaningless albeit useful kitsch, essentially

I know that amateur grassroots conservation efforts can be a hot-topic debate among some circles, but this article proves that it works. In 2015, this species was S2, and now it's S3. I grow this species, which is ex-situ in southeastern PA. They are hardy enough to handle our winters. (cont'd)

Funny botanical terms: Garden waifs. In botany, these introduced species that escape into the wild (or planted via guerilla gardening), but are unsuccessful in reproducing and becoming established in the wild on their own and eventually disappear. Otherwise they become naturalized.

Today is a good day to avoid going outside with these wind gusts. Open areas will be so bitter they result in spontaneous cursing-like-a-sailor. I love the woods, but never trust a tree in windy conditions. It's the branches. These big bois have 2ft diameter BRANCHES. They're known as widowmakers.

Ohhhh I know what this one is. Do you? Put your answer in the comments, then check the alt text for the answer. PS. proud momma moment: my son guessed it on his first try!

Me: mentions growing native Agrimonia Others: isn't that a weed? Me: maybe some don't like it because of the sticky seeds, but it's one of the flower fairies! Anything that's a flower fairy must be present in a cottage garden. * I hope to continue Cicely Mary Barker's work, but with native plants

Is it any coincidence that while hearts 💚 look nothing like the human heart, they do look like fern gametophytes? When they "give birth", the sporophyte grows out of the heart. Let's make Valentine's Day green! Gift ferns (and my tshirt) instead of roses horticulture.threadless.com/designs/pter...

This time last year, I'd received an envelope of Lygodium palmatum spore from a friend. This was one of the first protected native plants in the US (in Connecticut). For some reason, Americans were obsessed with wreaths to the point of overharvesting quite a number of different species.

What does winter interest look like in a garden? To me, this is the time of year when the landscape looks like an abstract painting. The stems of plants are like hatch marks on a sketchbook page. Drawing with dormant native plants would unlock a new level of garden design, only to be seen in winter.

This week's zine is up, and it comes with a twist in the post... but it's something that's been weighing on my mind, and I needed to get it out.

Here's your public reminder that invasive species have nothing to do with how we feel about them, or where they originate. Nature couldn't care less about human feelings let alone social constructs. This is a legal designation reserved for species that cause max harm and have legal implications.

Pay closer attention. Invasive plants are invasive, and introduced plants are introduced. There are invasive European plants (Ficaria verna, Convallaria majalis), and there are introduced Asian plants (the vast majority of Azaleas in cultivation). This isn't what you're trying to make it out to be.

How to make winter speed up: race against the clock to tidy up existing product then mass-upload all listings of this year's additions to the shop... and be done before spring comes. (Note i have to balance with homeschool & life) It will be more than double what's already there.

Fall back to a scene of serenity at Rickett's Glen State Park back in August. Now it's covered in snow, and only open to ice hikers and climbers. #ForestFriday

Nevermind jobs you've had, tell me five classes you took at university. (1) Architecture studio (2) Abnormal Psychology (3) Communications (4) Nutrition (5) Creativity 101

I just noticed I can go live on here?! Hm, would there be any interest in the future for me to go live while I'm, let's say.... bumping up plants? Checking on seedlings? Let me know!

New zine on the blog - a very very basic explanation of seed dormancy and some basic tips on seed germination. #NativePlants

The next zine is up. A little fun and goofy, but you get the idea. You also get a pocket-sized recipe booklet on how to make my MagiK Mix seed starting mix for much cheaper than most garden center mixes. This will fill all your winter sowing jugs, probably. themagikgarden.com/seeds-underg...

The view from my kitchen window after yesterday's snowfall.

None of us are free until all of us are free 🍋

SCAM ALERT The Vermont Wildflower Farm (legit site, I've ordered from them before) seems to have someone catfishing with their site. The copycat is vermontwildflowerfarmour dot shop It's not hijacked and redirected but a separate instance. Be careful out there.

Some of my overwintering evergreen plants. Lygodium palmatum (with a photobomb from Juncus effusus 'Spiralis' seed strain), Lygodium palmatum in my garden, Helonias bullata and Marshallia caespitosa. There's marsh fern mixed in with some of the Lygodium, because it likes to get around. #NativePlants